Film filters
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
(夢と狂気の王国)
A year inside the magical world of Studio Ghibli.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2013
- Director Mami Sunada
- Cast Hideaki Anno, John Lasseter, Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, Isao Takahata
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV
Zatoichi
(座頭市)
His sword made him a hero...his courage made him a legend.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2003
- Director Takeshi Kitano
- Cast Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Michiyo Ookusu, Gadarukanaru Taka, Daigorō Tachibana, Yûko Daike
- Genre Adventure, Drama, Action
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Pluto TV
Our Little Sister
(海街diary)
A father's secret.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2015
- Director Hirokazu Kore-eda
- Cast Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose, Ryo Kase, Ryohei Suzuki
- Genre Drama, Comedy
- Available on Starz, Starz Roku Premium Channel, Starz Amazon Channel, Starz Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
The Emperor and the Assassin
(荆轲刺秦王)
As the king's cruelty mounts, his hidden assassin finds her loyalty faltering.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, Japan, France • 1998
- Director Chen Kaige
- Cast Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi, Sun Zhou, Xiaohe Lü, Zhiwen Wang, Chen Kaige
- Genre History
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
24 City
(二十四城记)
Three generations reflect on the history of state-owned factory 420 before it is closed and demolished to make way for luxury apartments.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, Hong Kong, Japan • 2008
- Director Jia Zhangke
- Cast Joan Chen, Lü Liping, Zhao Tao, Chen Jianbin
- Genre Drama
- Available on Vudu, Kanopy
Fear and Trembling
(Stupeur et tremblements)
A young Belgian woman decides to return to Japan, where she spent part of her childhood. Fitting in turns out to be harder than it seems.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Japan • 2003
- Director Alain Corneau
- Cast Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Bison Katayama, Taro Suwa, Yasunari Kondo, Sokyu Fujita
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Vudu
Ascent
Made entirely with stills, this is a filmic experiment balancing between documentary and fiction.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Netherlands, Japan • 2016
- Director Fiona Tan
- Cast Hiroki Hasegawa, Fiona Tan
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Taboo
(御法度)
The arrival of a handsome young samurai causes trouble in a Shogun-era samurai compound.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan, France, United Kingdom • 1999
- Director Nagisa Ōshima
- Cast Takeshi Kitano, Ryuhei Matsuda, Tadanobu Asano, Yôichi Sai, Shinji Takeda, Susumu Terajima
- Genre Drama, History, Thriller
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Caterpillar
(キャタピラー)
A veteran of the Second Sino-Japanese War must be cared for by his wife when he returns home a quadriplegic.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2010
- Director Kōji Wakamatsu
- Cast Shinobu Terajima, Keigo Kasuya, Sabu Kawahara, Maki Ishikawa, Arata Iura, Go Jibiki
- Genre Drama, War
- Available on Vudu, Amazon Video, Kanopy
The Truth
(La Vérité)
A French film superstar's decision to publish her memoirs causes old tensions, feelings, and conflicts with her daughter to resurface.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Japan, Switzerland • 2019
- Director Hirokazu Kore-eda
- Cast Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke, Clémentine Grenier, Manon Clavel, Alain Libolt
- Genre Drama
- Available on AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Pistol Opera
(ピストルオペラ)
A Japanese assassin will do anything to move up from her ranking as third in the country.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2001
- Director Seijun Suzuki
- Cast Makiko Esumi, Sayoko Yamaguchi, Hanae Kan, Masatoshi Nagase, Mikijiro Hira, Kirin Kiki
- Genre Drama, Action, Crime
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Mary and the Witch's Flower
(メアリと魔女の花)
Young Mary follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest and discovers an old broomstick and a strange flower.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2017
- Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi
- Cast Hana Sugisaki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Yuki Amami, Fumiyo Kohinata, Hikari Mitsushima, Jiro Sato
- Genre Fantasy, Adventure, Animation
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Like Father, Like Son
(そして父になる)
Ryota Nonomiya learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth, and he must make a life-changing decision,
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2013
- Director Hirokazu Kore-eda
- Cast Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yoko Maki, Lily Franky, Keita Ninomiya, Shôgen Hwang
- Genre Drama
- Available on AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
Sonatine
A disenchanted Yakuza member is sent to Okinawa by his boss to quell a gang war, but realizes he has been set up.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1993
- Director Takeshi Kitano
- Cast Takeshi Kitano, Aya Kokumai, Tetsu Watanabe, Masanobu Katsumura, Susumu Terajima, Ren Osugi
- Genre Action, Crime, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV
Flowers of Shanghai
(海上花)
The lives of four "flower girls" in an upscale brothel in 19th century Shanghai
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Taiwan, Japan • 1998
- Director Hou Hsiao-hsien
- Cast Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Michiko Hada, Carina Lau, Michelle Reis, Jack Kao, Rebecca Pan
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train
(劇場版「鬼滅の刃」無限列車編)
Tanjiro joins one of the most powerful swordsmen in the Demon Slayer Corps to take down a monster.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2020
- Director Haruo Sotozaki
- Cast Natsuki Hanae, Akari Kito, Hiro Shimono, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Satoshi Hino, Takahiro Sakurai
- Genre Action, Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
- Available on Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
3-Iron
(빈집)
A young man rides around Seoul entering empty apartments, eating residents' food, and completing housework before he leaves.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea, Japan • 2004
- Director Kim Ki-duk
- Cast Lee Seung-yeon, Jae Hee, Kwon Hyuk-ho, Choi Jeong-ho, Lee Mi-suk, Lee Ju-seok
- Genre Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV
Happy Together
(春光乍洩)
A couple take a trip to Argentina in search of a new beginning, but instead find themselves drifting ever further apart.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong, Japan, Korea • 1997
- Director Wong Kar-wai
- Cast Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Leslie Cheung, Chang Chen, Gregory Dayton, Yee-Gan Chan
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Rakuten Viki, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Departures
(おくりびと)
An out-of-work cellist unknowingly accepts a job offer to prepare dead bodies for their funerals.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2008
- Director Yojiro Takita
- Cast Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo, Takashi Sasano
- Genre Drama
- Available on Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, Plex
Kill!
(斬る)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1968
- Director Kihachi Okamoto
- Cast Tatsuya Nakadai, Etsushi Takahashi, Yuriko Hoshi, Tadao Nakamaru, Akira Kubo, Shigeru Kôyama
- Genre Action, Comedy
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV
Naked Lunch
Exterminate all rational thought.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, United Kingdom, Japan • 1991
- Director David Cronenberg
- Cast Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, Roy Scheider, Monique Mercure
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max
Blackboards
(Takhté siah)
A group of nomadic Kurdish refugees try to teach, learn, and survive during the Iran-Iraq War.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, Italy, Japan • 2000
- Director Samira Makhmalbaf
- Cast Said Mohamadi, Behnaz Jafari, Bahman Ghobadi, Mohamad Karim Rahmati, Rafat Moradi, Mayas Rostami
- Genre Drama, History, War
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
(戦場のメリークリスマス)
At a Japanese prison camp in 1942, a British soldier's will to live is tested.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand • 1983
- Director Nagisa Ōshima
- Cast David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Jack Thompson, Johnny Ohkura
- Genre Drama, History, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Amazon Video
Journey to the Shore
(岸辺の旅)
For 3 years, Mizuki’s husband was missing. One day, he suddenly returns and invites her on a trip with him.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan, France • 2015
- Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Cast Eri Fukatsu, Tadanobu Asano, Masao Komatsu, Yu Aoi, Yasayuki Shuto, Akira Emoto
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Available on Kanopy
Jellyfish Eyes
(めめめのくらげ)
- ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2013
- Director Takashi Murakami
- Cast Himeka Asami, Masataka Kubota, Asuka Kurosawa, Takumi Saitoh, Shota Sometani, Takuto Sueoka
- Genre Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Woman in the Dunes
(砂の女)
An entomologist suffers extreme psychological and sexual torture after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1964
- Director Hiroshi Teshigahara
- Cast Eiji Okada, Kyôko Kishida, Ginzô Sekiguchi, Kôji Mitsui, Sen Yano
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
(人間の條件 第1部純愛篇/第2部激怒篇)
A Japanese pacifist and socialist struggles to accommodate the demands of his country during wartime.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1959
- Director Masaki Kobayashi
- Cast Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima, Ineko Arima, Sō Yamamura, Akira Ishihama
- Genre Drama, History, War
- Available on Criterion Channel
Dersu Uzala
(Дерсу Узала)
A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi hunter in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Soviet Union, Japan • 1975
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Yuriy Solomin, Maksim Munzuk, Mikhail Bychkov, B. Khorulev, Vladimir Kremena, Aleksandr Pyatkov
- Genre Action, Adventure, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Amazon Video
Ugetsu
(雨月物語)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1953
- Director Kenji Mizoguchi
- Cast Machiko Kyō, Mitsuko Mito, Kinuyo Tanaka, Masayuki Mori, Eitarō Ozawa, Sugisaku Aoyama
- Genre Fantasy, Drama, Mystery
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Kanopy, Plex
Throne of Blood
(蜘蛛巣城)
Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan ranks among his most acclaimed films.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1957
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Toshirō Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Akira Kubo, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Hiroshi Tachikawa
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Criterion Channel, TCM, Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Plex
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
(女が階段を上る時)
A middle-aged bar hostess, constantly in debt, is faced with numerous social constraints and challenges.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1960
- Director Mikio Naruse
- Cast Hideko Takamine, Masayuki Mori, Reiko Dan, Tatsuya Nakadai, Daisuke Katō, Ganjirô Nakamura II
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
The Life of Oharu
(西鶴一代女)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1952
- Director Kenji Mizoguchi
- Cast Kinuyo Tanaka, Tsukie Matsuura, Ichirō Sugai, Toshirō Mifune, Toshiaki Konoe, Kiyoko Tsuji
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
The Naked Island
(裸の島)
The only inhabitants of a small island in the Seto Inland Sea struggle to get by.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1960
- Director Kaneto Shindō
- Cast Nobuko Otowa, Taiji Tonoyama, Shinji Tanaka, Masanori Horimoto
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Sanjuro
(椿三十郎)
Akira Kurosawa's Powerful and Newest Japanese Masterpiece
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1962
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yûzô Kayama, Reiko Dan, Takashi Shimura
- Genre Drama, Action, Comedy
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Fires on the Plain
(野火)
A tubercular private in the Japanese army struggles to survive in the twilight of the Second World War.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1959
- Director Kon Ichikawa
- Cast Eiji Funakoshi, Osamu Takizawa, Mickey Curtis, Mantarō Ushio, Kyū Sazanka, Yoshihiro Hamaguchi
- Genre Drama, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Kanopy
The Bad Sleep Well
(悪い奴ほどよく眠る)
A young executive hunts down his father's killer in this chilling corporate take on "Hamlet."
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1960
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Toshirō Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kamatari Fujiwara, Takeshi Katō, Kyōko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Criterion Channel
The Burmese Harp
(ビルマの竪琴)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1956
- Director Kon Ichikawa
- Cast Rentaro Mikuni, Shōji Yasui, Jun Hamamura, Taketoshi Naitô, Shunji Kasuga, Kō Nishimura
- Genre Drama, Music, War
- Available on Criterion Channel
Twenty-Four Eyes
(二十四の瞳)
The most moving story of a devoted female teacher and her twelve small pupils
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1954
- Director Keisuke Kinoshita
- Cast Hideko Takamine, Hideki Gôko, Itsuo Watanabe, Makoto Miyagawa, Takeo Terashita, Kunio Satô
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
Onibaba
(鬼婆)
The most daring film import ever ... from Japan!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1964
- Director Kaneto Shindō
- Cast Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Satō, Jūkichi Uno, Taiji Tonoyama, Someshô Matsumoto
- Genre Horror, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
The Sword of Doom
(大菩薩峠)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1966
- Director Kihachi Okamoto
- Cast Tatsuya Nakadai, Yûzô Kayama, Michiyo Aratama, Yōko Naitō, Toshirō Mifune, Tadao Nakamaru
- Genre Action, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Kwaidan
(怪談)
Bizarre, unearthly, terrifying— a nation's legend, an author's imagination, a director's creation manifest in the superlative— Kwaidan
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1964
- Director Masaki Kobayashi
- Cast Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe, Rentarou Mikuni, Kenjiro Ishiyama, Ranko Akagi, Fumie Kitahara
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Horror
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
The Face of Another
(他人の顔)
A man with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1966
- Director Hiroshi Teshigahara
- Cast Tatsuya Nakadai, Machiko Kyō, Mikijiro Hira, Kyōko Kishida, Eiji Okada, Miki Irie
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Criterion Channel
Muddy River
(泥の河)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1981
- Director Kôhei Oguri
- Cast Takahiro Tamura, Mariko Kaga, Nobutaka Asahara, Makiko Shibata, Minoru Sakurai, Yumiko Fujita
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Hiroshima Mon Amour
(Hiroshima mon amour)
The story of a young French actress and her affair with a Japanese man while on assignment in Hiroshima.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Japan • 1959
- Director Alain Resnais
- Cast Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Stella Dassas, Pierre Barbaud, Bernard Fresson
- Genre Drama, History, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Stray Dog
(野良犬)
During a sweltering summer, a rookie detective searches Tokyo’s streets for his stolen Colt pistol.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1949
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Toshirō Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Eiko Miyoshi, Noriko Sengoku, Noriko Honma
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on fuboTV, Criterion Channel, Crackle, Tubi TV, Plex
The Ballad of Narayama
(楢山節考)
Only Time Could Change the Cruelty of Tradition… Only Their Love Could Survive It…
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1983
- Director Shōhei Imamura
- Cast Ken Ogata, Sumiko Sakamoto, Tonpei Hidari, Aki Takejo, Shoichi Ozawa, Fujio Tokita
- Genre Drama
- Available on ARROW, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
Tokyo Olympiad
(東京オリンピック)
This definitive portrait of the Olympics includes an epic pole-vaulting match between West Germany and America, and a marathon through Tokyo's streets.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1965
- Director Kon Ichikawa
- Cast Abebe Bikila, Ahmed Issa, Yoshinori Sakai, Joe Frazier, Emperor Hirohito of Japan
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum
(残菊物語)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1939
- Director Kenji Mizoguchi
- Cast Shôtarô Hanayagi, Kōkichi Takada, Gonjurô Kawarazaki, Kakuko Mori, Tokusaburo Arashi, Yōko Umemura
- Genre Romance, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Plex
The Ballad of Narayama
(楢山節考)
In a remote mountain village, a family struggles with a policy in which 70-year-olds are carried up a mountain to die.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1958
- Director Keisuke Kinoshita
- Cast Kinuyo Tanaka, Teiji Takahashi, Yūko Mochizuki, Seiji Miyaguchi, Yūnosuke Itō, Ken Mitsuda
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Black Rain
(黒い雨)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1989
- Director Shôhei Imamura
- Cast Yoshiko Tanaka, Kazuo Kitamura, Etsuko Ichihara, Masato Yamada, Shoichi Ozawa, Norihei Miki
- Genre Drama, War
- Available on ARROW, Amazon Video, Tubi TV
Fireworks
(HANA-BI)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1997
- Director Takeshi Kitano
- Cast Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima, Tetsu Watanabe, Hakuryu
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Hoopla, Film Movement Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Cineverse, Kanopy
Dreams
(夢)
A collection of magical tales based upon the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan, United States • 1990
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baisho, Toshie Negishi, Mieko Harada, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshihiko Nakano
- Genre Drama, Fantasy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel
Total results: 214