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The Hidden Blade
is a 2004 film set in 1860s Japan, directed by Yoji Yamada. The plot revolves around several samurai during a time of change in the ruling and class structures of Japan. The film was written by Yamada with Yoshitaka Asama and, like its predecessor ''The Twilight Samurai'' (2002), based on a short story by Shūhei Fujisawa. The soundtrack is an original composition by Isao Tomita. Plot The story takes place in Japan in the 1860s, a time of cultural assimilation. Two samurai, Munezo Katagiri (Masatoshi Nagase) and Samon Shimada (Hidetaka Yoshioka), bid farewell to their friend Yaichiro Hazama (Yukiyoshi Ozawa), who is to serve in Edo (present-day Tokyo) under the shogunate of that region. Though the position is desirable, Katagiri voices his concern that a man of Yaichiro’s character is likely to get into trouble. His doubts are confirmed when the married Yaichiro expresses an intention to indulge in Edo’s sensual pleasures while stationed there. During dinner that evening, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yōji Yamada
is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job as an engineer for the South Manchuria Railway, he was brought up in Dalian, China. from the age of two. Following the end of World War II, he returned to Japan and subsequently lived in Yamagata Prefecture. After receiving his degree from Tokyo University in 1954, he entered Shochiku and worked under Yoshitaro Nomura as a scriptwriter or as an assistant director. He won many awards throughout his lengthy career and is well respected in Japan and by critics throughout the world. He wrote his first screenplay in 1958, and directed his first movie in 1961. Yamada continues to make movies to this day. He once served as president of the Directors Guild of Japan, and is currently a guest professor of Ritsumeikan University. Tora-san series ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seppuku
, sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people during the Shōwa period (particularly officers near the end of World War II) to restore honour for themselves or for their families. As a samurai practice, ''seppuku'' was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honour rather than fall into the hands of their enemies (and likely be tortured), as a form of capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offences, or performed because they had brought shame to themselves. The ceremonial disembowelment, which is usually part of a more elaborate ritual and performed in front of spectators, consists of plunging a short blade, traditionally a '' tantō'', into the belly and drawing the blade from left to right, slicing the belly open. If the cut is deep enough, it can sever the abdomin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production. Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film '' Sanshiro Sugata''. After the war, the critically acclaimed '' Drunken Angel'' (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another fifteen films. ''Rashomon'' (1950), which premiered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollywood and the expanding universes of TV and streaming." IndieWire is part of Penske Media. History The original IndieWire newsletter launched on July 15, 1996, billing itself as "the daily news service for independent film." Following in the footsteps of various web- and AOL-based editorial ventures, IndieWire was launched as a free daily email publication in the summer of 1996 by New York- and Los Angeles-based filmmakers and writers Eugene Hernandez, Mark Rabinowitz, Cheri Barner, Roberto A. Quezada, and Mark L. Feinsod. Initially distributed to a few hundred subscribers, the readership grew rapidly, passing 6,000 in late 1997. In January 1997, IndieWire made its first appearance at the Sundance Film Festival to begin their cover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts in 1999. The site provides an excerpt from each review and hyperlinks to its source. A color of green, yellow or red summarizes the critics' recommendations. It is regarded as the foremost online review aggregation site for the video game industry. Metacritic's scoring converts each review into a percentage, either mathematically from the mark given, or what the site decides subjectively from a qualitative review. Before being averaged, the scores are weighted according to a critic's popularity, stature, and volume of reviews. The website won two Webby Awards for excellence as an aggregation website. Criticism of the site has focused on the assessment system, the assignment of scores to reviews that do not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He was the recipient of six Academy Awards including a record four wins for Best Director. Ford made frequent use of location shooting and wide shots, in which his characters were framed against a vast, harsh, and rugged natural terrain. In a career of more than 50 years, Ford directed more than 140 films (although most of his silent films are now lost). He is renowned both for Westerns such as '' Stagecoach'' (1939), '' The Searchers'' (1956), and '' The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' (1962) and adaptations of classic 20th century American novels such as '' The Grapes of Wrath'' (1940). Ford's work was held in high regard by his colleagues, with Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles and Ingmar Bergman among those who named him one of the g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang. Although the name "Rotten Tomatoes" connects to the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes in disapproval of a poor stage performance, the original inspiration comes from a scene featuring tomatoes in the Canadian film '' Léolo'' (1992). Since January 2010, Rotten Tomatoes has been owned by Flixster, which was in turn acquired by Warner Bros in 2011. In February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster were sold to Comcast's Fandango. Warner Bros. retained a minority stake in the merged entities, including Fandango. History Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12, 1998, as a spare-time project by Senh Duong. His objective in creating Rotten Tomatoes was "to create a site where people can get access to review ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nenji Kobayashi
is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 23rd Japan Academy Prize for ''Poppoya''. Kobayashi signed with Toei in 1961 and started his acting career with small roles. Filmography Film * '' Soshiki Bōryoku'' (1967) * '' Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion'' (1971) * ''Street Mobster'' (1972) * ''Outlaw Killers: Three Mad Dog Brothersr'' (1972) * '' New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Boss's Head'' (1975) : Shimura * ''The Bullet Train'' (1975) : Morimoto * ''Karate Warriors'' (1976) : Higashida * ''The Classroom of Terror'' (1976) : Fumio Odagiri * '' Yakuza Graveyard'' (1976) : Akira Kitajima * '' The Doberman Cop'' (1977) ; Katsuo Koyama * ''Hokuriku Proxy War'' (1977) * ''Message from Space'' (1978) : Fox * ''Shogun's Samurai'' (1978) * '' Nihon no Fixer'' (1979) : Shunsuke Mizumaki * ''Virus'' (1980) * '' The Gate of Youth'' (1981) * '' Eijanaika'' (1981) : Matakichi * '' Station'' (1981) : Tatsumi * ''Theater of Life'' (1983) * '' The Ballad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chieko Baisho
is a Japanese actress and singer. In Japan, she is well known for her performance as Sakura in the '' Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series from 1969 until 1995. In addition, she has acted in many films directed by Yōji Yamada since the 1960s. She won the award for Best Actress at the 5th Hochi Film Award for ''A Distant Cry from Spring''. Voice acting She sometimes performs as a voice actress, such as "Sophie" in ''Howl's Moving Castle'' in 2004. Although different voice actresses usually played young and old Sophie in the foreign dubs of the film, Baisho performed both roles alone, as well as the film's theme song. Singing career She has had a career as a singer since her debut with the song "Shitamachi no Taiyō" in 1962, for which she won the "newcomer award" of the Japan Record Award. Her 1965 single, "Sayonara wa dance atoni", a cha-cha ballad, later had its melody inspire the 1992 song ''Moonlight Densetsu'', the theme song of the first four seasons for the anime adaption of ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kunie Tanaka
was a Japanese actor. Tanaka first made a name for himself as the lecherous antagonist of the ''Wakadaishō'' series (1961–1981) of films. He is also well-known for his roles in Kinji Fukasaku's yakuza films, namely the '' Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' series (1973–1974), and for starring in the ''Kita no Kuni Kara'' (1981–2002) television series. Tanaka was nominated for five Japanese Academy Awards, winning Best Supporting Actor for ''Gakko'' in 1993. He also won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Nogare no Machi'' and ''Izakaya Chōji'' in 1983, and the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for '' Uhohho Tankentai'' in 1986. For his contributions to the arts, the Japanese government decorated Tanaka with the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1999 and the Order of the Rising Sun in 2006. Life and career Tanaka was born on November 23, 1932 in Toki District, Gifu to a family of Mino ware potters. After graduating from Reitaku Junior College, he became ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hokkaido
is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The largest city on Hokkaidō is its capital, Sapporo, which is also its only Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, ordinance-designated city. Sakhalin lies about 43 kilometers (26 mi) to the north of Hokkaidō, and to the east and northeast are the Kuril Islands, which are administered by Russia, though the four most southerly are Kuril Islands dispute, claimed by Japan. Hokkaidō was formerly known as ''Ezo'', ''Yezo'', ''Yeso'', or ''Yesso''.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Hokkaidō" in Although there were Japanese settlers who ruled the southern tip of the island since the 16th century, Hokkaido was considered foreign territo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reiko Takashima
is a Japanese actress. Career Takashima starred in Shinji Aoyama's 1999 film, '' EM Embalming''. She has also appeared in films such as '' K-20: Legend of the Mask'', ''Railways'' and ''Space Battleship Yamato''. Filmography Film * ''Like a Rolling Stone'' (1994) * '' Ruby Fruit'' (1995) * ''Shomuni'' (1998) * ''Dreammaker'' (1999) * '' EM Embalming'' (1999) * '' Sennen no Koi Story of Genji'' (2001) * ''The Boat to Heaven'' (2003) * '' Tsuribaka Nisshi 14'' (2003) * ''Jusei: Last Drop of Blood'' (2003) * ''Half a Confession'' (2004) * ''The Hidden Blade'' (2004) * ''2/2'' (2005) * ''Yakuza Wives: Burning Desire'' (2005) * '' Azumi 2: Death or Love'' (2005) * '' The Ode to Joy'' (2006) * ''Adiantum Blue'' (2006) * ''Oh! Oku'' (2006) * ''Last Love (2007 film)'' (2007) * ''Cahcha'' (2007) * '' K-20: Legend of the Mask'' (2008) * ''10 Promises to My Dog'' (2008) * ''Pride'' (2009) * ''Killer Virgin Road'' (2009) * ''Dear Heart'' (2009) * ''Space Battleship Yamato'' (2010) * ''Railw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
