Crying Out Love in the Center of the World (Japan, 2004)

In 1980s Kyushu, two teenagers fell in love, and exchanged their secrets and thoughts by way of sending tape recordings to each other. More than a decade later, the boy (now grown-up and bittered) rediscovers the last recording of his long-dead lover's voice. Her words trigger a series of flashbacks illustrating the joyful beginning and tragic end of their relationship.

If you fancy some Japanese melodrama, here's a winner. Crying Out Love (a.k.a. Socrates in Love) is like two relationships in one, you could say. First we got the sweet but also strong bond between a boy and a sick girl, then we have the result of that love many years later. A bittersweet story that perhaps isn't for those who wouldn't enjoy a romance that gets very sentimental. 

Genre: Drama/Romance

A Taxing Woman (Japan, 1987)

A female tax investigator, Ryoka Itakura, inspects the accounts of various Japanese companies, uncovering hidden incomes and recovering unpaid taxes. One day she persuades her boss to let her investigate the owner of a string of love hotels who seem to be avoiding tax.

Another great comedy from the mind of Juzo Itami (Tampopo, Minbo), and once again his wife, Nobuko Miyamato, plays the lead role with excellence. It seems that Itami comes up with his films while experiencing everyday problems, he wrote A Taxing Woman when he was to may more tax due to his previous film The Funeral (1984). It may feel a bit long near the end, but that's a minor complaint because it's so entertaining otherwise. I've always felt sorry because of Itami's suicide, if there's anything his movies has shown it's that he was a true master film-maker.

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Cruel Winter Blues (South Korea, 2006)

Shim Jae-Moon watches his friend being stabbed to death by rival gang members and he quickly flees the area. A few years later, he sets out to revenge his friend's death and atone for his own actions. Jae-Moon travels to the small town of Bolgyo with his gang's newest recruit Chi-Guk. Chi-Guk is a former taekwondo athlete and familiar with the town of Bolgyo. Jae-Moon and Chi-Guk then scope out a modest restaurant in the town. The restaurant is owned by the mother of the man that killed Jae-Moon's friend. The two men begin to frequent the restaurant, all the while they wait for the restaurant owner's son to appear.

Apparently Cruel Winter Blues was marketed as a action gangster type of film, but that isn't really correct. Cruel Winter Blues feels more like a drama with a strong sense of threat that hangs in the air. It was directed by the same man who made the near perfect action thriller (in my opinion) The Man from Nowhere, so going back a few years in his filmography proved to be a terrific idea. 

The cast is also great, many recognizable faces from other fantastic films, for example Sol Kyung-gu, who've starred in films such as Peppermint Candy (2000) and Silmido (2003). All in all, it's a very memorable film and deserves your attention.

Genre: Crime/Drama

The Pornographers (Japan, 1966)

Mr. Ogata lives a complicated life: he is a pornographer making two skin flicks per day and trying to stay beneath the radar screen of the local mob; he deeply loves his ailing wife Haru who's cursed by the restless spirit of her dead first husband; he also has a mistress, a step-son who wants to go to university, and a step-daughter entering adolescence. He lusts after his step-daughter, and when Haru finds out about those sexual advances, she asks him to marry the girl. Haru even signs over her business to him, and a crisis ensues when Ogata uses her nest egg to buy equipment so he and his pals can set up their own film processing lab.

If you like your comedies black, look this way. The Pornographers is where anti-heroes try to defend their perverted livelihood against authorities and where a giant carp is believed to be a reincarnation of a widows late husband. A cool and stylish film. 

Genre: Drama

Short Peace (Japan, 2013)

A compilation of four anime short films. 

Possessions - A lone traveler is confronted by unusual spirits in an abandoned shrine.

Combustible - A spectacular tale of love, honor and firefighting in ancient Japan.

Gambo - A mysterious white bear defends the royal family from the predations of a red demon.

A Farewell to Weapons - A tour-de-force saga of men battling robotic tanks in apocalyptic Tokyo. 

These are four insanely good-looking pieces of animation, and they're so Japanese that you'll probably keel over from the culture shock. Worth mentioning is that the second one, Combustible, is directed by Katsuhiro Otomo who gave us the classic Akira. Watch this one if you want some fast-paced anime action with masterful visuals.

Genre: Action/Animation/Adventure

Go (Japan, 2001)

Third-generation Korean, Sugihara, is a student at a Japanese high school after graduating from a North Korean junior high school in Japan. Sugihara’s school days are filled with fights that always result in his victory; he and his delinquent peers fill the rest of their time with all kinds of mischief. One day, Sugihara attends the birthday party of one of his friends and meets a mysterious Japanese girl. He takes her out on a couple of dates and they gradually become intimate

Tension rise high between the Koreans and the Japanese, and this film puts a high school student right in the middle of it. On one hand it's a love story with a turbulent high school setting, on the other hand, it's a tale about how a young man's heritage makes him the outcast of his school. Worth your while.

Genre: Drama

Azumi (Japan, 2003)

In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, desperate to restore peace to his people, orders the assassination of the hostile warlords. A beautiful young woman is raised from birth with nine other orphans, to become an assassin. Her name is Azumi.

Chances are you've heard of Azumi. It was well-received on release and got a lot of fans all over the world, which is not surprising because it's a very cool and fast paced sword fest. Not without its silly moment, like when a guy's head gets cut off and he continues to scream, but a fun ninja brawler nonetheless. 

A sequel was made in 2005, Azumi 2: Death or Love, which wasn't as good but still a movie you definitely should follow up with if you liked this one. 

Genre: Action/Adventure

White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (US, 2007)

Featuring interviews with fourteen atomic bomb survivors, many of whom have never spoken publicly before, and four Americans intimately involved in the bombings, WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN provides a detailed exploration of the bombings and their aftermath. In a succession of riveting personal accounts, the film reveals both unimaginable suffering and extraordinary human resilience.

White Light/Black Rain isn't a Japanese production, but it deals with one of the most horrifying events in Japanese history and it's by far the best one I've seen on this subject. The footage from the bomb sites is tragically gruesome, so it is very easy to get disturbed, and there's more than one scene that makes you want to look another way. White Light shows the unfiltered brutality of these bombings, and let's the survivors tell you their own heartbreaking stories of how it really was to live in those fateful days so many years ago.

Genre: Documentary

The Face Reader (South Korea, 2013)

Nae-gyeong, the most skillful face reader in Joseon dynasty, was living in seclusion when he was offered a lucrative partnership by Yeon-hong, an entertainer working for the King. Nae-gyeong accepts the proposal to read the faces of Yeon-hong’s guests only to get involved in a murder case. With his face reading skills, Nae-gyeong successfully identifies the murderer and his skills are soon acknowledged by King Munjong who orders him to identify the potential traitors who threaten his reign.

I had high expectations for The Face Reader. It features many good actors and among them is one of my favorites, Song Kang-ho (Memories of Murder, Thirst). South Korea also is one of the champions when it comes to the costume drama genre. Needless to say I wasn't disappointed, because it's a thrilling and well-made period piece that's bound to draw you in with both humor, tragedy and characters with and dark, evil intentions.

Genre: Drama/History

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (Japan, 2003)

Forty-two years after her first visit in Tokyo, Mothra returns to warn mankind that they must return Mechagodzilla, along with Godzilla's bones, to the sea, for the dead must not be disturbed. If not, dire consequences will follow. However, Godzilla is once again on the rampage, and Mechagodzilla is Japan's only defense.

I've watched a lot of Godzilla movies, and after a while, they're starting to feel the same. But some of them stands out as great action flicks and shows some fantastic city destruction. Tokyo S.O.S. was one of the better ones, I think.  The story, which continues from Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002) is involving and the action sequences is better than in many other Godzilla films. There's something incredibly satisfying in seeing huge buildings being torn apart and completely demolished by giant monsters. Also check out Godzilla: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), as that one also was one of the better ones.

Genre: Action/Fantasy

Kuroneko (Japan, 1968)

A woman and her daughter-in-law are raped and murdered by samurais during the time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero, to quell what is evidently a ghost.

Some of the horror elements in Kuroneko has in my opinion been somewhat lost through the decades since its release, but it still got an immense amount of haunting imagery and the visuals, oh my God the visuals are unforgettable and beautiful. Director Kaneto Shindo (Onibaba) had an amazing ability to make his characters really feel like ethereal beings. Keep an eye out for the shot where one of the women leaps over a samurai, and her white kimono practically shines in contrast to the utterly pitch black background. A great classic that has a big place in Japans horror cinema history. 

Genre: Horror

The Kirishima Thing (Japan, 2012)

The Kirishima Thing tells the story of two high school students who crosses social boundaries between the elite and lower class at their school. Ryoya Maeda, from the lower class, is a member of the film club, while Hiroki Kikuchi, from the elite class, is a non-participating member of the high school baseball team.

The Kirishima Thing is without a doubt in my mind one of the best drama movies in recent years. I can't find any flaws with it. Basically, it's a slice of life kind of story revolving around a group of students. It uses the 'Rashomon effect' to tell the story from different characters, and it works great. Terrific acting all the way and a fantastic cast, The Kirishima Thing will be a film you'll come back too many times.

Genre: Drama

The Gifted Hands (South Korea, 2013)

A little girl is kidnapped and murdered in the jurisdiction of gang buster detective Yang Chun-dong, who fights against the gangs for three years now. Also the case of the murdered girl is up to him. During the case, he realizes the crime scene is the same as the mysterious wallpaper he saw once on the street. He starts tracking down the painter, a young man called Joon. But when Chun-dong is arresting Joon, he realizes that this boy has the so-called 'psycho-metry' ability to see the past by touching someone or something with his right hand. 

The Gifted Hands (a.k.a. Psychometry) is a very competent thriller from the promised land of detective thrillers. It delivers an exciting story with a twist in form of a psychic ability, and well, despite the fact that it doesn't exactly feel like the most original thriller it still can capture your attention 'til the end.

Genre: Thriller/Mystery

A Touch of Sin (China, 2013)

The film revolves around four random acts of violence set in vastly different geographical and social milieus across modern-day China, ranging from the bustling southern metropolis of Guangzhou to the more rural townships in Jia's home province of Shanxi. Set in current times and based on allegedly true events from the recent past, the film also draws on the history of wuxia stories.

The violent scenes in A Touch of Sin are so well done that you don't mind sitting through this over two hours long film, and the stories which all take place in contemporary China are not bad at all. Stylistic and with great directing, I found A Touch of Sin to be quite easy to watch despite its long running time. 

Genre: Drama

Dream (South Korea, 2008)

Jin awakes from a dream where he causes a traffic accident to find that the accident actually took place. The police suspect a woman, Ran, though she denies any involvement as she was asleep the whole time. It transpires that while Jin dreams, Ran acts out those dreams in her sleep.

Apparently, Dream isn't one of director Kim Ki-duk's most well-received films, but i found it very intriguing and lovely unusual, as you would come to expect from Kim Ki-duk. Joe Odagiri (The Great Passage) is great in one of the main roles, and Dream also contains a lot more dialogue than many other Kim Ki-duk films. If you're interested in seeing a surreal fantasy inspired romance with an original plot, I would recommend this one.

Genre: Drama/Mystery