Yoshio Omori

「砂の器」の名コンビである松本清張(原作・脚色)と野村芳太郎監督のコンビによる、推理サスペンス・ドラマ。桃井かおりと岩下志麻を主役に迎え、自動車事故で死亡した富山の財閥と、その夫人に着せられた保険金殺人の疑惑を辣腕女弁護士が解明してみせる。富豪の後妻に桃井かおりが扮し、その独特のエロキューションや、悪女と呼ばれる女のふてぶてしさ、可愛らしさを見事に表現。対する女弁護士には岩下志麻が扮し、終始毅然とした“理性の女”ぶりを発揮。そのクールな表情は、時としてホラー映画さながらの冷徹さを見せるほど。 この“理と情”のシンボルとも言えるふたりの女を、野村監督の演出は見事な対比で描いて見せ、事件の概要をも彼女らの言動を通して観客がすんなり理解出来るあたりの手腕はさすが。また桃井の後妻は過去に関する描写にウエイトを置いている一方、岩下の弁護士は離婚歴があり、夫側にいる娘とのやりとりを通してしか、「なぜ、彼女がそういう女になったか?」について言及していない、この描きわけが面白い。観客としては当然、桃井の悪女のほうに感情移入しがちなのだが、その彼女の窮状を救うのが、岩下の冷静な判断力と推理であるあたりの皮肉とカタルシスが、爽快な後味を与えている。ただし判決確定後、ふたりの女が交わす本音のやりとりは、両女優の演技合戦という意味も含めて、世の男性諸氏を恐怖のどん底にたたき落とすほどの壮絶さ。ご注意を。

稲川圭子（小林麻美）は、婚約者の田村樹生（小林薫）のことで神経科医の会沢（高橋悦史）を訪ねた。樹生の三人の兄が次々と蒸発するという謎の事件が続き、そして今度は自分が蒸発してしまうのではないかという強迫観念にとらわれて樹生がノイローゼに陥ってしまったのだ。まるで神隠しにあうかのように忽然と人が消える。その事件を解く鍵として、会沢は樹生に夢の記述を勧める。夢という形で近い将来に起こることを予見する本能が人間にはあるのだという。樹生と圭子はやがて三人の蒸発には奇妙な関連があることに気付くのだが…。

Youth movie.

A young composer falls in love with the beautiful daughter of a wealthy company president and flies to Paris when he learns she is studying music there. But, when he finally wins her after many difficulties, he somehow feels empty, because his spirit has always been aroused against barriers before him.

School teachers responsible for the lives of their students work to evacuate Allied bombings near the end of WWII.

A story about four best friends and their lives inside and outside college. Then suddenly one of them receives a surprising offer to be a movie star.

Japanese drama.

The film tells the story of four orphans living in an impoverished mining town. An adaptation of a best-selling book based on the diary of a ten-year-old zainichi (ethnic Korean Japanese) girl, it was one of the first films to deal with the subject of zainichi identity and struggles in Japan.

College students come up with a scam to rob a gambling house. When it comes time to collect, the money isn't there, leading the young men into even more serious crime.

Television production of I Want to Be a Shellfish. On a post-war peaceful day in Japan, Toyomatsu Shimizu, a barber as well as a good father and husband, is suddenly arrested by the Prefectural Police as a war criminal and sued for murder. According to the accusation by GHQ, Toyomatsu "attemped to kill a US prisoner", which was nothing but an order by his superior and failed after all with hurting the prisoner by weak Toyomatsu. Also, Toyomatsu was driven to corner at the trial by the fact that he fed the US prisoner some burdock roots to nourish him. Toyomatsu believes nothing but being not guilty, but he is sentenced to death by hanging. Prior to the execution, Toyomatsu writes a long farewell letter to his family, the wife and the only son: "If I ever incarnate, I hate to be a human being any more.... Oh yes, I would like to be...a shellfish living on the rock-bottom of the sea."

Two young Japanese schoolboys, one skinny and poor, one fat and well-to-do, become unlikely friends.

Harsh film about a car dealer who gets into financial trouble.

A university professor and his wife have two sons with infantile paralysis. Through trial and error, they struggle to open a school for disabled children at their own expense. Based on a true story, it features natural child performances under Hiroshi Shimizu’s skillful direction.

Ginko, a poor cobbler's daughter, becomes a geisha to support her family. She passes from one geisha house to the next, trying to find love and hope in the process. No matter how hard she tries, she just can't escape her sad fate.

This film is strongly anti-war film. The film is based on the collection of writings by Japanese student soldiers who died during World War II. The film is located to Burma. It shows the everyday problems of soldiers in contrast of their ideas and the cynicism of their commanders. Soldiers are also victims of military bullying by their commanders.

An attempt is made to suppress a journalist's investigation of collusion between a rural police chief and the local gangster bosses.