A stylish and profound silent film from Yasujiro Ozu — director of Tokyo Story and Late Spring — Dragnet Girl stands alone in the gangster (yakuza) genre.

True to Ozu, the film is intimately focused on family and the interpersonal relationships between career hardened criminal Joji, his jealous girlfriend, and an innocent shop girl who gets pulled into his world.

Kurosawa’s Stray Dog plays like a Hollywood detective noir set in gritty post-war Tokyo.

Japanese cinema legend Toshiro Mifune gives a raw and magnetic performance as a young detective who loses his gun and tries to save face by tracking it down before reporting it stolen. His search leads him to the slums and criminal underbelly of the city, where a veteran detective helps him find it before it’s used in a violent crime.

With experimental shots and lingering scenes, this early Kurosawa hints at the master director that was to come.

It’s a Summer Film! is a new teen romcom out of Japan that’s simultaneously an ode to creative youth and a love letter to filmmaking in all forms.
Barefoot and her teen friends set out to make an awesome samurai film for their school film fest. They’ve got only a small tripod and an iPhone, while their snooty classmates with high tech filmmaking gear make a romcom.
With humor, heart, and an unexpected sci-fi twist, Sôshi Masumoto’s 2020 film is refreshing, sincere, and the kind of movie you’ll catch yourself smiling at in a dark theater.