The best Hiroshi Kawaguchi’s movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Hiroshi Kawaguchi’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Hiroshi Kawaguchi.
Floating Weeds
7.9/10
A troupe of travelling players arrive at a small seaport in the south of Japan. Komajuro Arashi, the aging master of the troupe, goes to visit his old flame Oyoshi and their son Kiyoshi, even though Kiyoshi believes Komajuro is his uncle. The leading actress Sumiko is jealous and so, in order to humiliate the master, persuades the younger actress Kayo to seduce Kiyoshi.
Venus Wars
6.6/10
The new frontier of Venus has degenerated into a dystopia ravaged by the civil war between Ishtar and Aphrodia. Bubbly reporter Susan Sommers arrives in the capitol of Aphrodia just before it's captured by Ishtar. She falls in with a bunch of teen-agers who live for a sort of motorcycle version of Roller Derby. Daredevil rider Hiro and his friends reluctantly join the struggle to free Aphrodia from the invaders. Not surprisingly, Hiro proves an ace at piloting the mono-cycles that are the Aphrodians' secret weapon in the key battle.
Kisses
7.4/10
Kinichi and Akiko meet when they visit their fathers in prison. After successfully gambling on a bicycle race, they spend an enjoyable day together at the beach. Akiko, who tries to make money as an artist's model to pay for her mother's medical expenses, now has to find 100,000 yen to pay off the company from which her father embezzled. Kinichi also requires 100,000 yen as bail for his father, who is accused of election fraud. Kinichi tries to borrow 100,000 yen from his mother, whom he has not seen for three years.
A Wife Confesses
7.5/10
Tied to a mountain between her brutalizing spouse and her secret lover, disaster strikes; the authorities accuse her of murder and prompt a confession.
Buddha
6.7/10
An Indian prince leaves his world of comfort and riches behind to wander and meditate for six years in search of spiritual enlightenment. Siddartha (Cojoin Hong) turns his back on the old religion when people are starving needlessly and holy rituals include human sacrifices. During his meditations, he is tempted by erotic dancing women, demons, and the evil machinations of his criminal cousin. Devastate to attain the spiritual perfection and become the Buddha. He travels to convert followers by his kindness and wisdom, gaining a multitude of believers when he stops an elephant from crushing a local priest. Buddha of course goes on to become one of the great religious leaders of the world.
Giants and Toys
7.3/10
Nishi is an advertising executive for a caramel company that is planning to launch a new product, in fierce competition with two other companies.
The Great Wall
6.6/10
In 221 BC, Qin Shihuangdi conquered the rest of China. Qin's great accomplishments and also his serious faults are showed in this film. Qin adopted autocratic dictatorship and led a luxurious life: abolition of feudalism and the centralization of power in the form of a now-hereditary bureaucracy loyal to himself; burning books and burying scholars; the construction of a sumptuous palace for his concubines and also the Great Wall.
A Woman's Testament
6.8/10
The first story concerns an attractive young woman who works in a Tokyo nightclub. Her plan for a solid financial future has a double whammy. In the second story, a beautiful young woman is employed by an unscrupulous real estate agent to convince male clients to invest in worthless property. The last story is about a widowed geisha who has no real financial worries and who falls in love with a forger.
Bridge of Japan
7/10
Ichikawa's 1956 adaptation of Nihonbashi was the first to take the work of Kyoka Izumi— until then regarded as a writer of common tragic melodramas—and re-evaluate it as a sanbi-ha work of decadence, aestheticism, and intrigue. Ichikawa's film presents the tragic plot of the young geisha who is unable to enact her love for a man publicly in any way other than a histrionic story of torment, a heart-rending tale of lovers being crushed by fate. Instead Ichikawa shows the contest of wills that transpires as two geisha, Oko and Kiyoha fight for the top spot in Nihonbashi, the pinnacle ot the Tokyo geisha world. Nihonbashi is an elegant, if steely, exposition of manners. The young doctor, Shinzo Katsuragi, is the object of affection for both women, but appears to be more the choice reward for the plotting and thieving of these two early modern superwomen, than a lover they swoon over.
Black Lizard
6.5/10
Celebrated detective Akechi matches wits with the infamous and devious jewel thief Black Lizard after the criminal orchestrates an elaborate kidnapping.
The Most Valuable Madam
7/10
lchiro, the president of Mihara & Co., is henpecked by his wife Momoko, a clever and beautiful woman, but prattling and intrusive. She makes her younger sister Nashiko marry lchiro's younger brother, Jiro, manager of his company and now plans to marry her youngest sister Kyoko to her husband's youngest brother, Saburo. This means her domination of the Miharas and their business, a fine triple play which would gain her the title of "The Most Valuable Madam." However, in opposition to Momoko, Kyoko boldly declares that she will never marry Saburo. However Saburo is a most attractive young man and attracts Kyoko. Will she or her elder sister be able to win the title of "The Most Valuable Madam"?
Closing Time
5.7/10
Her Brother
6.9/10
Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.
The Ginza Three Boys
The story of three sportsman brothers living in the Ginza. One day, the three meet a raving beauty on separate occasions and are unaware they have met the same girl.
Tsukigata Hanpeita: Flover Reel; Storm Reel
6.5/10
During the bloody era of the Tokugawa Shogunate collapse, a man appeared capable of overthrowing a corrupt government and ending the feud between the Choshu and Satsuma clans. This is the story of Tsukigat Khanpayit, the sword maker of the Choshu clan, who, along with Katsuro Kogoro and Sakamoto Ryoma, sought to fulfill the dream of a new peaceful era in Japan. Can he realize his ideals or will he die in the chaos of internecine fights...
Les Mesdemoiselles
6.4/10
A romantic comedy depicting the variant and whimsical daily lives of the Japanese mademoiselles in the Metropolis of Tokyo. How they react against the bold spirited love makers and begin to take a liking to them is the theme of the picture.
Gateway to Glory
7/10
A young man leaves his widowed mother on her improverished farm and makes his career in the Japanese navy.
Konto 55: Grand Outer Space Adventure
4.3/10
A Toho film featuring the comedy duo Konto 55, (コント55号), comprised of comedians Kinichi Hagimoto and Jiro Sakagami.
The Lowest Man
6.8/10
On This Earth
6.3/10
1957 drama from director Kôzaburô Yoshimura
