Asian Movies

Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki (Chushingura: Story of Flower, Story of Snow, released under the title 47 Samurai in the US) is a 1962 Japanese jidaigeki epic film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. Audio in Japanese with English subtitles (click on CC for subtitles). Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is based on the story of the forty-seven rōnin. The film stars Toshiro Mifune as Genba Tawaraboshi, along with Matsumoto Hakuō I, Yūzō Kayama, Tatsuya Mihashi, Akira Takarada, Yosuke Natsuki, Makoto Satō, Tadao Takashima, and Setsuko Hara in her final film role. After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.

Red Cliff or Chibi (Chinese: Chì bì) is a 2008–2009 internationally co-produced epic war film produced and directed by John Woo. Audio in Chinese with subtitles in English, French and Spanish (click on CC for subtitles). The film is based on the Battle of Red Cliffs (208–209 AD) and the events at the end of the Han dynasty and immediately prior to the Three Kingdoms period in Imperial China. Director John Woo said in an interview with David Stratton that the film is only 50% factual. The film stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai, with a supporting cast of Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Zhao Wei, Hu Jun, and Lin Chi-ling. Shooting was held at a film studio in Beijing, as well as in Hebei province, where naval warfare was staged at two working reservoirs. On 9 June 2008, a stuntman was killed in a freak fire accident that also left six others injured. Red Cliff 2: https://rumble.com/v73lh1a-red-cliff-2-film-2008-multisub.html

Second and final part of epic tale about a legendary battle that changed the course of China history. Audio in Chinese with subtitles in English, French and Spanish (click on CC for subtitles). Part 2: Sun Shangxiang, who has infiltrated Cao Cao's camp, secretly notes down its details and sends them via a pigeon to Zhuge Liang. Meanwhile, Cao Cao stages cuju games to boost his troops' morale. Sun Shangxiang befriends Sun Shucai, a soldier highly skilled at cuju. Soon after, Cao Cao's army is affected by a plague of typhoid fever that kills some soldiers.

A 1949 adaptation of a kabuki play written by Tsuruya Nanboku. Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, written by Eijirô Hisaita, Masaki Kobayashi and Nanboku Tsuruya. Starring; Kinuyo Tanaka, Ken Uehara, Hisako Yamane, Haruko Sugimura, Choko Iida, Osamu Takizawa, Jukichi Uno, Keiji Sada, Aizo Tamashima, Ken Mitsuda. Audio in Japanese with English subtitles (Hardsub). Yotsuya Kaidan, the story of Oiwa and Tamiya Iemon, is a tale of betrayal, murder and ghostly revenge. Arguably the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time, it has been adapted for film over 30 times and continues to be an influence on Japanese horror today. Written in 1825 by Tsuruya Nanboku IV, as a kabuki play, the original title was Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan (Ghost Story of Yotsuya in Tokaido). It is now generally shortened, and loosely translates as Ghost Story of Yotsuya. Historical basis: Nanboku incorporated two sensational and real-life murders into Yotsuya Kaidan, combining fact and fiction in a manner that resonated with audiences. The first involved two servants who had murdered their respective masters. They were caught and executed on the same day. The second murder was from a samurai who discovered his concubine was having an affair with a servant. The samurai had the faithless concubine and servant nailed to a wooden board and thrown into the Kanda River. As the most-adapted Japanese ghost story, the details of Yotsuya Kaidan have been altered over time, often bearing little resemblance to the original kabuki play, and sometimes removing the ghostly element altogether. However, the base story usually remains the same and recognizable. Kinoshita Keisuke version of the story removed the ghostly elements and presented Oiwa as an apparition of her husband's guilty psyche. It was also known as The Phantom of Yotsuya. Part 1: Iemon Tamiya is an impoverished master-less samurai who craves a better life, which he cannot have because of his marriage to Oiwa, who is completely devoted to her husband. Part 2: https://rumble.com/v6s292x-yotsuya-kwaidanghost-of-yotsuya-part-2-film-1949-eng-sub.html

Part 2: The Yotsuda Phantom, Iemon's apparent success is minimized by his own feelings of guilt, the quickly mounting evidence, and Naosuke's constant hounding.

The 47 Ronin (元禄 忠臣蔵, Genroku Chūshingura, "The Treasury of Loyal Retainers of the Genroku Era") is a black-and-white two-part jidaigeki Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, adapted from a play by Seika Mayama. Audio in Japanese with English subtitles. The first part was released on December 1, 1941 with the second part being released on February 11 of the following year. The film wasn't shown in America until the 1970s. The film depicts the legendary forty-seven Ronin and their plot to avenge the death of their lord, Asano Naganori, by killing Kira Yoshinaka, a shogunate official responsible for Asano being forced to commit seppuku. Cast & Characters: Chōjuro Kawarasaki as Ōishi Kuranosuke Kanemon Nakamura as Tominomori Sukeemon Kunitarō Kawarazaki as Isogai Jūrōzaemon Chōemon Bandō as Hara Sōemon Sukezō Sukedakaya as Yoshida Chūzaemon Kikunojo Segawa as Otaka Gengo Utaemon Ichikawa as Tokugawa Ienobu Yoshizaburō Arashi as Asano Naganori Kazutoyo Mimasu as Kira Yoshinaka Tokusaburō Arashi as Okuno Shōgen Masao Shimizu as Katō Akihide Mitsuko Miura as Yosenin

Throne of Blood (Japanese: 蜘蛛巣城, Hepburn: Kumonosu-jō, lit. 'The Spider Web Castle') is a 1957 Japanese epic jidaigeki film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Audio in Japanese with English subtitles. The film transposes the plot of English dramatist William Shakespeare's play Macbeth (1606) from Medieval Scotland to feudal Japan, with stylistic elements drawn from Noh drama. The film stars Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada in the lead roles, modelled on the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. As with the play, the film tells the story of a warrior who assassinates his sovereign at the urging of his ambitious wife. Kurosawa was a fan of the play and intended to make his own adaptation for several years, delaying it after learning of Orson Welles' Macbeth (1948). The film was shot around Mount Fuji and Izu Peninsula. The film was one of the most expensive films ever made in Japan at the time of its release. Despite the change in setting and language and numerous creative liberties, Throne of Blood is often considered one of the best film adaptations of the classic play, and has received much critical praise. The film won two Mainichi Film Awards, including Best Actor for Toshiro Mifune. Cast - Characters - Macbeth Analogue: Toshiro Mifune as Taketoki Washizu (Macbeth) Isuzu Yamada as Lady Asaji Washizu (Lady Macbeth) Takashi Shimura as Noriyasu Odagura (Macduff) Akira Kubo as Yoshiteru Miki (Fleance) Yōichi Tachikawa as Kunimaru Tsuzuki (Malcolm) Minoru Chiaki as Yoshiaki Miki (Banquo) Takamaru Sasaki as Lord Kuniharu Tsuzuki (King Duncan) Chieko Naniwa as Witch (The Three Witches) Kokuten Kōdō as First General Sachio Sakai as Washizu's samurai Yū Fujiki as Washizu's samurai Kichijirō Ueda as Washizu's workman Takeshi Katō as Tsuzuki's samurai Shōbun Inoue as Tsuzuki's messenger Asao Koike as Tsuzuki's messenger Eiko Miyoshi as Senior lady-in-waiting Isao Kimura as Messenger (Phantom) Seiji Miyaguchi as Messenger (Phantom)

Kwaidan is a 1964 Japanese anthology horror film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. It is based on stories from Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folk tales, mainly Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904), for which it is named. Audio in Japanese with English subtitles (Click on cc for subtitles). The film consists of four separate and unrelated stories. Kwaidan is an archaic transliteration of the term kaidan, meaning "ghost story". Receiving critical acclaim, the film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. In Japan, Yoko Mizuki won the Kinema Junpo award for Best Screenplay. It also won awards for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction at the Mainichi Film Concours. - "The Black Hair" (黒髪, Kurokami) is adapted from "The Reconciliation" and "The Corpse Rider", which appeared in Hearn's collection Shadowings (1900). - "The Woman of the Snow" (雪女, Yukionna) is an adaptation from Hearn's Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1903). - "Hoichi the Earless" (耳無し芳一の話, Miminashi Hōichi no Hanashi) is also adapted from Hearn's Kwaidan (though it incorporates aspects of The Tale of the Heike that are mentioned, but never translated, in Hearn's book). - "In a Cup of Tea" (茶碗の中, Chawan no Naka) is adapted from Hearn's Kottō: Being Japanese Curios, with Sundry Cobwebs (1902). Cast & Characters - Kurokami: Michiyo Aratama as First Wife Misako Watanabe as Second Wife Rentarō Mikuni as Husband Kenjiro Ishiyama as Father Ranko Akagi as Mother Cast & Characters - Yuki-Onna: Tatsuya Nakadai as Minokichi Keiko Kishi as the Yuki-Onna Yūko Mochizuki as Minokichi's mother Kin Sugai as Village woman Noriko Sengoku as Village woman Cast & Characters - Miminashi Hōichi no Hanashi: Katsuo Nakamura as Hoichi Tetsurō Tamba as Warrior Takashi Shimura as Head priest Yoichi Hayashi as Minamoto no Yoshitsune Kazuo Kitamura as Taira no Tomomori Yōsuke Kondō as Benkei Cast & Characters - Chawan no naka: Haruko Sugimura as Madame Osamu Takizawa as Author / Narrator Nakamura Ganjirō II as Publisher Noboru Nakaya as Shikibu Heinai Seiji Miyaguchi as Old man Kei Satō as Ghost samurai

Dolls is a 2002 Japanese film written, edited and directed by Japanese director Takeshi Kitano. A highly stylized art film, Dolls is part of Kitano's non-crime film oeuvre, like 1991's A Scene at the Sea, and unlike most of his other films, he does not act in it. The film has been praised for its cinematography (Katsumi Yanagishima) and features costumes by Yohji Yamamoto. The film features three primary sets of characters, each within their own distinct story. These stories do have some incidental visual cross-over with each other in the film, but are mostly separate. The first story is the one on which the film centers. The film leads into it by opening with a performance of Bunraku theatre, and closes with a shot of dolls from the same. The performance is that of "The Courier for Hell" by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and it alludes to themes that reappear later in the film. Because the rest of the film itself (as Kitano himself has said) can be treated as Bunraku in film form, the film is quite symbolic. In some cases, it is not clear whether a particular scene is meant to be taken literally. The film is also not in strict chronological order, but there is a strong visual emphasis on the changing of the seasons and the bonds of love over the progression of time (Matsumoto and Sawako spend most of the film physically connected by a red rope). Cast & Characters: Miho Kanno as Sawako Hidetoshi Nishijima as Matsumoto Tatsuya Mihashi as Hiro, the boss Kanji Tsuda as young Hiro Chieko Matsubara as Ryoko, the woman in the park Yūko Daike as young Ryoko Kyoko Fukada as Haruna Yamaguchi, the pop star Tsutomu Takeshige as Nukui, the fan Kayoko Kishimoto as Haruna's aunt Ren Osugi as Haruna's manager