Yoshitaka Zushi
History
Yoshitaka Zushi (頭師佳孝, born March 19, 1955 in Osaka, Japan) was discovered when he was eight years old by one of Akira Kurosawa's partners and debuted in the role of young Toshio in Kaneto Shindô's "Haha" (Mother, 1963). Since then he has appeared first and foremost in Kurosawa's pictures, beginning with "Akahige" (Red Beard, 1965). His most outstanding role is undeniably that of Rokkuchan, the insane young man who drives a trolley through the slums, in the wonderful "Dodesukaden" (1970).
A tragic love story set in a mountain village in the Showa era, waiting for a fiancé who died in the war, but it is more than that. It breaks through the existing concept of a film with a beginning, middle, and end, and like Fellini or Godard... Hara Masato's cosmic film philosophy on the theme of "human history and media" unfolds like a symphony.
A Japanese Class B war criminal sets out to take full responsibility for the execution of American Airmen.
Naruse Uta is a "unique" 13 year old child. She possessed the talent to read sheet music even before she could speak, but has now come to the point where she hates playing the piano. Her father was also a piano virtuoso, but mysteriously disappeared from her life at a young age. Because of her father's disappearance Uta's mother had to move out of their posh home and into a far modest working class neighborhood. In this working class neighborhood there is a local grocer. The grocer's son Kikuna Oto happens to be a budding musician, but lacks the drive to truly succeed. That is until Uta Naruse comes into his life...
Self
Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Dodes'ka-den" (1970).
Chu-San
Neighbor
Based on the life of Hyakken Uchida, a Japanese author and academic. The film opens with Uchida resigning his job as a German professor at the onset of WWII. The story is told mostly in vignettes as he is cared for by former students in his old age.
Man in white suit
The Kitao family is coping with the loss of the eldest daughter, Chizuko, who was killed in a freak accident the year prior. When the other daughter Mika is suddenly in a dangerous situation, Chizuko returns as a ghost to save her; reunited with her sister, Mika begins spending time with Chizuko again.
Pvt. Noguchi
A collection of magical tales based upon the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.
With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.
Japanese film based on the life of sculptor Eikichi Takahashi, who died as a soldier on Guadalcanal.
Dramatic story of one man trying to make a difference.
Roku-Chan
This film follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. Yet as desperate as their circumstances are, each of them—the homeless father and son envisioning their dream house; the young woman abused by her uncle; the boy who imagines himself a trolley conductor—finds reasons to carry on.
Hiroko, who has a weekly magazine reporter as her lover is assigned as a public health nurse in a remote village. However, there is widespread poverty and ignorance beyond her imagination.
Chobo
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
Toshio
A divorced woman enters a marriage arranged by her mother in exchange for money to save the life of her seriously ill son.
The action takes place in a city where you can live on only 100 yen a day. The "General", who indulged in gambling with his henchmen all day, he was running his business and hitting him with a taxi turned out to be a trifle for him. A unique work, filled with tears and laughter, praising the beautiful human love that blooms at the bottom of life, focused on the genius “General” who lives in the troubled city of Kamagasaki.