The Shadow Within (Japan, 1970)

Hamajima is a quiet, hard-working man, whose life changes drastically when he reunites with a lovely childhood friend and her strange little boy.

The Evil Within is a strangely captivating piece of dark family drama, and the titular evil referring to a small boy. Director Yoshitaro Nomura puts a lot of emphasis on personal struggles one can experience in a relationship that's going nowhere, and the complications of when another life is more tempting than the one you have right now. With lovely 70's color cinematography and a subtle palette Nomura frames a troubled love story that's destinied for disaster when Hamajima, who's smitten with the beautiful Teiko, encounters a huge stumbling block in the form of a malevolent child. 

Genre: Drama

Cleopatra (Japan, 1970)

Three people from the future are spiritually sent back in time to relive the era of Caesar, Marc Anthony and Cleopatra. As close companions to these key historical figures, they seek to understand the nature of an enemy's plan in their own time.

From Osamu Tezuka, creator of one of the most well-known series ever made; Astro Boy (1952-68), comes a far lesser known film about.. well, aliens and naked ladies? Okay, that's not all it has to offer of course but it's extremely hard to put into words what it tried to convey, but somehow it manages be such a weird and mental experience that it needs to be seen. The official translated version of the film is said to be lost, and at release it was a huge commercial failure. It's definitely worth seeing, if not for anything else but a fun piece of cinema history. It ranges from hilarious to incomprehensibly odd and strange. The animation isn't exactly high quality, but at times very abstract and with a great sense of art. 

Genre: Animation/Adult/Comedy

Dodes'ka-den (Japan, 1970)

Episodes from the lives of a group of Tokyo slum-dwellers: Rokkuchan, a retarded boy who brings meaning and routine to his life by driving an imaginary streetcar; children who support their parents by scrounging or by tedious and ill-paying endeavors; schemers who plot or dream of escaping the shackles of poverty.

Dodes'ka-den was directed by a man I think we all know, Akira Kurosawa. The master of Japanese cinema, the man who gave us so many classics and amazing movies that it's nearly mind-blowing. But, if you think that Kurosawa simply lived an easy life directing masterpiece after masterpiece, you'd be wrong. In the 70's, Kurosawa went through some of his toughest times ever, and the biggest reason for his declining mental state was the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!, a Hollywood film he had been involved in and it had been such a nightmarish experience that he had to leave the production. After this, Kurosawa had few chances left of making another film, the first project was Dodes'ka-den, his first film in color. Yet, things went wrong again, and the film became a commercial failure. Kurosawa tried to commit suicide the following year, and sailed into a depression. 

So, that's some backstory. How does the film hold up today? It's very different from the directors other works, but still, I liked it very much. It portrays a bunch of interesting characters that lives in a scrapyard, but instead of acting like a sad bunch of homeless people, these folks have dreams, hopes and they laugh just as if they had lived anywhere else. So despite being made in a turbulent and difficult time in Kurosawa's life, Dodes'ka-den contains a lot of heart, and I wish that it had gotten the praise that it deserves.  

Genre: Drama

This Transient Life (Japan, 1970)

Set around a remote Buddhist monastery, it features Masao, a young son of a rich merchant who doesn't want to follow his father into business or go to college, preferring to study under a famous Master how to make statues of the Goddess of Mercy. At the same time, his sister Yuri is struggling to find a potential husband, only for it to explode when their horseplay in masks one day leads to an incestuous consummation that brings disaster to all. 

This Transient Life (a.k.a. Mujo) may be hard for some viewers to get into. Not only does in delve deep into existentialism, incest and religion, but it does so for about two and a half hours. It got some great cinematography and screenplay, so if you're in the mood for something heavy, check this one out. 

Genre: Drama