50 best japanese movies of the 1990s
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50 titles
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoKayoko KishimotoRen ÔsugiNishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.
- 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.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsMakiko EsumiTakashi NaitôTadanobu AsanoA young woman's husband apparently commits suicide without warning or reason, leaving behind his wife and infant.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoYusuke SekiguchiKayoko KishimotoA young, naive boy sets out alone on the road to find his wayward mother. Soon he finds an unlikely protector in a crotchety man and the two have a series of unexpected adventures along the way.
- 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.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsArata IuraErika OdaSusumu TerajimaAfter death, people have a week to choose only one memory to keep for eternity.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaIshirô HondaStarsAkira TeraoMitsuko BaishôToshie NegishiA collection of tales based upon eight of director Akira Kurosawa's recurring dreams.
- DirectorShinji SômaiStarsKiichi NakaiJunko SakuradaTomoko TabataRenko, a girl in the sixth grade, is at first unperturbed by her parents' decision to separate. With the companionship of her boyfriend, Minoru, and Sally, a classmate in the same boat, Renko gradually realises the practical implications of divorce, and tries repeatedly to get her parents to reconcile. An old man teaches her about the need to forget the past...
- DirectorGakuryû IshiiStarsRena KomineShinsuke AokiReiko MatsuoA teenage girl gains supernatural power after an accident and comes to understand her place in the universe.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsClaude MakiHiroko ÔshimaSabu KawaharaThe lives of a young, hearing-impaired and gloomy couple are fulfilled after the boy holds interest in surfboarding.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsKaori FujiiShin'ya TsukamotoKôji TsukamotoSuspecting that his childhood friend, a professional boxer, is having a love affair with his fiancée, a businessman starts training rigorously in order to take him down.
- DirectorHideaki AnnoStarsTadanobu AsanoMitsuru FukikoshiMegumi HayashibaraA high school girl engages in compensated dating in order to buy an expensive ring before the day ends.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsRyo IshibashiEihi ShiinaTetsu SawakiA widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
- DirectorTakashi KoizumiStarsAkira TeraoYoshiko MiyazakiShirô MifuneDuring a downpour, a generous ronin and his supporting wife are stranded at a country inn. The ronin comes to the attention of a lord who wants to hire him as an instructor for his men, who treat the ronin with disrespect.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsKoji YakushoMisa ShimizuMitsuko BaishôA businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After the release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking almost to no one except an eel he befriended while in prison.
- DirectorNaomi KawaseStarsJun KunimuraMachiko OnoSachiko IzumiDepicts the dissolution of a small family in a remote Japanese timber village.
- 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.
- DirectorGakuryû IshiiStarsRena KomineTadanobu AsanoKotomi KyônoBus conductor Tomiko falls in love with driver Niitaka, even though she also suspects him of being a serial killer who killed his female conductors after tiring of them.
- DirectorShunji IwaiStarsMiho NakayamaEtsushi ToyokawaBunjaku HanWhen exchanging letters two women discover new things about a man they knew.
- DirectorSabuStarsShin'ichi TsutsumiKeisuke HoribeRen ÔsugiA postman is mistaken for a dangerous criminal by the police.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsMasahiro MotokiRenji IshibashiMakoA salaryman and yakuza are each sent by their bosses to a remote Chinese village but discover more than they expected.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsHikari IshidaTomoko NakajimaToshinori OmiFollows two sisters, one clumsy and ignored, the other a perfect child. After the latter dies in an accident, she returns as a ghost to guide her little sister.
- DirectorRyosuke HashiguchiStarsYoshinori OkadaAyumi HamasakiKouji YamaguchiThe movie is built around the very complex relationships between Yoshida, leaving Shimizu for Aihara (or at least he tries to), and his friend Ito, whose love for Yoshida seems to have little chance for success. In the end we have a coalition of Ito and Aihara - who may or may not be in love with Ito - teaching Yoshida a lesson.
- DirectorEric KotStarsCalvin ChoiTakeshi KaneshiroVincent KokDirector Eric Kot discusses the process of developing a love story, playing with various probabilities, and highlighting character feelings. These monologues are intercut with dramatizations of his evolving narrative.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsShin'ya TsukamotoKirina ManoTatsuya NakamuraA man sees his life changed forever when his fiancee shoots herself. Baffled, he wants by all means to obtain such a weapon of destruction and he finds himself caught in the middle of a violent group of young vicious punks. They first beat him severely and then he seeks revenge with his fist, then with a gun. Everything from then on is a complete downward spiral.