Kaiji Itou is a good-for-nothing loiterer who spends his days drinking beer and stealing hubcaps-that is until he ends up being tricked by his former co-worker. Unable to suddenly repay his friend's huge debt all by himself, Kaiji is offered a shady deal to participate in an illegal underground gamble on a cruise ship. This turns out to be nothing more than the beginning of his new life of hell-thrown headlong into a life-threatening roller coaster of mind games, cheating, and deceit.
Montreal, Winter 2002. Stéphane, 19 years old, fan of Metal, student in graphic design, dreams of becoming an illustrator. But for months he has been caught in a threatening spiral: he is addicted to games. Indebted, without an apartment, avoiding his friends to whom he owes money, Stéphane takes a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant in a major Italian restaurant in Montreal in order to get by. There, he will meet Bébert, a cook who burns the candle at both ends, and Greg, a waiter with disreputable actions. Will Stéphane make it through this new job or will he fall into a downward spiral of bad choices?
Forced by her poor father to live with a well-off man, a young girl must find a way to escape her new abusive home.
A temperamental movie star storms off the set of her latest picture in order to carry on a fling with an ambitious, publicity-hungry prizefighter.
A British spy is banished to Panama after having an affair with an ambassador's mistress. Once there he makes connection with a local tailor with a nefarious past and connections to all of the top political and gangster figures in Panama. The tailor also has a wife, who works for the Panamanian president and a huge debt. The mission is to learn what the President intends to do with the Canal.
A young woman struggles to pay the hospital bills of her vegetative husband. Despite her hard work, there's no hope for him to ever wake up, until an opportunity arises.
A man, who is repaying a 30 million yen debt left by his brother, wins the 300 million yen lottery. He grapples with the question of whether money can buy him happiness.
Pat's ability as a logging/mining camp fighter sets him up to box prizefighter Corrigan. Unknown to his supporters, he's actually in collusion with Corrigan to throw the fight - until he runs into reporter Maude.
Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.
Three activists cobble together a kidnapping plot after they encounter a businessman in his home.
Anne doesn't have enough money to take her daughter, Mélody, away from the small provincial town where they live for a few days during the summer holidays. In the face of her daughter's disappointment and incomprehension, she does all she can to find the money.
Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.
Prizefighter Bob Neal (Ray Walker) is in debt to gangster Vic Santell (Hooper Atchley) for training expenses. Santell orders Bob to take a dive in the fourth round so Santell can recoup prior gambling losses. Taunted by his ring opponent, Bob wins the fight. Realizing that his profession and underworld characters connected to it are causing him problems, Bob decides to join the police force. After taking nurse Mary Prentiss (Geneva Mitchell) to a drive-in restaurant where the total bill is a depression-era cheap eighty-two cents, Bob and his fellow officers round-up a gang of fur thieves in a warehouse shoot-out.
A humble bartender falls into a world of gambling and vices, losing everything.
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, escaping life's troubles - even if just for a moment - by dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
India. Smita is an untouchable. She dreams of seeing her daughter escape her miserable condition and enter school. Italy. Giulia works in her father’s workshop. When he has an accident, she discovers that the family business is ruined. Canada. Sarah, a successful lawyer, is about to be promoted to the head of her firm when she learns that she is ill. Three lives, three women, three continents. Three battles to fight. Although they don’t know each other, Smita, Giulia and Sarah are unknowingly linked by their most intimate and singular bond.
Friends Toro and Victor struggle with drug addiction and male prostitution in a hostile environment. When they lose all their money, their longstanding friendship is put to the test.
Being chased by debts, a man named Carl decides to impulsively solve his issues, at the expense of someone else’s fortune.
Karuzela is a four person drama. It is a journey inside the souls of the main characters across the reefs of everyday dilemmas - the merry-go-round of life. An individual approach to the subject, obscure narration and absence of easy answers is what allows every viewer to embark on their own journey around the universal story told in the film. They are not even 30 years old and they have problems with finding work. When something comes their way, it is only a temporary 'junk contract'.The characters have to overcome their weaknesses and face the harsh reality.They are taking their life exams and do not want to make wrong choices again.This is a game witch will evoke emotions, allow to identify with the main characters and their complex world
They find that the person who attracted them to the Tomodachi Game is Tenji Mikasa. Maria Minase, who is a mysterious figure, takes part in the team which Yuichi Katagiri and Tenji Mikasa belong to. Will this test their love and trust for each other, as Yuichi gets deeper into this game of business?