Japanese Top Ten

It's been a while since I've had a stab at gathering some films together based on nation of origin. This time, it's Japan. Enjoy (if you like anime and samurai).

10. Unagi [The Eel] (Shohei Imamura - 1997)

One of the first non-Kurosawa, Japanese films I'd seen, this perturbed me a bit but gave me a real insight into films from outside the English zone or Europe. Kouji Yakusho in the lead is a top craftsman too.





9. Zatoichi (Takeshi Kitano - 2003)

A first look at Takeshi Kitano, a stalwart of the industry in Japan. He plays the blind swordsman with understated relish and this would have been higher in the list were it not for a Bollywood-style dance number at the end. What the...






8. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa - 1950)

Ah, Kurosawa-san, so glad you could make it. This is my third favourite of his but is still a stone-cold classic, with dozens of imitators and respect-payers since its release. Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura are mint as the bandit and wood-cutter respectively.






7. Honogurai Mizu no Soko Kara [Dark Water] (Hideo Nakata - 2002)

Look, I'll be honest. This film shit me scaredless. The creeps like never before. And sad! Flippin Nora this takes the biscuit. Watch it at your pre-warned peril.









6. Hana-bi [Fireworks] (Takeshi Kitano - 1997)

Another Kitano cracker. Cool and brutal tale of a cop at odds with the Yakuza. Bloody and bittersweet, like a good cocktail.








5. Kokaku Kidotai [Ghost in the Shell] (Mamoru Oshii - 1995)

Mind-bending, trend-setting anime that tweaks your nihilism just right. Inventive and dark. Brills.








4. Kozure Okami: Sanzu no Kawa no Ubaguruma [Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx] (Kenji Misumi - 1972)

Yes. Fantastic nonsense that seems to take itself quite seriously. I reckon this is the best of the series. And yes, that's a toddler 'cub' getting by with his old man 'Lone Wolf' in a fucked up, violent, manga-based Tokugawa era Japan.




3. Shichinin no Samurai [Seven Samurai] (Akira Kurosawa - 1954)

Kurosawa's oft-imitated masterpiece, though still pipped by another for me (see number 1). The climactic rain battle is superb, as is Mifune's dark comic relief.










2. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi [Spirited Away] (Hayao Miyazaki - 2001)

All the weird you could ever hope for. Utterly brilliant story-telling with some of the oddest characters in film history - step forward, Kaonashi (No Face) and Kamaji (Boiler Geezer!). Magic stuff from Miyazaki.






1. Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa - 1961)

Mifune again, as the Ronin samurai, drifting into a town where the warlords haggle for his services and soon wish they hadn't. Sublime, witty and beautifully shot, this is a must-see. Kurosawa at his peak.