JP
Japanese silent film from 1926. (Obo-chan meaning "Young Master.") Written by Ayame Mizushima, the first female screenwriter in Japan.
May 1926
When a young man inherits his father's lucrative business, he cheats the system to set up three of his college friends with jobs.
Oct 1932
This bittersweet comedy tells the tale of a group of college roommates attempting to cheat their way through their exams. As the title goes, things don't work out for our roguish main character, but his classmates soon find themselves in a similarly sorry state...
Apr 1930
A melodrama by noted auteur and father of director Yoshitaro Nomura, Hotei Nomura. This is apparently the first adaptation of Izumi Kyoka's The Romance of Yushima.
Feb 1934
The Siege of Osaka
Apr 1937
The seventh film in the popular series starring the Yotamono trio (Mitsui, Abe and Isono). Summer came and the three of them decided to open a store on the beach to get rich...
Aug 1933
Domestic comedy involving a strong wife and a "henpecked" husband taking place in a family-run judo school.
Apr 1935
Jan 1936
The story of a sailor who begins a love affair with a woman he saves from suicide.
Apr 1932
"The Dancing Girl of Izu" tells of the story between a young male student who is touring the Izu Peninsula and a family of traveling dancers he meets there, including their youngest girl. The student finds the naïve girl attractive even though he eventually has to part with the family after spending memorable time together.
Feb 1933
Ryoichi and Chikako, brother and sister, live together. Chikako toils during the day and, at night, prostitutes herself to fund his college tuition.
Japan's first feature film directed by a female. The film was about the naïve, premature emotions between a young geisha-to-be and a youth destined for Buddhist priesthood; it concluded with their separation.
Mar 1936
This pair of gentle yet witty and inventive comedies from the director of The Neighbour's Wife and Mine typify both the formal experimentation of early Japanese sound cinema and the social milieux that Shochiku tended to depict. 'Virtually plotless, and feeling more like comic sketches than fully developed stories,' writes Arthur Nolletti, Jr, 'these light comedies, or farces, take a wholly trivial matter (often a socially embarrassing situation) and use it as a springboard for a succession of gags.' Much of the films' distinction comes from the wit of Gosho's direction, the imaginative use of the new sound technology and the charm of the acting, particularly of the heroines (Kinuyo Tanaka in Bride; Hiroko Kawasaki in Groom). Yet in both films, Gosho finds room for some shrewd observation of character and environment, subtly exploring the values and assumptions of the suburban petit bourgeoisie.
Jan 1933
Japanese silent film from 1928. Kinema Junpo ranked it among the ten best Japanese movies of the year.
Jan 1928
Jun 1927
In medieval Japan, a brutal and corrupt magistrate is planning to kill the child who is about to become the heir to the estate and position of the local lord and substitute his own "heir", an orphan, in order to get control of the late lord's estate and rule as the impostor's "regent". However, a mysterious stranger appears and sets out to thwart the magistrate's plans and free the people from his oppressive rule.
Sep 1929
A gangster tries to find redemption with the inadvertent help of an innocent shop girl and his jealous girlfriend will do anything to keep him.
Apr 1933
Japanese silent film from 1928, ranked as Kinema Junpo's second-best Japanese movie of the year.
Nov 1928
Japanese film from 1929.
Jan 1929
Jul 1923