Floating Weeds

Directed by Yasujiro Ozu
 
An aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and illegitimate son, who doesn’t know the identity of his father. The actor’s current mistress is enraged and heartbreak for all is the outcome. Ozu’s films capture the joy and sadness in everyday life and this film reveals his distinct style at its pinnacle. 

1959 119 min Color
 

Ugetsu

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
Starring Machiko Kyo
 

Set in 16th century Japan, this film has been hailed as one of the greatest films ever made. Two brothers driven by dreams of glory (one an ambitious potter haunted by a beautiful ghost, the other a would-be samurai) leave their wives for the promise of success in Kyoto. Both are led astray by their blind ambitions, and their wives suffer tragic fates in their absence, 

1953 94 min B/W
 

When A Woman Ascends the Stairs

Directed by Mikio Naruse

A delicate, devastating study of Keiko, a bar hostess in Tokyo’s very modern postwar Ginza district, who entertains businessmen after work. Sly, resourceful, but trapped, she embodies the conflicts and struggles of a woman trying to establish her independence in a male-dominated society.  The film is enhanced by the drinks-after-dark jazz music and the black-and-white widescreen photography showing a jumble of slanting signs, beams, and screens, 

1960 111 min B/W
 

Harakiri

Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Starring Tatsuya Nakadai
 
In 17th century Japan, during a period of peace, Tatsuya Nakadai (star of Kurosawa's Ran) is an elder warrior seeking revenge for the unnecessary seppuku (ritual suicide) of his son-in-law. There’s an explosive climax of supreme defiance and samurai swordplay, erupting from a battle of wills, hotly defended honor, and called bluffs. A great film for connoisseurs of samurai action.

1962 135 min B/W