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It is difficult to make a story about a failing marriage humorous. Yet, director Mikio Naruse made this possible, balancing bleakness and humor in his comedy-drama “Sudden Rain.” The film adapts a play by Kunio Kishida, with a screenplay by Yoko Mizuki, who previously collaborated with Naruse on features such as “Sound of the Mountain” and “Floating Clouds.”

The Whole Family is screening at Metrograph as part of the Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us program

Within a house located in a Tokyo suburb lives an unhappy childless married couple. Fumiko, a burdened housewife, frequently spends her days at home, while her indifferent husband, Ryotaro, works as a salaryman and returns home primarily concerned about dinner while managing his stomach issues. Their marriage is marked by frequent arguments, often sparked by trivial annoyances. However, the couple’s quarrels eventually escalate into clear animosity. Several outsiders, including the wife’s niece...

There are many films in Mikio Naruse‘s extensive filmography that centre on mothers and the hardships they endure, but few are as touching as “Mother“. Part of this emotional impact comes from the story being partly told through the eyes of young Toshiko. For once, the generation gap is not a source of conflict – Toshiko feels only love and admiration for her combative mother, Masako (Kinuyo Tanaka). More broadly, although the family faces many difficulties, it remains fundamentally healthy and united – another reason why “Mother” stands out in Naruse’s body of work.

Mother is screening at Metrograph as part of the Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us program

This may be due to the film’s origins: it was adapted from a child’s story that won a competition organised by a confectionery company in collaboration with Toho, which might explain the innocence and sentimentality that permeate the film.

The year 1951 is often seen as a turning point in the career of director Mikio Naruse, whose output dramatically improved after years of subpar features during the 1940s. “Ginza Cosmetics” is part of Naruse’s renaissance — a vivid, powerful portrayal of a middle-aged woman whose prospects for happiness and fulfillment are rapidly dwindling into nothingness. The essence of the director’s most celebrated later works, including “When a Woman Ascends the Stairs”, is already present in this heartbreaking social melodrama.

Sincerity is screening at Japan Society as part of the Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us program

The excellent, powerfully understated Kinuyo Tanaka plays Yukiko, a bar hostess at the Bel Ami, in the heart of Ginza — the lively entertainment district of postwar Tokyo. Although they are not sex workers, the hostesses working there walk a fine line, encouraging customers to drink and enjoy themselves while sometimes going out with them or entering into relationships.

Filmmaker Spike Lee took to his Instagram account to give fans a first glimpse of his upcoming Highest 2 Lowest, a remake of Akira Kurosawa's classic film noir High and Low, starring Denzel Washington. In the post, Lee thanked "the judge and jury for the not guilty verdict," referring to rapper and Highest 2 Lowest co-star A$AP Rocky's acquittal on felony assault charges on Feb. 18, 2025.

Alongside the caption, Lee shared a still of Rocky from the film, wearing what appears to be an orange prison uniform. Very little is know about the project other than it's a "reinterpretation of the great Kurosawa," according to Lee (via Variety). The original film, High and Low, follows Kingo Gondo (frequent Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune), a wealthy shoe company executive whose chauffeur's son is mistakenly kidnapped and ransomed for 30 million yen.

Lee stated in an interview with Deadline that Washington will play a new version of Mifune's character,...

Spike Lee spoke about his upcoming film, Highest 2 Lowest--which will reunite the director with Denzel Washington--and the Japanese director that inspired it.

Spike Lee has long been an acclaimed director. Films like Do The Right Thing and BlacKkKlansman are searing examinations of the impact of racial politics in the United States, while works like She's Gotta Have It and 25th Hour show his versatility as a director, covering wildly different subjects and genres. According to Variety, he spoke about his newest film, Highest 2 Lowest, during an on-stage talk Tuesday at the Red Sea Film Festival, for which he is president of the competition jury. He talked about how the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was a key inspiration for his film career.

Related 'I Didn't Give a F—': Spike Lee Defends Madonna's Casting in 1996 Comedy

Acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee breaks down his thought process...

Turner Classic Movies has picked up the exclusive North American television rights to the forthcoming documentary The Ozu Diaries, from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Daniel Raim. An intimate exploration of the life and legacy of Japanese cinematic master Yasujiro Ozu, the film will premiere on the festival circuit this year, followed by a theatrical release in 2025.

Produced with the support of the Ozu estate and Shochiku, the historic Japanese studio behind the director’s greatest works, The Ozu Diaries is a cinema history documentary that portrays the iconic filmmaker through his diaries, personal letters and interviews, plus rare archival footage, movie clips and new insights from some of his closest collaborators.

The project was initiated in 2023 to mark the 120th anniversary of Ozu’s birth. The movie will trace his journey from a rebellious young painter and cinephile in 1920s Japan to the globally renowned creator of classics like I Was Born,...

Unlike many of his Japanese filmmaking peers such as Yasujirō Ozu and Masaki Kobayashi, Akira Kurosawa often adapted Western literature in his films. That said, he was always sure to give them a Japanese reframing. He remade "Macbeth," "Hamlet," and "King Lear" as "Throne of Blood," "The Bad Sleep Well," and "Ran," respectively. However, "Throne" and "Ran" traded medieval Scotland/England for Feudal Japan while "The Bad Sleep Well" was about the 20th-century Japanese corporate world, not the Danish monarchy.

While Kurosawa was a student of Shakespeare, he didn't only trade in high-end literature. For "High and Low," he adapted the pulp detective novel "King's Ransom," moving the setting from Manhattan to Yokohama.

National Shoes executive Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) is disgusted by his colleagues' greed and apathy. He plans a leveraged buyout of the company, putting his life savings on the line. Unfortunately for Gondo, a kidnapper picks the...

The cinema of Hirokazu Koreeda is profoundly wonderful. His masterful storytelling and his elegant direction make for some unforgettable viewing experiences. Koreeda understands the complexions of human beings and brings them to the forefront in the scenarios he establishes in his movies. It would be hard to decide what is the director’s finest project. However, one thing is certain: his delicate feature “After Life” is a masterpiece.

Following the success of his film “Maborosi,” Hirokazu Koreeda proceeded with his next project. When constructing the concept for his next feature, the director took to his childhood memories of his grandfather, who gradually lost his memory during illness. These events would show the artist how important memory is to an individual’s identity. In conjunction with this, he would interview hundreds of people to prepare for this uniquely artistic work. Upon release, “After Life” would become a big hit and boost Koreeda’s popularity internationally.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Toho Studios were attempting to experiment to replicate the formula established in the original “Gojira” for original monster movies. Experiments ranged from “Rodan” and “The Mysterians” to “Varan the Unbelievable” and several others to varying degrees of success, finally prompting the implementation of one of the most beloved giant monsters in the studios’ canon with their all-time classic “Mothra”.

Mothra is screening at Japan Society, Friday, July 8, 2022 at 7:00 Pm

After rescuing several stranded mariners, Dr. Harada (Ken Uehara) informs reporter Fukuda (Frankie Sakai) and his photographer Michi (Kyoko Kagawa) about the survivors’ ability to return from a highly radioactive area in the South Pacific, without injury. As they claim the result is from the natives on a remote island that was long thought to have been deserted, he hooks up with Dr. Chujo (Hiroshi Koizumi) about the possibility of the story and...

Blu-ray Release Date: Feb. 26, 2013

Price: Blu-ray $39.95

Studio: Criterion

The 1954 Japanese film Sansho The Bailiff is a classic drama based on a Japanese folk tale crafted by one of the country’s great directors, Kenji Mizoguchi (Ugetsu).

When an idealistic governor Masao Shimiz disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife (Kinoyu Tanaka) and children (Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyôko Kagawa) left to fend for themselves and eventually separated by vicious slave traders. One of them, the villainous Sansho (Eitarô Shindô), is the brutal owner of a slave camp.

Under Mizoguchi’s direction, Sansho is regarded as one of world cinema’s greatest pieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil.

Criterion previously released a DVD edition of Sansho in 2007, which contained only a booklet as a bonus. The new Blu-ray offers the following bonus features:

· Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack...