Japanese Cinema

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.
97 minutes; released 1953.
In sixteenth century Japan a village potter and his brother-in-law set out for the city to seek their fortunes in the spoils of war. Their neglected wives suffer the bitter consequences of their husbands' ambition as one is murdered by soldiers and the other is raped and becomes a prostitute. In Japanese with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Shôhei Imamura.
140 minutes; released 1979.
A true crime story about Iwao Enokizu, self-styled "King of criminals". Based on the novel by Saki Ryuzo. In Japanese with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara.
148 minutes; released 1964.
An amateur entomologist leaves Tokyo to study an unclassified species of beetle that resides in a remote, vast desert. When he misses his bus back to civilization, he is persuaded to spend the night in the home of a young widow who lives in a hut at the bottom of a sand dune. Based on a novel by Abe Kobo. In Japanese with optional English subtitles.