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.

In the yakuza genre of Japanese Cinema, Tokyo Drifter is a staple. Director Seijun Suzuki adds a 1960s pop art aesthetic to a classic tale of a badass gang enforcer trying to go straight… but his old rival has other plans for him.

One of the best Japanese films ever made, Tokyo Drifter is thrilling, stylish, and exciting. It’s got the look of a classic Bond movie, but a darker feel thanks to a seedy and dark narrative that makes it a classic yakuza film.