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Pale Flower
is a 1964 Japanese film noir directed by Masahiro Shinoda. The film is about Muraki ( Ryō Ikebe) a Yakuza hitman just released from prison. At an illegal gambling parlor, he finds himself drawn to a mysterious young woman named Saeko ( Mariko Kaga). Though Saeko loses large sums of money, she asks Muraki to find games with larger and larger stakes. The two become involved in an intense mutually destructive relationship. Film critic Roger Ebert gave ''Pale Flower'' four stars and put it on his list of Great Movies. Plot Muraki, a hardboiled Yakuza gangster, has just been released from prison after serving a sentence for murder. Revisiting his old gambling haunts, he meets Saeko, a striking young upper-class woman who is out seeking thrills, and whose presence adds spice to the staid masculine underworld rituals. Muraki becomes her mentor while simultaneously coping with the shifts of power that have affected the gangs while he was jailed. When he notices a rogue, drug-addicted yo ...
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Masahiro Shinoda
is a retired Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s. Early life Shinoda attended Waseda University, where he studied theater and also participated in the Hakone Ekiden long distance race. Career He joined the Shōchiku Studio in 1953 as an assistant director, where he worked on films by such directors as Yasujirō Ozu. He debuted as a director in 1960 with ''One-Way Ticket for Love'', which he also scripted. His focus on youth and the cultural and political turmoil of 1960s Japan made him a central figure in the Shōchiku New Wave alongside Nagisa Ōshima and Yoshishige Yoshida. He worked in a variety of genres, from the yakuza film (''Pale Flower'') to the samurai film (''Assassination''), but he particularly became known for his focus on socially marginal characters and for an interest in traditional Japanese theater, which found its greatest expression in ''Double Suici ...
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Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yakuza'' is gangster, meaning an individual involved in a Mafia-like criminal organization. The ''yakuza'' are known for their strict codes of conduct, their organized fiefdom nature and several unconventional ritual practices such as ''yubitsume'' or amputation of the left little finger. Members are often portrayed as males, wearing "sharp suits" with heavily tattooed bodies and slicked hair. This group is still regarded as being among "the most sophisticated and wealthiest criminal organizations". At their height, the ''yakuza'' maintained a large presence in the Japanese media and operated internationally. At their peak in the early 1960s, police estimated that the ''yakuza'' had a membership of more than 200,000."Police of Japan 2 ...
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Gambling Films
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elements to be present: consideration (an amount wagered), risk (chance), and a prize. The outcome of the wager is often immediate, such as a single roll of dice, a spin of a roulette wheel, or a horse crossing the finish line, but longer time frames are also common, allowing wagers on the outcome of a future sports contest or even an entire sports season. The term "gaming" in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law. The two words are not mutually exclusive; ''i.e.'', a "gaming" company offers (legal) "gambling" activities to the public and may be regulated by one of many gaming control boards, for example, the Nevada Gaming Control Board. However, this distinction is not univ ...
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Yakuza Films
is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of ''yakuza'', Japanese organized crime syndicates. In the silent film era, depictions of ''bakuto'' (precursors to modern yakuza) as sympathetic Robin Hood-like characters were common. Two types of yakuza films emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. The Nikkatsu studio was known for modern yakuza films inspired by Hollywood gangster films, while Toei was the main producer of what is known as . Set in the Meiji and Taishō eras, ''ninkyo eiga'' depict honorable outlaws torn between '' giri'' (duty) and ''ninjo'' (personal feelings). In contrast to ''ninkyo eiga'', based on real crime stories became popular in the 1970s. These portrayed modern yakuza not as honorable heirs to the samurai code, but as ruthless street thugs living for their own desires. Early films In the silent film era, films depicting ''bakuto'' (precursors to modern yakuza) as Robin Hood-like characters were common. They often ...
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Shochiku Films
() is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all, anime films produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks). Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada. It has also produced films by highly regarded independent and "loner" directors such as Takashi Miike, Takeshi Kitano, Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi and Taiwanese New Wave director Hou Hsiao-hsien. Shochiku is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ), and the oldest of Japan's "Big Four" film studios. History As Shochiku Kinema The company was founded in 1895 as a kabuki production company and later began producing films in 1920. Shochiku is considered the oldest company in Japan involved in present-day film production, ...
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Films Directed By Masahiro Shinoda
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound and, more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it. Recording and transmission of film The moving images of a film are created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects. Before the introduction of digital production, series of still images were recorded on a strip of chemically sensitiz ...
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1964 Crime Drama Films
Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople meet in Jerusalem. * January 6 – A British firm, the Leyland Motor Corp., announces the sale of 450 buses to the Cuban government, challenging the United States blockade of Cuba. * January 9 – ''Martyrs' Day'': Armed clashes between United States troops and Panamanian civilians in the Panama Canal Zone precipitate a major international crisis, resulting in the deaths of 21 Panamanians and 4 U.S. soldiers. * January 11 – United States Surgeon General Luther Terry reports that smoking may be hazardous to one's health (the first such statement from the U.S. government). * January 12 ** Zanzibar Revolution: The predominantly Arab government of Zanzibar is overthrown by African nationalist rebels; a Un ...
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Japanese Crime Drama Films
Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspora, Japanese emigrants and their descendants around the world * Japanese citizens, nationals of Japan under Japanese nationality law ** Foreign-born Japanese, naturalized citizens of Japan * Japanese writing system, consisting of kanji and kana * Japanese cuisine, the food and food culture of Japan See also * List of Japanese people * * Japonica (other) * Japonicum * Japonicus * Japanese studies Japanese studies (Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese ... {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...
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1964 Films
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events, including three highly successful musical films, ''Mary Poppins,'' '' My Fair Lady,'' and ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.'' Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1964 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * January 29 – 50-year-old actor Alan Ladd is found dead in bed at his home in Palm Springs, California. An autopsy confirms the cause of death as cerebral edema caused by an acute overdose of "alcohol and three other drugs" His death is ruled accidental. Ladd's final film, '' The Carpetbaggers'', is released in April and, despite mostly negative reviews from critics, becomes a major commercial success. * March 6 – Elvis Presley's 14th motion picture, '' Kissin' Cousins'', is released to theaters. * March 15 - Elizabeth Taylor marries Richard Burton. * July 6 – '' A Hard Day's Night'', the first Beatles film, premieres. * August 27 – The film ''Mary Poppins'' is released. Not o ...
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Kodansha International
is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' and ''Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine'', as well as the more literary magazines ''Gunzō'', ''Shūkan Gendai'', and the Japanese dictionary ''Nihongo Daijiten''. Kodansha was founded by Seiji Noma in 1910, and members of his family continue as its owners either directly or through the Noma Cultural Foundation. History Seiji Noma founded Kodansha in 1910 as a spin-off of the ''Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai'' (, "Greater Japan Oratorical Society") and produced the literary magazine ''Yūben'' () as its first publication. The name ''Kodansha'' (taken from ''Kōdan Club'' (), a now-defunct magazine published by the company) originated in 1911 when the publisher formally merged with the ''Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai''. The company has used its current legal name since ...
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The Sight & Sound Top 50 Greatest Films Of All Time
The ''Sight & Sound'' Greatest Films of All Time 2012 was a worldwide opinion poll conducted by ''Sight & Sound'' and published in the magazine's September 2012 issue. ''Sight & Sound'', published by the British Film Institute, has conducted a poll of the greatest films every 10 years since 1952. For this poll, ''Sight & Sound'' listened to decades of criticism about the lack of diversity of its poll participants and made a huge effort to invite a much wider variety of critics and filmmakers from around the world to participate, taking into account gender, ethnicity, race, geographical region, socioeconomic status, and other kinds of underrepresentation. A new rule was imposed for this ballot: related films that are considered part of a larger whole (e.g. ''The Godfather'' and ''The Godfather Part II'', Krzysztof Kieślowski's '' Three Colors trilogy'' and ''Dekalog'', or Satyajit Ray's ''The Apu Trilogy'') were to be treated as separate films for voting purposes. They published ...
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Ashim Ahluwalia
Ashim Ahluwalia (born 1972 in Mumbai, India) is a film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with the feature-length documentary ''John & Jane'' (2005), which had a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and a European premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, and won him the 2005 National Film Award for Best First Non-Feature Film of a Director. This was followed by his first narrative feature film ''Miss Lovely'', premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. which won him India's National Film Award – Special Jury Award (Feature film), and Best Production Design at the 61st National Film Awards. Working outside the mainstream Bollywood film system, Ashim Ahluwalia is part of a new generation of Indian directors. His unconventional films blur the lines between documentary and fiction. His short films have shown at the Tate Modern, the Centre Pompidou and at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Early life Ashim Ahluwalia grew up i ...
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