Eiji Oshimoto

Umi mo yusha

Chûshingura - Zempen: Akahokyô no maki

An episodic film about life in and around a rural police station and the people it serves.

The Woman and the Pirate

1945 Japanese movie

This film begins with a teacher describing to his students how brave the crew was which died as result of Japan's first submarine accident. The film then follows two of the pupils, one becomes a submarine captain and the other designs submarines.

A band of guerrillas fight against occupying British forces in Malaya.

This 1932 adaptation is the earliest sound version of the ever-popular and much-filmed Chushingura story of the loyal 47 retainers who avenged their feudal lord after he was obliged to commit hara-kiri due to the machinations of a villainous courtier. As the first sound version of the classic narrative, the film was something of an event, and employed a stellar cast, who give a roster of memorable performances. Director Teinosuke Kinugasa was primarily a specialist in jidai-geki (period films), such as the internationally celebrated Gate of Hell (Jigokumon, 1953), and although he is now most famous as the maker of the avant-garde silent films A Page of Madness (Kurutta ichipeji, 1926) and Crossroads (Jujiro, 1928), Chushingura is in fact more typical of his output than those experimental works. The film ranked third in that year’s Kinema Junpo critics’ poll, and Joseph Anderson and Donald Richie noted that 'not only the sound but the quick cutting was admired by many critics.

The debut film of Hiroshi Shimizu is about a man who, while searching for his lost daughter, encounters a young woman and her mother who are also struggling.

A blacksmith is chased out of the village by the sinister village chief and forced to move to the forest with his wife and two sons. The blacksmith's younger son is disabled, and the other children in the village tease him. The older son aspires to become a doctor in order to fix his brother's leg. The film depicts the bond between a father and his sons. Only 18 minutes survive.

The General, Staff and Soldiers

Heinosuke Gosho evokes in this film the family conflicts engendered by the eternal problem of a father who projects his professional desires on the life of his son. The sister Machiko is the essential link that will allow everyone to apologize to each other and achieve reconciliation.

Japanese silent film from 1926. (Obo-chan meaning "Young Master.") Written by Ayame Mizushima, the first female screenwriter in Japan.

Japanese silent film from 1926, directed by Heinosuke Gosho and featuring Kinuyo Tanaka.

Japanese silent film from 1927.

Japanese contemporary drama from 1927.

Japanese silent film from 1927.

Japanese silent film from 1928.

Japanese silent film from 1928.

Japanese silent film from 1928.

Japanese silent film from 1929.

Japanese silent film from 1929.

A farmer’s boy, obsessed with his balsa-and-paper flying models and with dreams of real aircraft, develops a friendship with the daughter of the local squire, who introduces the lad to her pilot brother and his flying officer friends; through hard work, and despite the handicap of a lowly class status, he eventually succeeds in qualifying as a pilot and joining the air force.

Japanese silent film from 1930 with an acclaimed performance by Sumiko Kurishima.

A modern girl suddenly intrudes into a widower's family home.