Atslipinbag's Weekend Movies part 3

This week, let me share some of my favorite old Japanese movies. Hope you guys will enjoy them like I did. They are from random genres and each of them a gem of its own. Hope everyone will find something they like.
        

Rashomon is the name of a big gate in the city of Kyoto. This story is set in the early Taisho era. On a rainy day, a priest, a woodcutter, and a commoner come under the gate to take cover. Soon they start talking about a recent incident that happened in the woods involving the death of a samurai.

This is such an intriguing movie!!! And superbly executed. The storytelling is awesome, and the characters are portrayed brilliantly by the actors. The differences in the stories told by each character derives the mentality and motive of telling so, of each of them and lastly how that is different from the reality. In that sense, it is very psychological too. It was launched in 1950, and this was the very first film that made Akira Kurosawa known to the international audience.


There are 17 movies in this series made from 1961-1981, and each of the series features a different sport. This stars my very first Japanese bias and still a fav actor/singer, Kayama Yuzo as the main protagonist and Kunie Tanaka as aodaisho (main antagonist). Set in the same time frame as the released time (that means the booming developing era of Japan). Wakadaisho is a college student who is very good at sports and the son of a traditional Sukiyaki house. Generally in every story, there will be a rivalry between the wakadaisho and aodaisho and they end up in some sports competition. And it goes without saying that aodaisho pulls some dirty tricks but in the end wakadaisho wins.

This movie is also great for watching the cultural transition of Japan. It's about the building of generation gaps as well as the conflicts between them. It reflects the real lifestyle and changes of the time. And did you know the 6th in the series, titled Eleki no Wakadaisho, helps improve the image of young people playing electric guitars from being loud, uncultured, and bad to an art of a new era's music? This is light hearted,  anybody can enjoy, and the romance is so soft & shy - that's my kind of romance. And it always ends happily so you will never be left with a sad heart.

Here's Wakadaisho singing one of my fav songs from the series:

Well enough said... I really love this series.


Set in late Edo period, it is a story of a blind masseur and his adventures. The thing is that he is not an ordinary blind masseur, he is a very skilled swordsman who uses his cane with a sword inside and displays unique sword-style techniques with lightning fast sword movements. This is also a series consisting over 20+ movies that were made from 1962-1989.

I came across this movie randomly on my Youtube recommendations. I was immediately hooked and watched 3 of the series in one go. But every one has its own independent story so there's no need to watch one by one. But still, you will get a better understanding of the characters if you do. The highlights of the movie are the excellent sword fight scenes.

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