キネマ旬報 - 100 Best Japanese Films of the 20th Century
キネマ旬報Commemorative Magazine's 80th Anniversary Celebration.
Top 100 Japanese films selected in 1999.
A list selected by 140 people in the film industry.
Top 100 Japanese films selected in 1999.
A list selected by 140 people in the film industry.
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- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsHideko TakamineMasayuki MoriMariko OkadaA tragic social drama set in post war Japan and concerns a lonely woman trying to find purpose and stability in a devastated Tokyo.
- DirectorTomu UchidaStarsRentarô MikuniSachiko HidariKôji MitsuiThree thieves escape from a heist, one of them killing the other two. He is sheltered by a prostitute and sought after by the police, but only after ten years his true motivation unravels.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.
- DirectorYûzô KawashimaStarsFurankî SakaiSachiko HidariYôko MinamidaIn the last days of the Shogunate, a resourceful grifter seeks to outwit competing prostitutes, rebellious samurai and other inhabitants of a brothel in order to survive the hardened times.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsMasumi HarukawaKô NishimuraShigeru TsuyuguchiA housewife living under her tyrannical husband has her life stressfully turned upside down after getting raped by a burglar.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsBunta SugawaraHiroki MatsukataKunie TanakaDuring the violent chaos of post-War Japanese black market, a young gangster called Shozo Hirono has to keep up with the rapid shifts of power between unscrupulous bosses.總5部曲
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineItsuo WatanabeMakoto MiyagawaSchoolteacher Hisako Oishi forms an emotional bond with her pupils and teaches them various virtues, while at the same time worrying about their future.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMasayuki MoriMachiko KyôKinuyo TanakaA tale of ambition, family, love, and war set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraNobuo KanekoShin'ichi HimoriA bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaTsukie MatsuuraIchirô SugaiFollows a woman's fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of society.
- DirectorSatsuo YamamotoStarsTakashi KandaYoshi KatôIsao KimuraJust before the end of the war, Japanese soldier Kitani is released from prison, having served his term for theft. Told in flashback, viewers learn about Kitani's past and reasons behind his prison sentence.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira IshihamaShima IwashitaWhen a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
- DirectorKazuhiko HasegawaStarsBunta SugawaraKenji SawadaKimiko IkegamiA high school science teacher builds an atomic bomb and uses it to extort the nation, but cannot decide what he wants. Meanwhile, a determined cop is catching up to him, as is radiation poisoning.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHitoshi TakagiNoriko HidakaChika SakamotoWhen two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.
- DirectorKôhei OguriStarsTakahiro TamuraMariko KagaNobutaka AsaharaIn post-War Japan, a boy from a noodle store-owning family befriends a neighboring boy living in poverty.
- DirectorSadao YamanakaStarsChôjûrô KawarasakiKan'emon NakamuraTsuruzô NakamuraThe lives of two slum neighbors, one of a happy-go-lucky gambler and the other of a poor ronin, converge when the two get involved with the affairs of a powerful samurai official and his gangsters.
- DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsTsumasaburô BandôKeiko SonoiYasushi NagataMatsugoro is a poor rickshaw driver whose animated spirit and optimistic demeanor make him a favorite of the town. Matsu helps an injured boy, Toshio, and is hired by the boy's parents.
- 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.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsKeiko MatsuzakaMorio KazamaMitsuru HirataA lowly obsequious member of a movie star's entourage agrees to marry his boss's pregnant mistress so he can continue his feckless lifestyle. He then takes up dangerous work as a stunt man to support his new family. Duty and loyalty turn into something deeper.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsFumio WatanabeAkiko KoyamaTetsuo AbeA young boy reluctantly aids his swindling father in a threatening scam.
- DirectorYôichi SaiStarsGorô KishitaniRuby MorenoMoeko EzawaStory of everyday life and romance of a taxi driver who is a Korean resident in Japan.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraChishû RyûChikage AwashimaA family chooses a match for their daughter Noriko, but she, surprisingly, has her own plans.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsKen OgataRentarô MikuniChôchô MiyakoChronological exploits of Iwao Enokizu, a murderous thief on the run.
- DirectorYoshimitsu MoritaStarsYûsaku MatsudaJûzô ItamiSaori YukiJapanese parents hire a tutor for their foolish son and get a critic of their lifestyle.
- DirectorYoshitarô NomuraStarsTetsurô TanbaGô KatôKensaku MoritaDetectives investigate the murder of an old man found in a Tokyo rail yard.
- 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.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaChikage AwashimaA Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.總6部曲
- DirectorTadashi ImaiStarsYoshiko KugaEiji OkadaOsamu TakizawaThe hero Saburo (Okada Eiji) is obstructed by a series of events from meeting Keiko (Kuga Yoshiko), his fiancee.
- DirectorTatsumi KumashiroStarsSayuri IchijoHiroko IsayamaKazuko ShirakawaThe story is about a stripper's relationships with two men: her boyfriend and a club owner.
- DirectorKiriô UrayamaStarsSayuri YoshinagaMitsuo HamadaEijirô TônoSet in Kawaguchi, just north of Tokyo in the early 60s, the movie chronicles the lives of poor foundry workers and their families; and one girl's dreams of self-improvement through going on to higher education.
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsHideki TakahashiJunko AsanoYûsuke KawazuDuring the 1930s, a teenager yearns for a Catholic girl, whose only desire is to reform his sinful tendencies. Hormones raging, the young man channels his unsatisfied lust into the only outlet available: savage, crazed violence.
- DirectorYôji YamadaStarsKen TakakuraChieko BaishôKaori MomoiThree complete strangers embark on a road-trip to Hokkaido.
- DirectorMasayuki SuôStarsKoji YakushoTamiyo KusakariNaoto TakenakaA successful but unhappy Japanese accountant finds the missing passion in his life when he begins to secretly take ballroom dance lessons.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsSeizaburô KawazuKazuo KitamuraTanie KitabayashiLife story of a woman born in poverty trying to succeed. Through her many schemes, she faces her ups and downs in a cyclical nature, fueled mostly by self-interest.
- DirectorShirô ToyodaStarsHisaya MorishigeChikage AwashimaYôko TsukasaDespite paternal disapproval, the heir of a wealthy family embarks on a relationship with a Geisha.
- DirectorHideyuki HirayamaStarsMieko HaradaMaho NonamiFumiyo KohinataA woman with an abusive childhood travels back to taiwan from japan with her daughter in order to find her father's missing ashes, confronting her past along the way, discovering many secrets that were hidden from her throughout her life.
- DirectorTatsumi KumashiroStarsJunko MiyashitaRenji IshibashiAkoAt his working place, Kozo and his colleague gangrape the boss' teenage daughter. Then, on the highway, he picks up a red-haired woman walking on the road back to his home. She ends up staying the night. Later, the woman reveals that she has left her husband and son, but refuses to divulge her name. On the other hand, the boss' daughter informs Kozo's colleague that she is pregnant. They decide to elope but, before that, he demands Kozo to let him have sex with the red-haired woman...
- DirectorKichitarô NegishiStarsToshiyuki NagashimaJohnny OhkuraEri IshidaUrban sprawl and corrupt materialism have a devastating effect on farming families near Tokyo.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsTetsuya WatariTatsuo UmemiyaYumi TakigawaA self-destructive man becomes a powerful member of the Japanese mafia but quickly loses his self control. Based on the true story of Rikio Ishikawa.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoAya KokumaiTetsu WatanabeSeveral yakuza from Tokyo are sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. The war then escalates and the Tokyo drifters decide to lay low at the beach.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneYutaka SadaTatsuya NakadaiAn executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.
- DirectorKihachi OkamotoStarsSeiji MiyaguchiRokkô TouraChishû RyûA dramatization of the 24-hour period in which the Japanese government was deadlocked over the decision to accept or reject the Allies' demand for an unconditional surrender following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsMiyuki KuwanoFumio WatanabeMasahiko TsugawaLong takes and a highly theatrical visual approach combine to form a tense and confrontational look at the decline of a socialist student activists' movement in Japan.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko AwajiDuring a sweltering summer, a rookie homicide detective tries to track down his stolen Colt pistol.
- DirectorKazuo HaraStarsKenzo OkuzakiRiichi AikawaMasaichi HamaguchiA documentary following Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old WW2 veteran notorious for his protests against Emperor Hirohito, as he tries to expose the needless executions of two Japanese soldiers during the war.
- DirectorTôru KawashimaStarsShôji KanekoEiko NagashimaKôji KitaRyuji tries to quit yakuza and spend a decent life with his wife Mariko and daughter Aya, but as he's used to getting easy money, it'd become hard for him to work hard and get little. Eventually he's back to where he belongs.
- DirectorKôzaburô YoshimuraStarsSetsuko HaraYumeko AizomeOsamu TakizawaAfter Japan's loss in the war, the wealthy, cultured, liberal Anjo family have to give up their mansion and their way of life. They hold one last ball at the house before leaving. The seemingly cold, cynical son secretly grieves for his defeated father and the values that the war destroyed, while the daughter tries to prevent father from taking his life and to find her own place in the new Japan.
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsKeiko KishiHiroshi KawaguchiKinuyo TanakaSet in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this standard drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMisa UeharaMinoru ChiakiLured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
- DirectorEiichi KudôStarsTakayuki AkutagawaChiezô KataokaKôtarô SatomiA group of samurai plan to assassinate a sadistic feudal lord.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKazuo HasegawaKyôko KagawaEitarô ShindôIshun is a wealthy but unsympathetic master printer who has wrongly accused his wife and best employee of being lovers. To escape punishment, the accused run away together, but Ishun is certain to be ruined if word gets out.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsYôji MatsudaYuriko IshidaYûko TanakaOn a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
- DirectorTadashi ImaiStarsSetsuko HaraRyô IkebeMichiyo KogureWhen a post-war high school girl is seen with an older boy many find the nontraditional notion unacceptable and try to trick the girl and also assail her right to continue the relationship. Cue her teacher who not only supports the girl, but encourages her pupils to do as they wish and ignore what society indoctrinates. Not everyone agrees with the teacher and her modern ideas however.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsRentarô MikuniChôichirô KawarasakiHideko OkiyamaAn engineer from Tokyo arrives on a drought-ridden tropical island to drill a well to power a nearby sugar mill. He meets the inbred Futori family, hated by the locals for breaking religious customs.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsKen KanekoMasanobu AndôLeo MorimotoDropping out of high school, two friends at first find success, one as a up-and-coming boxer and one as a low level gangster. Yet, their life decisions still find a way of catching up with them.
- DirectorShun NakaharaStarsHiroko NakajimaMiho TsumikiYasuyo ShirashimaAt an all-girls school, a group of girls prepare for a stage performance of Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard".
- DirectorKazuhiko HasegawaStarsYutaka MizutaniMieko HaradaEtsuko IchiharaThough his parents help him run the family business, Jun still feels persecuted by their love; when they bar him from meeting with his girlfriend, tensions increase.
- DirectorShinji SômaiStarsYuichi MikamiYûki KudôTomokazu MiuraThe movie takes place in the five-day period before, during and after a ferocious, seemingly liberating typhoon, which several students endure while marooned in their school gymnasium.
- DirectorSadao YamanakaStarsDenjirô ÔkôchiKiyozoKunitarô SawamuraA man gets rid of a cheap pot without knowing it contains a map to a treasure. As word spreads, many join in hunting it.
- DirectorChûsei SoneStarsYûki MizuharaKeizô KanieJun AkiWhen a writer for a porn magazine, watches a "rape" porn that is set in a school, he becomes obsessed with the lead actress, Nami, and tries to find her. He meets her by chance as he arrives for a shoot at a hotel.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsKinuyo TanakaTeiji TakahashiYûko MochizukiA kabuki theatre-inflected story about a poor village whose people have to be carried to a nearby mountain to die once they get old.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsNoriko AritaChishû RyûHaruko SugimuraAn old man, being rowed along a river, sees a field of daisies and thinks back to when he was fifteen. He recalls his time with, and away from, the girl cousin he grew up with and would have married, except the family and other pressures got in the way.
- 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.總5部曲
- DirectorKazuo KurokiStarsYoshio HaradaRenji IshibashiRie NakagawaThe last three days in the life of Ryoma Sakamoto, an imperial loyalist who tried to unite the warring Choshu and Satsuma clans in order to overthrow the Shogunate.
- DirectorSenkichi TaniguchiStarsRentarô MikuniAkemi NegishiKeiju KobayashiStory about poor Japanese woman living near an American army base why resort to prostitution.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneYûzô KayamaTsutomu YamazakiIn 19th-century Japan, a rough-tempered yet charitable town doctor trains a young intern.
- DirectorYasuo FuruhataStarsKen TakakuraChieko BaishôAyumi IshidaConstantly put to the test and faced with tragedy wherever he turns, can a man finally find solace and a modicum of love or rest with what is left of his hometown, his family, love or himself?
- DirectorTatsumi KumashiroStarsRie NakagawaToru OheMoeko EzawaKatsu, a fugitive youth on the run from the yakuza, returns to his birthplace and begins an affair with the cinema owner.
- DirectorYôichi HigashiStarsToshiyuki NagashimaTsugiaki YoshidaAiko MorishitaThird (Toshiyuki Nagashima) is an aimless young man who hangs around with a couple of girls who are amateur hookers. One day, while acting as their pimp, he gets into a conflict with a young gangster and winds up killing him.
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsYoshiko SakumaSayuri YoshinagaYûko KotegawaThe orphaned Makioka sisters look for a husband for their third sister, Yukiko, as the rebellious youngest sister, Taeko, is kept waiting her turn.
- DirectorShinsuke OgawaThis important film compiles "Magino Story" footage taken by Ogawa for a period of more than ten years after he moved to Magino village.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsYûko MochizukiYôko KatsuragiMasami TauraAlternating in time, between the end of World War II and 1953, Haruko, a widow, does what she can to keep her daughter Utako and son Seiichi safe, fed, and sheltered. By 1953, it's clear that the children, as they enter adulthood, want little to do with their mother. They have a different view of their childhood and her sacrifices: in their eyes, she abandoned them to live a life of pleasure. The self-pitying Haruko is sure her life was one of pain and humiliation, for her children. As Seiichi, now a medical student, announces his plans to let a wealthy man adopt him, and as Utako considers the offer to go away with a married man who is her English teacher, what is left for Haruko?
- DirectorYoshimitsu MoritaStarsKumiko AkiyoshiKatsunobu ItoIsao BitôIn a film about Rakugo, which is a traditional Japanese sit-down comedy, a man living in Tokyo is a young comic practitioner starting out. On his birthday he visits a Soapland (sexually themed bath house) for the first time. He meets 'Elizabeth' who is uninterested in Rakugo. She does like his personality, however, and they begin seeing each other and grow closer. The man visits a girls' school for work and falls in love. He discusses his emotions with Elizabeth whom he also likes. Then he meets his schoolgirl's parents and showcases his art.
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsNobuko OtowaTaiji TonoyamaShinji TanakaA family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.
- DirectorYoshitarô NomuraStarsMinoru ÔkiTakahiro TamuraSeiji MiyaguchiTwo cops on stakeout wait for a murderer.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsYûzô KayamaYôko TsukasaMitsuko KusabueA man falls in love with the widow of a man he killed in a car accident. Eventually she falls in love with him in return.
- DirectorKôichi SaitôStarsKeiko KishiYoshie MinamiKen'ichi HagiwaraThis sad Japanese romantic melodrama tells the brief love story of a very alert young man and an extremely beautiful woman who meet, fall in love and part during a train ride.
- DirectorTôru MurakawaStarsYûsaku MatsudaMako MidoriAkemi MariA journalist steals a gun from a cop after killing him and goes on a spree of robbery and murder.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsTatsuya FujiEiko MatsudaAoi NakajimaA passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to an obsessive and ultimately destructive sexual relationship.
- DirectorToshiya FujitaStarsKenji TakaokaKumiko AkiyoshiHiroyuki NagatoA man meets a girl in the city. He falls in love with the chick. She claims she has fallen head over heels for him. She moves in with him. Returning home one day there is a man in their room. The man is lying down. He tells them he is an insurance salesman and he has stomachache. He has made himself at home. The three become room-mates. When the boyfriend returns home one day he finds his girlfriend sharing a bed with their room-mate. She claims she was scared due to a crematorium nearby. They move to another house.
- DirectorMansaku ItamiStarsChiezô KataokaShôsaku SugiyamaSôjin KamiyamaAkanishi Kakita moved from the countryside to a big city. Although he comes from the samurai class, he now lives in poverty among the common people in times of rebellion, but the failed Kakita is not skilled in martial arts.
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsKôji IshizakaKeiko KishiAkiko NishinaKôsuke Kindaichi, a somewhat peculiar private detective, visits a remote town. He meets a police detective and they start to investigate an old unsolved murder. Then some murders happen. Kindaichi must find out about the past in order to reveal who the murderer is.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsHideko TakamineMitsuko MiuraKyôko KagawaPoor, pathetic mother Ose has four children, three daughters and a son, by four different men.
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsChiezô KataokaRyôsuke KagawaTakashi ShimuraOharu is in love with a ronin who lives next door. A mistake puts Oharu's father deeply in debt to the local lord and he is confronted with having to sell Oharu in order to pay it off.
- DirectorJûzô ItamiStarsTsutomu YamazakiNobuko MiyamotoKin SugaiWhen Wabisuke's father-in-law unexpectedly dies, the family goes through a series of events and occurrences as the funeral unfolds over three days in their home.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiTsutomu YamazakiKen'ichi HagiwaraA petty thief with an utter resemblance to a samurai warlord is hired as the lord's double. When the warlord later dies the thief is forced to take up arms in his place.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsKen OgataAyumi IshidaMieko HaradaIn the 50s, the complicated life of a popular writer who must share his life with his family, his numerous mistresses and his work. Adapted from autobiographical story by Kazuo Dan, who published it a few months before his death.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineShûji SanoChishû RyûA girl who had left her home village for life in Tokyo returns to her home years later, and evokes a scandal when the locals discover that she's a stripper.
- DirectorHideo Sekigawa
- DirectorKiyoshi KurosawaStarsMasato HagiwaraKoji YakushoTsuyoshi UjikiA frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
- DirectorTai KatôStarsKinnosuke NakamuraJunko IkeuchiChiyonosuke AzumaAccording to the code of the gamblers, Tokijiro, though he dislikes killing, has to join in the fighting when afforded a night's stay and meals at the home of a town boss. He will be tested again and again in the bloody tale.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMinoru ChiakiIsuzu YamadaA war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle.
- DirectorKô NakahiraStarsYûjirô IshiharaMasahiko TsugawaMie KitaharaSpending their summer on an exotic beach, two brothers fall for the same beautiful girl, whose charm and looks may hide more than they they bargained for.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûShima IwashitaKeiji SadaAn aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter.
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsAkio KoboriSetsuko WakayamaJun Tazaki總9部曲
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsTadanori YokooRie YokoyamaMoichi TanabeStory of a bookstore thief named Birdey who is led through various adventures in Tokyo's Shinjuku district by salesgirl Umeko.
- DirectorHiroshi TeshigaharaStarsEiji OkadaKyôko KishidaKôji MitsuiAn entomologist on vacation is trapped by local villagers into living with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.