The Best Asian Movies of the 1960s
Although I have already incoporated some of the very best Asian movies cinema has to offer in my best of-lists of a decade there are plenty of films that are more than worthy to be discovered. The reason why I started a new series of listings is simply that many Asian movies are very different of what we came to know of from American or European cinema. To fully appreciate the films on this list you should be open-minded because some of the craziness that asian directors think of goes way beyond that of what Western movie makers churn out every year. But it is exactly that often groundbreaking craziness which makes movies from Asia that much fun.
As ususal, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel up to it.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
As ususal, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel up to it.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
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- DirectorShûe MatsubayashiHugo GrimaldiStarsYôsuke NatsukiToshirô MifuneKôji TsurutaLt. Koji Kitami is a navigator-bombardier in Japan's Naval Air Force. He participates in the Japanese raid on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 and is welcomed with pride in his hometown on his return. As Japan racks up victory after victory in the Pacific War, Kitami is caught up in the emotion of the time and fights courageously for the standard of Japanese honor. But his assuredness of his government's righteousness is shaken after the Japanese navy is defeated in the debacle of Midway."Storm Over the Pacific"
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsHiroyuki NagatoKazuko YoshiyukiShinsuke AshidaA businessman returns from an extended trip, but something seems off. Criminal operations and religious cults come into play, while the man's daughter and her journalist boyfriend race to find the truth."The Sleeping Beast Within"
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsHiroyuki NagatoYûji OdakaMayumi ShimizuTwo reporters of divergent morals investigate a drug ring, delving deeper into the underworld in the process."Smashing the O-Line"
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsKayoko HonooKôji NakaharaMasahiko TsugawaIn Osaka's slum, capricious folks without futures engage in pilfering, assault and robbery, prostitution, and the trading of ID cards and blood."The Tomb of the Sun"
- DirectorTomu UchidaStarsChikage AwashimaHiromi HanazonoKensaku HaraKurando is a retired samurai. Granted a last-second reprieve from the obligation to commit Harakiri, he decides to settle down and marry one of two kabuki actresses who helped him enjoy what he thought would be his final days."The Master Spearman"
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMasayuki MoriKyôko KagawaA vengeful young man marries the daughter of a corrupt industrialist in order to seek justice for his father's suicide."The Bad Sleep Well"
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsTamio KawajiYoshiko NezuSayuri YoshinagaThe young rebel Jiro has to deal with an environment of crime and prostitution, and the impact of its choices on personal relationships: one with his mother, with the lover of the latter and with a girl in love with him."Everything Goes Wrong"
- DirectorNobuo NakagawaStarsShigeru AmachiUtako MitsuyaYôichi NumataA group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell."Jigoku - Sinners of Hell"
- DirectorTokuzô TanakaStarsKazuo HasegawaRaizô IchikawaShintarô KatsuA team of samurai warriors team up to defeat a shape-changing, supernatural creature."The Demon of Mount Oe"
- DirectorKoreyoshi KuraharaStarsTamio KawajiYuko ChiyoEiji GôA juvenile delinquent gets out of the pen and causes reckless mayhem, mostly directed at the girlfriend of the journalist who helped send him up."The Warped Ones"
- DirectorYoshihiro IshikawaStarsShôzaburô DateNamiji MatsuuraNoriko KitazawaTwo lovers lost in the mountains find themselves in a mysterious forest pond, as if some kind of force doesn't want to let them go."The Ghost Cat of Otama Pond"
- DirectorYasuzô MasumuraStarsYukio MishimaAyako WakaoEiji FunakoshiTakeo is a young yakuza who renounces his former criminal activities after being released from prison. But sometimes escaping the past is not so easy."Afraid to Die"
- DirectorTomu UchidaStarsChiezô KataokaYaeko MizutaniIsao KimuraA successful textile industrialist from the provinces, beloved by his employees for his kindness, cannot find a wife because of a disfiguring birthmark on his face. Even the courtesans in Yoshiwara refuse to entertain him, until indentured peasant prostitute Tamarazu, takes the unsavory assignment and treats him with brash tenderness."Killing in Yoshiwara"
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsMichitarô MizushimaMisako WatanabeShôichi OzawaA prison truck is assaulted and the two convicts inside are murdered. The prison guard on duty gets suspended for negligence and takes it upon himself to track down the killers."Take Aim at the Police Van"
- DirectorKoreyoshi KuraharaStarsKô NishimuraNobuo KanekoMari ShirakiA bank manager is blackmailed into robbing his own bank."Intimidation"
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsHideko TakamineTatsuya NakadaiMasayuki MoriA middle-aged bar hostess, constantly in debt, is faced with numerous social constraints and challenges posed to her by her family, customers and friends."When a Woman Ascends the Stairs"
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraYôko TsukasaMariko OkadaA widow tries to marry off her daughter with the help of her late husband's three friends."Late Autumn"
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsMiyuki KuwanoYûsuke KawazuYoshiko KugaA harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitch-hiking to rob middle-class men."Cruel Story of Youth"
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineTakahiro TamuraKôshirô MatsumotoA young man decides to become a warrior, causing trouble for his clan."The River Fuefuki"
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaTamao NakamuraHis ideals challenged by life as a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist faces ever greater tests in his fight for survival."Human Condition III - A Soldier's Prayer"
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneEijirô TônoTatsuya NakadaiA crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town."Yojimbo"
- DirectorTomu UchidaStarsKinnosuke NakamuraAkiko KazamiWakaba IrieThe film begins when the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi is still named Shinmen Takezo. After being on the losing side of the Battle of Sekigahara, Takezo and his friend manage to escape and come across a young woman and her mother."Miyamoto Musashi: Zen and Sword"
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsHiroyuki NagatoJitsuko YoshimuraMasao MishimaA young hoodlum decides to work for a criminal organization that is tearing itself apart."Pigs and Battleships"
- DirectorYoshitarô NomuraStarsYoshiko KugaHizuru TakachihoIneko ArimaTeiko's new husband disappears on a business trip. She discovers a pair of mysterious postcards hidden away in a book that may be clues to his fate."Zero Focus"
- DirectorYasuzô MasumuraStarsAyako WakaoHiroshi KawaguchiEitarô OzawaAyako is charged with murdering her much older academic husband while climbing a mountain. Ayako was having an affair, apparently with her husband's approval, and this complicates the trial."A Wife Confesses"