Subgenre Sampler
Drama > Foreign Cinema: 1774 Films to Buy & Rent
Yokihi (Empress Yang Kwei-Fei) (1955)
- Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
Feat. Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori
- Mizoguchi’s rare colour turn, a lush, poignant ancient fable centred on a commoner maid who marries an emperor, only to be destined for sacrifice.
Crucified Lovers, The (Chikamatsu Monogatari) (1954)
- Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
Feat. Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyoko Kagawa, Eitaro Shindo
- Powerful, Bunraku–inspired tragidrama of adulterous lovers whose illicit romance is doomed in Feudal, 17th century Japan. Essential Mizoguchi.
Generation, A (Pokolenie) (1954)
- Dir. Andrzej Wajda
Feat. Roman Polanski
- Fast–moving account of the Polish Resistance during WWII, as a scrappy young recruit falls in love with his unit leader. Depicts the spirited,…
Sansho Dayu (Sansho the Bailiff) (1954)
- Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
Feat. Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyoko Kagawa…
- One of Mizoguchi's great classics, based on an 11th century Japanese folktale elaborated into a sprawling vision of a cruel, mysterious cosmos, where…
Senso (1954)
- Dir. Luchino Visconti
Feat. Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Christian Marquand
- A period love story set in the tumultuous 1860's in Italy, when it was occupied by invading Austrians.
Dir. Visconti turns his eye on a love…
Sound of the Mountain (Yama No Oto) (1954)
- Dir. Mikio Naruse
Feat. Setsuko Hara, Ken Uehara, Soh Yamamura
- Dir. Naruse reprises the disintegrating marriage (and cast) of his earlier film, REPAST, in this profoundly affecting tale of a young woman (Hara)…
Twenty-Four Eyes (24 Eyes/Nijushi no hitomi) (1954)
- Dir. Keisuke Kinoshita
Feat. Hideko Takamine, Chishu Ryu
- An elegiac triumph of nostalgia for youth and wartime humanism, this cherished landmark of Japanese cinema gracefully chronicles the 20–years…
Uwasa no onna (Her Mother's Profession, The Woman in the Rumour) (1954)
- Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
Feat. Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiko Kuga
- Dir. Mizoguchi's longtime muse, Kinuyo Tanaka, plays the madame of a geisha house who falls prey to rumour when both herself and her daughter become…
Victoria in Dover (The Story of Vickie) (1954)
- Dir. Ernst Marischka
Feat. Romy Schneider, Adrian Hoven
- A prequel of sorts to the SISSI trilogy lovingly details the formative romance between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Romy Schneider features…
Gate of Hell (Jigokumon) (1953)
- Dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa
Feat. Machiko Kyo, Kazuo Hasegawa, Isao Yamagata
- Tragic story of unrequited love set during the Heiji Rebellion in 1159, where a samurai warrior falls in love with a married…