Vengeance Is Mine

Vengeance Is Mine 1979

7.50

A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu is on the run from the police.

1979

The Eel

The Eel 1997

7.00

A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison.

1997

Black Rain

Black Rain 1989

7.50

Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.

1989

Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

Warm Water Under a Red Bridge 2001

6.50

A down-and-out businessman travels to a seaside town, where he meets a woman with unusual sexual powers.

2001

Why Not?

Why Not? 1981

6.40

The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.

1981

11’09”01—September 11

11’09”01—September 11 2002

6.40

Filmmakers from all over the world provide short films – each of which is eleven minutes, nine seconds, and one frame of film in length – that offer differing perspectives on the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

2002

Dr. Akagi

Dr. Akagi 1998

6.60

At the end of WWII, Japanese doctor Akagi searches for the cure for hepatitis in the prisoner-of-war camp.

1998

The Pornographers

The Pornographers 1966

7.33

Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.

1966

The Youth Killer

The Youth Killer 1976

6.50

Though 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.

1976

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On 1987

7.47

Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old veteran of the New Guinea campaign in World War II, sets out to conduct interviews with survivors and relatives to find the truth behind atrocities committed while the Japanese garrison was surrounded, in particular the unexplained killing of two Japanese privates in his unit.

1987

A Man Vanishes

A Man Vanishes 1967

6.88

A Man Vanishes examines the concept of Johatsu, tackling the phenomenon of people missing in Japan over the years. It picks one such person from the list, someone who had seemed to disappear from the face of the earth due to embezzlement from his company, and the filmmakers begin an investigative documentary into the reasons behind and attempt at tracking him down.

1967

Following the Unreturned Soldier: Thailand

Following the Unreturned Soldier: Thailand 1971

6.30

In Thailand, three Japanese soldiers, left in the jungle more than a quarter of a century after their country's defeat, come together to discuss what their life was like during and after the war. Part two of Imamura's quest for Japanese soldiers who stayed behind after the war.

1971