To handle with the film of an entire nation can be a really challenge. Especially when the cinematic history of this nation is a mix of genres and styles, such as Japan. In recent years nearly 100 Japanese cinemas has produced very beautiful creations and even more strange, and at the same time influenced the director’s vision of the world. Any top 10 of Japanese movies will be, by definition, incomplete, but these ten films will provide any curious about Japanese cinema to find a sample of what these movies are so respected and loved around the world.
10. Nobody Knows
Most of us, when we think of Japanese cinema, it come in mind yakuza, scary monsters and school crime. Although these things exist (and appear later in the list), the Japanese directors are also able to make incredible drama not involving vengeful ghosts or women with swords instead of hands. Based on true events, the movie tells the story of four children left to fend for themselves by their mother in an apartment from Tokyo.
09. Tokyo Olympiad
In 1964, Tokyo hosted the Olympics Summer. The sporting event was both an excuse to show off post-war reconstruction of Japan’s fast and a pretext for the Japanese government to fulfill the desire to capture the historic moment that Japan resumed its place on the world stage as a prosperous and peaceful nation. Initially, he was hired to direct the Akira Kurosawa, but when he sought to take control over opening and closing ceremonies, the director Kon Ichikawa was brought in to save the project and to provide government that glorious historical documentary that had requested.
08. Gojira
No serious examination of Japanese cinema could not ignore the giant mutant dinosaur and fire thrower, Godzilla. There have been many movies made from the first appearance of lizard climbing in 1954, Godzilla (Gojira in Japanese), but the first movie is still the best. Forget the American release, the movie overly edited and added to the Burr Razmond one reason or another, and focus on the original version. Despite being a syrupy movie, Gojira started an important trend that continues to this day the Japanese movies today: to use cheap movie genres to talk about fears and concerns latent in society.
07. Hana-bi
His name means “Fireworks”, and the movie tells the story of two former policemen, one that adapts to his new life in a wheelchair painting surreal paintings (which were all painted by Kitano) and another who robs a bank to his dying wife takes one last trip. Action is low, but the colors, images and transitions between violence and peace are incredibly poetic. Hana-bi is a very strange and special thing: a movie about gangsters combined with the soul of a painter.
06. Audition
Directed by the controversial and stunning original director, Takashi Miike, the audit is one of the most disturbing and exciting movies ever made. But you could not figure out from that of the first forty minutes. The listening start from a premise like in the romantic comedies with Jennifer Aniston. Aoyama, a widowed TV producer, decides to hold the “auditions” for a new wife, under the pretext of filling a new role in a TV program. When he sees the young and beautiful Asami, falls on its docile nature and place of subtle beauty.
05. Battle Royale
Even if you do not know anything about Japan, the movie Battle Royale from 2000 is presented as a classic movie that breaks the box-office. It has a lot of weapons, blood extremely well made. The movie gained a negative image because of surreal violence, coarse cynicism and use of real teenagers for playing roles, but is one of the favorite classic movie fans around the world. But the story of an entire class of ninth graders who are forced to kill each other in an alternative reality during Japan’s harsh satire of fascist is a constant fear that Japan’s younger generation is just one step from a total anarchy.
04. The Ring
Based on the famous novel, The Ring tells the story of a vengeful ghost to bring catastrophe in the life of a Japanese woman and her son. Ghost does nothing but go slowly and ask the audience and the characters to realize his presence, but is as frightening as the bloodiest monster. There are lots of impressive horror movies that follows the same idea, but The Ring did this the first time and did it better than most of it.
03. Akira
Based on impressive comic of the same name, Akira presents the essential elements of the book in a frantic mixture of children with paranormal powers, political corruption, adolescents and motorcycle lanes not one but even two complete destruction of Tokyo. The plot suffers many shortcomings and forgive you if you think that the second act there, but if you can accept that do not get any easy answer, the movie is a visually success.
02. Seven Samurai
The story of a poor village who committed a lot of samurai to protect themselves from attacks of bandits, Seven Samurai actually created the template followed by any action movie made later. Any movie in which a reluctant hero gathers a team to fulfill a mission of this film owes its structure.
01. Tokyo Story
Although the entire movie has nothing to do with much more than a couple of old men that visit their children in Tokyo, this is one of the most exciting movies that you’ll ever see. Ozu, filming of traditional seiza position (from knee), captures the sadness of detail and small tragedies of modern life. There is no dramatic conflict or major speeches, and the only death takes place in silence and passes quickly.
