Younger Brother / Otôto (1960)
Drama
Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this standard drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.
Starring: Keiko Kishi, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Masayuki Mori
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Yôkihi / Princess Yang Kwei-fei / Empress Yank Kwei Fei (1955)
Drama | History | Romance
In eighth century China, the Emperor is grieving over the death of his wife. The Yang family wants to provide the Emperor with a consort so that they may consolidate their influence over the court. General An Lushan finds a distant relative working in their kitchen whom they groom to present to the Emperor. The Emperor falls in love with her and she becomes the Princess Yang Kwei-fei. The Yangs are then appointed important ministers, though An Lushan is not given the court position he covets. The ministers misuse their power so much that there is a popular revolt against all the Yangs, fueled by An Lushan.
Starring: Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Sô Yamamura, Eitarô Shindô, Eitarô Ozawa, Haruko Sugimura
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Rashomon / Rashômon / Rashou-mon (1950)
Crime | Drama
A tale of rape and murder in 12th-century Kyoto.
Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Ugetsu monogatari / Ugetsu (1953)
Drama | Thriller
In the beginning of the springtime in the period of the Japanese Civil Wars of the Sixteenth Century in Lake Biwa in the Province of Omi, the family man farmer and craftsman Genjurô travels to Nagahama to sell his wares and makes a small fortune. His neighbor Tobei that is a fool man dreams on becoming a samurai, but he can not afford to buy the necessary outfit. The greedy Genjurô and Tobei work together manufacturing clay potteries, expecting to sell the pieces and enrich; however, their wives Miyage and Ohama are worried about the army of the cruel Shibata that is coming to their village and they warn their ambitious husbands. Their village is looted but the families flee and survive; Genjurô and Tobei decide to travel by boat with their wives and baby to sell the wares in a bigger town. When they meet another boat that was attacked by pirates, Genjurô decides to leave his wife and son on the bank of the river…
Starring: Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyô, Kinuyo Tanaka
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
The Bad Sleep Well / Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru (1960)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
A vengeful young man marries the daughter of a corrupt industrialist in order to seek justice for his father's suicide.
Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kyôko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi, Takashi Shimura
Director: Akira Kurosawa
