Japanese cinema has never sought to imitate Hollywood. He pays special attention to aesthetics, philosophy and the visual range of his creations. Many Japanese films are contemplative and laconic, leaving behind a long pleasant aftertaste, like after a good wine.
We present you a selection of the best Japanese films of all time, a list by rating of Kinopoisk, IMDb, The Cinemaholic and other specialized sites. Among them are both old and new paintings that clearly demonstrate the best that the country of the Rising Sun can offer.
10. Battle Royale (2000)
Cinema Search: 7.5
IMDb: 7.6
Genre: fiction, thriller, drama
Producer: Kinji Fukasaku
Music: Masamichi Amano
Duration: 114 minutes
The story of Susan Collins, filmed in The Hunger Games, is strikingly similar to the latest work of eminent Kinji Fukasaku. Although the writer claims that she did not read the dystopian novel Kosyuna Takami, on the basis of which the Royal Battle was filmed.
As in The Hunger Games, young people in the Battle Royale are forced to fight among themselves to death. Everything that happens is authorized by the government, and at the end of the battle there should be only one crowned winner.
This film is much bloodier than the first part of The Hunger Games, with brutal scenes interspersed with black humor, which makes the scene even more surreal and interesting. The result is one of the most brutal and iconic Japanese films.
9. The taste of tea (2004)
Cinema Search: 7.5
IMDb: 7.7
Genre: fantasy comedy
Producer: Katsuhito Ishii
Music: Tembo Little
Duration: 143 minutes
"Taste of Tea" is often described as a surreal version of the film "Fanny and Alexander" by Ingmar Bergman. This is the story of an unusual family living in ordinary rural areas north of Tokyo.
The plot in the picture, in fact, is not present, each of the main characters is busy with his “insanity”, but this does not prevent them from being funny, touching and enjoying simple human joys.
The film “Taste of Tea”, which received many awards at international film festivals, is a vivid example of visually and emotionally exciting films that many modern Japanese filmmakers are equal to.
8. No one will recognize (2004)
Cinema Search: 7.5
IMDb: 8.1
Genre: drama
Producer: Hirokazu Koreeda
Music: Gontiti
Duration: 141 minutes
One of the most moving Japanese films is based on real events that happened in 1988. A negligent mother left her four children in a small apartment in Tokyo. And the eldest son, Akira, who was only twelve years old, had to take care of his younger brothers and sisters.
The situation was complicated by the fact that before the mother left, the children never went to school, did not leave the apartment or on the balcony, and even the existence of three of them, except Akira, was hiding from the landlord. Children are so used to hiding from everyone that no one will know about their existence.
7. On the other hand (2003)
Cinema Search: 7.6
IMDb: 7.5
Genre: drama, thriller, action
Producer: Takeshi Kitano
Music: Keiichi Suzuki
Duration: 116 minutes
In this film, Takeshi Kitano reincarnated as the blind fighter of Zatoichi from a series of novels by Kan Shimozawa, one of the most famous characters in the history of Japanese culture.
In blood splashes and in the midst of severed limbs scattered in different directions, he will do justice without erasing his light, sarcastic half-smile from his face
6. When a woman climbs a ladder (1960)
Cinema Search: 7.6
IMDb: 8.1
Genre: drama
Producer: Mikio Naruse
Music: Toshiro Mayuzumi
Duration: 111 minutes
This is a story about the life of a geisha Keiko, which should contain a mother and brother, but can no longer rely on her youth. Exhausted by financial and family problems, she is considering becoming a lover of a rich person in order to save herself from trouble.
The narrow, dangerous staircase along which Keiko ascends every night is symbolic. Each time, the heroine is between a familiar past and an unknown future.
5. Demons (1971)
Cinema Search: 7.9
IMDb: 8.0
Genre: drama
Producer: Toshio Matsumoto
Music: Bunichi Nishimatsu
Duration: 134 minutes
This film is a portrait of the society and culture of feudal Japan. It starts with a colorful setting sun, but the rest of it is shot in black and white.
Exiled for debts from the Asano clan, the Gengobe samurai becomes a ronin (a samurai without a master) and his only consolation is the geisha Coman. When the peasants collect money for Gengobe, the cunning geisha and her accomplices trick them into deceiving. Resentment and betrayal take the warrior to the extreme, with the most sad consequences.
4. Rashomon (1950)
Cinema Search: 8.0
IMDb: 8.2
Genre: drama, crime, detective
Producer: Akira Kurosawa
Music: Fumio Hayasaka
Duration: 88 minutes
One of the most daring films of his era tells how a heinous crime was interpreted from different, subjective and contradictory points of view: a robber, a samurai, his wife, and a woodcutter. This poses the viewer questions about human nature and what can be called truth.
The effect of the film on cinema and culture as a whole is evidenced by the fact that the term “Rashomon effect” appeared. It means that the same event can be interpreted in different ways, demonstrating the extreme subjectivity of human memory and the personality characteristics of the witness of the event.
3. Tokyo Story (1953)
Cinema Search: 8.0
IMDb: 8.2
Genre: drama
Producer: Yasujiro Ozu
Music: Takanobu Saito
Duration: 136 minutes
The scenes that unfold in the Tokyo Story are unhurried, as are the main characters themselves. To achieve unusual static plans, the director placed the camera very low, as if the operator was sitting on the floor. This technique was called the “tatami level frame” and became the “calling card” of Ozu.
At the center of the story is an elderly couple who live in southwestern Japan. She travels to Tokyo to visit her adult children. But it turns out that they are too busy to make time for communication with their parents.
The only member of the family who makes significant efforts to spend time with the elderly is the widow of their son.
With this film, Ozu may have laid the foundation for many contemporary filmmakers who follow similar models of a slowly developing human drama. Tokyo Story is often called the epitome of Japanese cinema.
2. The story of Hachiko (1987)
Cinema Search: 8.1
IMDb: 8.6
Genre: drama, adventure
Producer: Akira Kurosawa
Music: Fumio Hayasaka
Duration: 207 minutes
The story of a faithful dog named Hachiko made more than one thousand handkerchiefs moisturize.
And if you need a truly family film that clearly shows children such important concepts as devotion, patience and affection between the owner and the pet, then there is no better option than “Hachiko's Story”.
1. The Seven Samurai (1954)
Cinema Search: 8.1
IMDb: 8.6
Genre: drama, adventure
Producer: Akira Kurosawa
Music: Fumio Hayasaka
Duration: 207 minutes
It is impossible to talk about the best Japanese films in the world without mentioning one of Akira Kurosawa's most famous creations. It was in him that the (now commonplace) idea of gathering a group of heroes or antiheroes into a team was popularized in order to achieve a good goal.
But the "Seven Samurai" could never have been born, if not for the perseverance of Kurosawa. Over and over, he urged Toho studio bosses not to stop funding. The film predicted a financial failure, but in the end it became one of the masterpieces of world cinema.
