The Demon of Mount Oe (Japan, 1960)

A demon-faced monster seeking revenge appears in the forms of a gigantic ox and a huge spider. The young Genji warrior protects the Fujiwara Clan and the beautiful lady in tragic love.

If you're huge into older period/fantasy movies, The Demon of Mount Oe could be a fun diversion from the modern CGI-fests. The story is based around the myths of oni such as Shuten-douji and Tsuchigumo, so we get some samurai vs demon action throughout the film. It's more of a monster fantasy film rather than a jidaigeki-piece, and the dated monster puppets adds to the feel of a staged fairytale. 

Famous warriors from Japanese history come together to do battle with evil and the charming, dated effects makes it all the more enjoyable. 

Genre: Fantasy/Horror. 1h 54min.

Cruel Story of Youth (Japan, 1960)

A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class men.

When Nagisa Oshima (In the Realm of the Senses, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence) was only 28 years old he made a film which must have been a shocking release in Japan's early 60's, dealing with unabashed violence toward women and a grim view on how crime got a firm grip on Japan's society. With stellar cinematography we're fed Oshima's powerful and heavy film which also boasts some truly beautiful colors worthy of Alfred Hitchcock, making the hypnotizingly gorgeous actress Miyki Kuwano (Equinox Flower) almost seem to walk right out of the screen. Not the cheeriest subject matter of them all but an important film in Japan's cinema history considering how it ranks just as high as the all-time greats screenplay-wise. 

 

Genre: Crime/Drama

Late Autumn (Japan, 1960)

Family and friends of the late Shuzo Miwa have gathered for his annual memorial service, this one marking the seventh anniversary of his passing. Three of his long time friends - married Shuzo Taguchi, married Soichi Mamiya, and widowed Seiichiro Hirayama - have long known and admitted to each other that they have always been attracted to his widow, Akiko Miwa, who they believe has gotten even more beautiful as she has matured. The three friends take it upon themselves to find a husband for the Miwa's now twenty-four year old daughter, Ayako Miwa, who they believe as beautiful as her mother, and who, as a pure innocent, deserves a good husband. 

I will try not to write a whole speech proclaiming how perfectly Yasujiro Ozu composes his shots or how his color system of choice makes characters and carefully placed objects glow, but instead be thankful for the wealth of movies he gave us. Late Autumn has that grainy yet incredibly defined and mesmerizing colorization, much like Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958), and here it blends together with Ozu's tranquil film style very naturally. I guess the visuals overshadows the plot, though it's not disappointing by any stretch. Definitely a film one should go through when the Akira Kurosawa filmography has been exhausted and Ozu is next in line. 

Genre: Drama

Jigoku (Japan, 1960)

A group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell.

Jigoku (a.k.a. The Sinners of Hell) was the last movie made by the studio Shintoho, thus it became a very rushed production due to budget cuts and all the actors having to help with the sets. Even still, Jigoku turned out to be a bold and different film for its time and is now considered to be a cult classic. It deals with heavy buddhism themes involving hell and how one must atone for sins. The effects and make-up are very dated naturally but the whole depiction of hell and the amount of suffering the sinners has to go through is as effective and horrific as it was way back when, and it goes to show that even with limited means director Nobuo Nakagawa could create a long standing movie because of his visions and ideas.

Genre: Drama/Horror

The Housemaid (South Korea, 2010/1960)

Eun-yi is a playful young woman, a good match for a job as nanny to a precocious child, Nami, the daughter of a wealthy couple, Hae-ra and Hoon. Hae-ra will soon have twins as well. The majordomo, Mrs. Cho, is the household's cold stone center. Before long, Hoon seduces Eun-yi, and when Mrs. Cho tells Hae-ra's mother about the affair, Eun-yi is up against women with wealth, power, and no conscience. Can Eun-yi maintain her dignity and perhaps even put the family in their place?

Here's two films for the price of one. I don't know what I mean by that, but I know that you should avert your attention to this duo of films. It goes without saying, but The Housemaid (2010) is a remake of a film released in the 60's, also titled The Housemaid. The older version is a bit more melodramatic, while the remake is erotic and full of sexual tension. The cast in the new one features a couple of recognizable faces and great actors from the last years and you're most likely familiar with some of them. Oh, and the ending. The ending will come at you from nowhere, and it's downright wonderful.

Genre: Drama/Thriller

The Naked Island (Japan, 1960)

Deals with the intolerably hard life of a family of four, the only inhabitants of a very small Japanese island in the Setonaikai archipelago. Several times a day they row over to the neighboring island to fetch water for their miserable fields.

The Naked Island is known for having no dialogue, and I am all for movies with little or no dialogue when it's done well. People who follow this blog may have noticed that I praise South Korean director Kim Ki-duk a lot for making movies with barely any spoken words. There's just something about that I find very interesting and different from most other films.

Other than that, I should say that I hope you brought your patience with you because The Naked Island has a slow tempo. It depicts a tough life where there's lots of carrying water and lots of harvesting crops. It may sound boring but you just have to be in the right mood, because it's a good film with great cinematography.

Genre: Drama

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Japan, 1960)

This is the story of Mama, a.k.a. Keiko, a middle-aged bar hostess who must choose to either get married or buy a bar of her own. Her family hounds her for money, her customers for her attention, and she is continually in debt. The life of a bar hostess is examined as well as the way in which the system traps and sometimes kills those in it.

Through smoky hostess clubs and deep pitfalls of debts we follow a woman who tries to break free from the chains that holds her, played by Hideko Takamine (Twenty-Four Eyes). It's a great portrayal of a woman's role in a society such as Tokyo in the fifties, were the biggest lust of all were the lust for money. 

Genre: Drama

The Bad Sleep Well (Japan, 1960)

In Kurosawa's HAMLET-like story of corporate scandal in post-war Japan, a young man attempts to use his position at the heart of a corrupt company to expose the men responsible for his father's death.

A revenge drama set in post-war corporate Japan, signed by Akira Kurosawa. The director wanted to make 'a movie with some social significance', so he chose the culture of corruption as the films enemy because he thought that was the worst crime there is.

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller