Japanese Films at Ames Public Library
Today is 12/2/2008
In Japanese with English captions, unless otherwise noted.
Audition (DVD FOREIGN AUD) 115 min. 1999.
Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), a middle-aged widower of many years, is urged by his son and film producer friend Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimura) to start dating again. Yoshikawa plans to hold a phony audition for a non-existent film. After interviewing 30 young hopefuls, Aoyama falls for the actress Asami (Eihi Shina), a former ballerina with a suspicious past.
The Bad Sleep Well (VIDEO FOREIGN BAD) 150 min. 1960.
This film features a grieving son (Toshiro Mifune), who seeks revenge for his father's murder as he infiltrates the corrupt construction company that was responsible for his father’s death.
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi; Sonatine (DVD FOREIGN BLI)
2 discs (116 min. and 94 min). 1998.
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi stars Japanese screen legend Beat Takeshi in an action-packed, award-winning film that has been compared to Kill Bill Volume One. Sonatine also stars Beat Takeshi in a fast and furious gangland thriller with an edgy Pulp Fiction attitude.
The Burmese Harp (VIDEO FOREIGN BUR) 116 min. 1957.
A Japanese soldier recalls experiences of his company as it escaped from Burma to Thailand in July 1945.
Chaos (DVD FOREIGN CHA) 104 min. 1999.
After a Japanese businessman's trophy wife vanishes, ransom demands arrive and the police are summoned. As the truth unfolds, "Chaos" transforms from a precision neo-noir to a macabre thriller and ultimately into a sexual gothic.
Drunken Angel (VIDEO FOREIGN DRU) 98 min. 1948.
The story of a physician who tries to be a healer in a world of hoodlums.
Flirt (VIDEO FOREIGN FLI) In Japanese, English, and German, with English captions. 85 min. 1995.
An intriguing look at conflicting messages of desire and deceit in three separate stories between three different couples in New York, Berlin, and Tokyo.
Gate of Hell (VIDEO FOREIGN GAT) 90 min. 1953.
Based on a real crime committed in Japan in 1159, a samurai accidentally murders the woman he loves and becomes a monk to expiate his offense.
The Go Masters (VIDEO FOREIGN GO) 134 min. 1983.
International conflicts arise because of the ascendance of a Chinese master of the game of Go. He must make the terrible choice between retaining his Chinese citizenship or becoming Japanese when he defeats the Japanese champion
Good Morning (DVD FOREIGN GOO) 93 min. 1959.
Satiric comedy in which two brothers refuse to talk until their parents agree to buy them a television set. Set in a 1950s residential suburb of Tokyo.
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