Sadao Nakajima passed away from pneumonia on 11th June, 2023. He was 88 years old. Active as a director until just four years before his passing, Nakajima left behind legacy of work that most directors would dream of. Alongside Kinji Fukasaku and Junya Sato, he is credited as being one of the main names to define the Yakuza genre, with some of his greatest works coming within that genre for Toei Studios, showcasing a range of styles and narrative complexities while at it. Outside of the yakuza genre as well though, Nakajima made a number of terrific features, mixing a range of genres and filmmaking styles effectively over an illustrious career that lasted a little under 60 years, starting from his debut in 1964 all the way until his swansong in 2019.
Without further ado, we list 12 essential films by Sadao Nakajima that are not in the Yakuza genre, in chronological order.
1. Female Ninja Magic...
Without further ado, we list 12 essential films by Sadao Nakajima that are not in the Yakuza genre, in chronological order.
1. Female Ninja Magic...
- 7/11/2023
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
What a discovery . . . I’m glad this was recommended to me. Kôsaku Yamashita’s powerful 1968 drama belongs to the semi-chivalrous ‘honor and code’ yakuza tradition. Crime clan blood brothers Kôji Tsuruta and Tomisaburô Wakayama are good men caught between conflicting loyalties to family, friends, and the yakuza credo. Clashes of honor lead to unavoidable ‘knives out’ confrontations. It’s as intense as the Japanese classics. The extras offer a refresher in yakuza customs and protocol, with expert guidance from Chris D. and Mark Schilling.
Big Time Gambling Boss
Region A + B Blu-ray
Radiance (UK)
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 95 min. / Bakuchiuci: Sôchô Tobaku; Gambling Den: Gambling Boss; The Great Casino; Presidential Gambling Street Date February 1, 2023 / Available from Radiance (UK) / £16.99
Starring: Kôji Tsuruta, Tomisaburô Wakayama, Hiroshi Nawa, Nobuo Kaneko, Hiroko Sakuramachi, Hideto Kagawa, Michiyo Hattori,Shin’ichirô Mikami.
Cinematography: Nagaki Yamagishi
Production Designer/ Art Director: Jirô Tomita
Film Editor: Miyamoto Shinjirô
Original Music: Toshiaki Tsushima...
Big Time Gambling Boss
Region A + B Blu-ray
Radiance (UK)
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 95 min. / Bakuchiuci: Sôchô Tobaku; Gambling Den: Gambling Boss; The Great Casino; Presidential Gambling Street Date February 1, 2023 / Available from Radiance (UK) / £16.99
Starring: Kôji Tsuruta, Tomisaburô Wakayama, Hiroshi Nawa, Nobuo Kaneko, Hiroko Sakuramachi, Hideto Kagawa, Michiyo Hattori,Shin’ichirô Mikami.
Cinematography: Nagaki Yamagishi
Production Designer/ Art Director: Jirô Tomita
Film Editor: Miyamoto Shinjirô
Original Music: Toshiaki Tsushima...
- 1/21/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A home isn’t just four walls and a roof, but a building that has with it many years’ worth of memories for its inhabitants. And for some of the elderly, the home isn’t just where they live, but their life itself. This is the theme of first-time director Yoshihiko Ueda’s loosely-plotted “A Garden of Camelias”.
“A Garden of Camellias” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Kinuko (Sumiko Fuji) is recently widowed and taking guests as part of the important forty-ninth day memorial for her late husband. Since the death of her estranged daughter, her granddaughter Nagisa (Korean actress Shim Eun-kyung) has lived with her as she tries to acclimatise herself to Japanese language and culture after her mother left the country. Kinuko now spends her days tending to her generous garden of natural beauty and helping Nagisa with her Japanese. But with problems regarding inheritance tax on the horizon,...
“A Garden of Camellias” is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Kinuko (Sumiko Fuji) is recently widowed and taking guests as part of the important forty-ninth day memorial for her late husband. Since the death of her estranged daughter, her granddaughter Nagisa (Korean actress Shim Eun-kyung) has lived with her as she tries to acclimatise herself to Japanese language and culture after her mother left the country. Kinuko now spends her days tending to her generous garden of natural beauty and helping Nagisa with her Japanese. But with problems regarding inheritance tax on the horizon,...
- 6/8/2021
- by Andrew Thayne
- AsianMoviePulse
The Toronto Japanese Film Festival is pleased to announce the 2021 Grand Jury Prize goes to A Garden Of The Camellias. The powerful directorial debut from photographer Yoshihiko Ueda is a ravishingly beautiful examination of the exquisite transience of life. The Jury compared the film to the work of Mizoguchi and Ozu stating, “Sumiko Fuji is a portrait in grace as a grieving widow and mother, who is holding fast to her memories in a house that may soon no longer be hers. I could feel every beat of her wounded heart.”
In a three-way tie for runner-up the Jury selected Akiko Ohku’s Hold Me Back, calling it “A buoyant, bold, and endlessly interesting film that—like all the Ohku films—emphasizes the internal world of someone we’re always just beyond reach of understanding”. Of Shuichi Okita’s surreal examination of aging and loneliness, Ora Ora Be Goin’ Alone...
In a three-way tie for runner-up the Jury selected Akiko Ohku’s Hold Me Back, calling it “A buoyant, bold, and endlessly interesting film that—like all the Ohku films—emphasizes the internal world of someone we’re always just beyond reach of understanding”. Of Shuichi Okita’s surreal examination of aging and loneliness, Ora Ora Be Goin’ Alone...
- 6/4/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
By Dean Brierly
Japanese actor Ken Takakura, iconic leading man in countless yakuza and action films, died at 83 of lymphoma on November 10 in Tokyo. He had long since achieved legendary status in Japan with his portrayals of brooding samurai, gangsters and hit men. The characters he portrayed were usually on the wrong side of the law but adhered to a chivalric code of honor that, while not reflective of reality, nevertheless struck a deep chord among Japanese filmgoers of the 1960s. Takakura was most familiar to American audiences for his roles in The Yakuza (1975), directed by Sydney Pollack and co-starring Robert Mitchum; Black Rain (1989), with Michael Douglas; and Mr. Baseball (1992), with Tom Selleck. In each of these he more than held his own against his high-powered American co-stars.
Born Goichi Oda in Nakama, Fukuoka, Takakura was witness to real-life yakuza street clashes during his formative years, which may have informed...
Japanese actor Ken Takakura, iconic leading man in countless yakuza and action films, died at 83 of lymphoma on November 10 in Tokyo. He had long since achieved legendary status in Japan with his portrayals of brooding samurai, gangsters and hit men. The characters he portrayed were usually on the wrong side of the law but adhered to a chivalric code of honor that, while not reflective of reality, nevertheless struck a deep chord among Japanese filmgoers of the 1960s. Takakura was most familiar to American audiences for his roles in The Yakuza (1975), directed by Sydney Pollack and co-starring Robert Mitchum; Black Rain (1989), with Michael Douglas; and Mr. Baseball (1992), with Tom Selleck. In each of these he more than held his own against his high-powered American co-stars.
Born Goichi Oda in Nakama, Fukuoka, Takakura was witness to real-life yakuza street clashes during his formative years, which may have informed...
- 1/18/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Air Doll
Stars: Doona Bae, Arata, Itsuji Itao, Jô Odagiri, Sumiko Fuji | Written and Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda
A life-size Air Doll lives in a shabby apartment in Tokyo. She cannot speak, nor can she move. But she is the only companion her middle-aged master has. He talks to her, puts her in a bath and makes love with her every day after he returns from work. This routine life is disrupted when fantasy turns into reality. The Air Doll suddenly comes to life, filled with a soul.
Like a newborn baby, she doesn’t understand what is going on around her, but she sees a world waiting to be explored outside the apartment. Eventually venturing to the outside world, the Air Doll is fascinated by everything she sees, and though she meets many people in all walks of life, they can’t seem to provide her an answer to what “being alive” means.
Stars: Doona Bae, Arata, Itsuji Itao, Jô Odagiri, Sumiko Fuji | Written and Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda
A life-size Air Doll lives in a shabby apartment in Tokyo. She cannot speak, nor can she move. But she is the only companion her middle-aged master has. He talks to her, puts her in a bath and makes love with her every day after he returns from work. This routine life is disrupted when fantasy turns into reality. The Air Doll suddenly comes to life, filled with a soul.
Like a newborn baby, she doesn’t understand what is going on around her, but she sees a world waiting to be explored outside the apartment. Eventually venturing to the outside world, the Air Doll is fascinated by everything she sees, and though she meets many people in all walks of life, they can’t seem to provide her an answer to what “being alive” means.
- 11/26/2012
- by Phil
- Nerdly
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