Sansho the Bailiff (Japan, 1954)

When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders.

Under Kenji Mizoguchi’s dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil. One of Mizoguchi's darkest films, this period piece is named after its villain instead of the oppressed slaves we get to follow. It has its heroes but Mizoguchi does not shy away from portraying the all too power-hungry and sadistic lords of the feudal age. 

Genre: Drama

Steamboy (Japan, 2004)

Ray is a young inventor living in the U.K. in the middle of the 19th century. Shortly before the first ever World Expo, a marvelous invention called the "Steam Ball", behind which a menacing power is hidden, arrives at his door from his grandfather Roid in the U.S. Meanwhile the nefarious Ohara Foundation has sent men to acquire the Steam Ball so that they can use its power towards their own illicit ends.

Steamboy comes from the mind of the great Katsuhiro Otomo, best known as the creator of the insanely popular Akira. Here, we are thrown into an alternate nineteenth century where the power of steam has made it possible for revolutionizing advances in the fields of science and technology. It's steampunk galore every step of the way.

The film took ten years to complete due to all the complicated shots and frames, so give it a chance and you might discover one of the best animated films out there. Also, and this is merely a suggestion, but try to see it with English voices, because I can honestly say that they're really good and fits more with the setting.

Genre: Animation/Action. 2h 6min.

Chungking Express (Hong Kong, 1994)

The first half deals with Cop 223, who has broken up with his girlfriend of five years. He purchases a tin of pineapples with an expiration date of May 1 each day for a month. By the end of that time, he feels that he will either be rejoined with his love or that it too will have expired forever. The second half shows Cop 663 dealing with his breakup with his flight attendant girlfriend. He talks to his apartment furnishings until he meets a new girl at a local lunch counter.

This film was shot, edited and released while Kar-Wai Wong was on hiatus from the shooting of his epic Ashes of Time (1994). Wong Kar-wai's movie about two love-struck cops is filmed in impressionistic splashes of motion and color. It circles around the theme of loneliness in a big city and even though theres so many people around you, you feel utterly alone. Chungking Express is a interesting portrayal of everyday relationships in urban life with superb cinematography, as expected from Wong Kar-wai. A fantastic drama by one of the best directors of all time.

Genre: Crime/Drama

When the Last Sword is Drawn (Japan, 2003)

Kanichiro Yoshimura is a samurai and family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan. He is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them. In his search he joins a notorious clan, known as the Shinsengumi where he does as much as possible to get money. Looked at as a money grubber, Yoshimura proves his strength physically and mentally by being loyal to his honor.

A gripping, sad story that focuses on two samurai who are in the middle of Japans transition into a modern state, where there's no room for swords. A beautiful drama combined with fantastic swordplay and great music. A 10/10 samurai film.  

Genre: Drama

Fallen Angels (Hong Kong, 1995)

A disillusioned killer embarks on his last hit but first he has to overcome his affections for his cool, detached partner. Thinking it's dangerous and improper to become involved with a colleague he sets out to find a surrogate for his affections. Against the sordid and surreal urban nightscape, he crosses path with a strange drifter looking for her mysterious ex-boyfriend and an amusing mute trying to get the world's attention in his own unconventional ways.

Fallen Angels is a dreamlike ride through a hazy, violent Hong Kong. Wong's incredible work behind the camera and the perfect cinematography makes this one of the coolest films of his career. One of the biggest surprises is how well he handles the action scenes, making it all look like a John Woo-film with spraying bullets and slow-motion. The use of black-and-white filters to reflect the characters bleak emotions, the constant handheld camera that always flies across the scenes all contribute to making this one of the most brilliant films ever.

Genre: Crime/Drama. 1h 39min.

2046 (Hong Kong, 2004)

The year is 1966, and Chow Mo-wan, a struggling author, asks the woman he loves, Su Lizhen, to sail with him from Singapore to Hong Kong on Christmas Eve. She declines, and over the next three years, we return to Chow Mo-wan on December 24 as he finds himself with another woman each year - lighthearted Lulu in 1967, eccentric hotel heiress Wang Jingwen in 1968, and Bai Ling, a high-class prostitute, in 1969. In time, Chow Mo-wan and Wang Jingwen become reacquainted, and a love affair blooms, but the fates are not on their side. 

2046 is a loose sequel to the 1991 film Days of Being Wild and the 2000 film In the Mood for Love. All directed by the highly critically acclaimed Wong Kar-wai (Fallen Angels). 2046 is a visual treat, and a film that breaks away from the classical narrative and juggles four different arcs in its hands. In the Mood for Love was a very romance heavy film, but I get a much stronger sensual presence from 2046, and Wong is great at showing the raw power of lust.

I always have a hard time choosing a favorite film by Wong, but it always ends in a tie between 2046 and Fallen Angels (1995). A stylistic love story with sci-fi-elements, and so elegant it hurts.

Genre: Drama/Fantasy/Romance

Ran (Japan, 1985)

The Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji has decided to step aside to make room for the younger blood of his three sons, Taro, Jiro, and Saburo, the Lord's only wish now being to live out his years as an honored guest in the castle of each of his sons in turn. While the older two sons flatter their father, the youngest son attempts to warn him of the folly of expecting the three sons to remain united; enraged at the younger son's attempt to point out the danger, the father banishes him. True to the younger son's warning, however, the oldest Son soon conspires with the second son to strip The Great Lord of everything, even his title.

One of Akira Kurosawa's most acclaimed films, and it was the most expensive Japanese movie ever produced up to that time. Kagemusha, which Kurosawa directed a few years before, he referred to as "dress rehearsal" for Ran. It's an incredibly epic samurai drama full of war politics, scheming daimyos and huge battles. A story of greed, lust for power and ultimate revenge. Essential film history.

Genre: Action/Drama/War

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (South Korea, 2006)

A young woman who believes she's a cyborg hears voices and harms herself while at work making radios. She's hospitalized in a mental institution where she eats nothing and talks to inanimate objects. She's Young-goon, granddaughter of a woman who thought she was a mouse and a mother who's a butcher. Young-goon comes to the attention of Il-sun, a ping-pong playing patient at the institution who makes it his goal to get her to eat. 

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK must be one of Park Chan-wook's (Thirst, Oldboy) more unusual films, with a cast of institutionalized crazies. The mental hospital is full of colorful and nutty personalities, delivering a lot of comic relief. Regardless of what you may gain from the plot, Park Chan-wook has done an excellent job with the screenplay and blending a romantic drama with a surreal and quirky comedy-twist. An odd and sweet film with plenty of humor.

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Violent Streets (Japan, 1974)

The Western Japan Alliance has control of most of Japan, and only Tokyo is left for them to gain. Starting with the purchase of clubs in Ginza, a yakuza war between Western and Eastern Japan begins! In the midst of it all, a retired yakuza is caught in the middle of a growing conflict between two rival clans.

Violent Streets is a web of different plot strands that clashes with each other, ending up in messy fights and shootouts. The director, Hideo Gosha, is best known for his samurai films, so it's interesting to see his step into the world of yakuza movies.

A fantastic and violent gangster flick from the 70's.

Genre: Action/Crime/Drama

Stray Dog (Japan, 1949)

Murukami, a young homicide detective, has his pocket picked on a bus and loses his pistol. Frantic and ashamed, he dashes about trying to recover the weapon without success until taken under the wing of an older and wiser detective, Sato. Together they must track down the culprit before more people show up dead, killed by Murakami's own gun.

Stray Dog is a great film-noir police drama by Akira Kurosawa with Toshiro Mifune in the lead as a desperate rookie cop. It features an highly entertaining plot where the tension mounts fast and the story grows more and more complex. A classic, well-directed and compelling detective story about a missing gun. Beautiful.

Genre: Drama/Crime/Film-noir

Nameless Gangster (South Korea, 2012)

The film is set in the 1980s and ’90s in Busan when corruption and crime was so rampant that the government declared war on it in 1990. On the verge of being fired, a corrupt customs official finds a haul of drugs and teams up with a vicious gangster to become the most powerful crime partnership in Busan.

Nameless Gangster became one of 2012's so far biggest movies. The excellent cast, primarily Choi Min-sik (Oldboy, I Saw the Devil) and Ha Jeong-woo (The Chaser) took this hard-hitting gangster story to a higher level. The director wanted to depict the widespread corruption that infested the city of Busan, and how mobsters grew more and more powerful. 

A qualitative suspenseful thriller about crime lords, gang violence and corruption.

Genre: Crime/Thriller

Punch (South Korea, 2011)

17-year-old Wan-Deuk comes from a poor family and his grades in school are equally poor. He is a rebellious and troubled student, but he never loses in fights. Wan-Deuk then meets teacher Dong-Joo. At first, Dong-Joo and Wan-Deuk are like enemies, but Wan-Deuk grows to like him. Meanwhile, Dong-Joo cares for and seems to understand Wan-Deuk. Wan-Deuk takes up kick-boxing and through the sport grows as a person and also develops a dream.

A splendid coming of age film with a big heart. In one of the lead roles we have Kim Yoon-seok (The Chaser, Running Turtle) who delivers a great performance as a somewhat unorthodox school teacher. 

A recommended drama with a lot of punches, humor and warmth.  

Genre: Drama

Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Taiwan, 2003)

A Japanese tourist takes refuge from a rainstorm inside a once-popular, old Taipei cinema that is closing down, showing King Hu's 1967 sword-fighting classic "Dragon Inn". Even with the rain bucketing down outside, it doesn't pull much of an audience -- and some of those who have turned up are less interested in the movie than in the possibility of meeting a stranger in the dark.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn will not appeal to everyone. Many won't see the beauty in its minimalistic screenplay. The film is shot with almost no camera movement, most shots lasting well over thirty seconds. There are only about a dozen of lines of dialogue. If that doesn't float your boat, you're out of luck. But if you take time to watch this unique and wonderful film, you'll discover something beyond words. 

Simply become a member of the audience.

Genre: Drama

The Twilight Samurai (Japan, 2002)

Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai, leads a life without glory as a bureaucrat in the mid-XIX century Japan. A widower, he has charge of two daughters and a senile mother; he must therefore work in the fields and accept piecework to make ends meet. New prospects seem to open up when Tomoe, his long-time love, divorces a brutal husband. However, even as the Japanese feudal system is unraveling, Seibei remains bound by the code of honour of the samurai, and the turbulent times conspire against him.

During it's release The Twilight Samurai met an hailstorm of awards and praise, and rightfully so. Even though it's more focused on drama rather than fighting, it's one of the best samurai films I've ever seen. Director Yoji Yamada has, much like Hirokazu Kore-eda (Nobody Knows), a huge talent for looking at family and relationships, and makes you really invested in the fates of the characters. You feel for Seibei more so than any bloodthirsty samurai, and it feels like a very realistic portrayal of a struggling mans life in Japan's Edo-period.

Genre: Drama/Romance

Man of Vendetta (South Korea, 2010)

One day, Hye Lin, the five-year old daughter of a devoted pastor, Joo Young Soo, is kidnapped. Pastor Joo, who has a rock solid faith in God at this time, prays wholeheartedly for her safe comeback, but she does not return. Eight years later, Joo Young Soo, who now does not believe in God and leads a completely secular life, receives a call. Hye Lin is still alive and is with the kidnapper. Joo Young Soo’s resolute attempt to rescue his daughter begins...

Man of Vendetta is yet another contribution to the world of stylish, hair-raising South Korean-thrillers. While it's a bit unoriginal with a kidnapping scenario and a vengeful father, the movie will most likely keep you on your toes and has the tension to capture your interest in a tight grip. So, if you have a soft spot for solid, exciting thrillers, give this one a chance.

Genre: Thriller