"Actor: Michiyo Aratama"

• The Sword Of Doom - The Criterion Collection | Blu Ray | (04/12/2017) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Japanese action drama directed by Kihachi Okamoto. Tatsuya Nakadai plays Ryunosuke Tsukue, a sociopathic samurai with no morals or feelings of consequence for what he does. When he kills a man in a fencing match, the brother of the deceased man vows to train with a master fencer and track down Ryunosuke to get his vengeance.

• The Human Condition | Blu Ray | (23/07/2018) from £16.39   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  One of the towering masterpieces of Japanese and world cinema, this three-part war epic has rarely been seen in the UK, at least partly because of its dauntingly gargantuan nine hour length. Director Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri) was attracted to Junpei Gomikawa s source novel because he recognised himself in the character of the protagonist Kaji, an ardent pacifist who came of age during the aggressively militaristic 1930s and 40s. In part one, No Greater Love, Kaji is relocated to a mine-supervising job in Manchuria, where he is horrified by the use of forced labour. Part two, Road to Eternity, sees him conscripted into the Japanese army and forced to fight in the name of an aggressively imperialist cause. Part three, A Soldier s Prayer, deals with the consequences of Japan s defeat, not least for Kaji himself. Throughout, Kobayashi unflinchingly examines the psychological toll of appallingly complex decisions, where being morally right risks outcomes ranging from ostracism to savage beating to death. As Kaji, Tatsuya Nakadai (Sanjuro) is in virtually every scene, providing a rock-solid emotional anchor and a necessary one in Japan, where the film was hugely controversial for being openly critical of the nation s conduct during WWII. But it s this willingness to confront national taboos head-on that makes it such a lastingly powerful experience. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation Original Japanese mono soundtrack Optional English subtitles Introduction to the film by critic Philip Kemp Selected-scene commentary by Philip Kemp Theatrical trailers Reversible sleeve featuring two choices of artwork by maarko phntm

• The Human Condition Trilogy Dual Format Blu-ray & DVD | Blu Ray | (19/09/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  Kobayashi's monumental film can clarify and enrich your understanding of what it is to be alive. (A.O. Scott, New York Times) One of the towering masterpieces of Japanese and world cinema, this three-part war epic has rarely been seen in the UK, at least partly because of its dauntingly gargantuan nine-hour length. Director Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri) was attracted to Junpei Gomikawa's source novel because he recognised himself in the character of the protagonist Kaji, a pacifist and socialist who came of age during the aggressively militaristic 1930s and 40s. Following Kaji's career from factory worker to Japanese army private, Kobayashi unflinchingly examines the psychological toll of appallingly complex decisions made along the way, where being morally ˜right' risks an outcome ranging from ostracism to savage beating to death. As Kaji, Tatsuya Nakadai (Sanjuro) is in virtually every scene, providing a rock-solid emotional anchor and a necessary one in Japan, where the film was hugely controversial for being openly critical of the nation's conduct during WWII. But it's this willingness to confront national taboos head-on that makes it such a lastingly powerful experience.

• Samurai Assassin | DVD | (02/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Threatened from the East and West Japan and the Tokugawa Shogunate are dangerously unstable. Lord Li Naosuke the 'Red Devil' has raised up a puppet figure to become the Shogun lemoshil. The year is 1860. Among his opposition is the Mito Clan. Undefeated they are planning his assassination. Amongst their numbers is one Niiro Tsurichiyo (Toshiro Mifune). The illegitimate son of a powerful nobleman Niiro has been brought up in a merchants household harbouring ambitions to bec

• The End Of Summer | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This penultimate film by Japanese master director Yasujiro Ozu examines the difficulties faced by the Kohayagawa family as they struggle to adapt their traditional values to a rapidly changing post-war Japan. As the family's generations-old sake making business begins to fail in the face of increasingly fierce competition Manbei the incorrigible elderly patriarch rekindles an affair with an old flame much to the disapproval of his daughter Fumiko. He is further distracted by his a

• Sword Of Doom | DVD | (02/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Tatsue (Nakadai) a man brought up to recognise only the way of the sword as the way of life finds that the art of killing is a pleasure. Ranged against him is Shimada (Mifune) who regards the use made of the sword as the manifestation of a man's spiritual state and vows to end Tatsue's spree in an era without values...