Jūzō Itami

Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals.

After being discredited as a coward, a 19th century seaman lives for only one purpose: to redeem himself. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2000.

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This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a vivid portrait of the pre-war lifestyle of the wealthy Makioka family from Osaka, and draws a parallel between their activities and the seasonal variations in Japan.

One night, a college student is found dead, his body charred black. The victim’s girlfriend, Nobuko, vanishes right before the eyes of the authorities’ search team.

Country girl Akiko visits a Tokyo college in search of her hometown sweetheart. In the course of finding him, she runs into various odd inhabitants of the college campus–blasé intellectuals, horny co-eds, a psych professor in search of the theory of shame, and of course her beloved Yoshioka, who has become an elusive campus nobody.

Kaze is a philandering TV producer. His wife and nine of his mistresses conspire to kill him. However each woman would rather keep him alive, as long as she was the only woman in his life.

Lady Snowblood is caught by the police and sentenced to death for her crimes. As she is sent to the gallows she is rescued by the secret police who offer her a deal to assassinate some revolutionaries.

Based on the Chinese classic "Jin Ping Mei". Original Japanese cut directed by Koji Wakamatsu and produced by Shochiku. Set in Song-dynasty China, Wu Song rises to fame and becomes a guard captain. He is captivated by his brother’s wife, Pan Jinlian, whose beauty also ensnares the wealthy libertine Ximen Qing. To possess her, Ximen Qing has Wu Song’s brother murdered. When the corrupt authorities refuse justice, Wu Song is imprisoned, escapes with the help of the Liangshan bandits, and joins their ranks. Ximen Qing descends further into decadence, but Wu Song eventually returns, leading an attack on the town.

Four sexually hungry high school students preparing for their university entrance exams meet up with an inebriated teacher singing bawdy drinking songs. This encounter sets them on a less than academic path.

Three stories. A solitary sailor falls from his boat and washes ashore on a tropical island. While seeking rescue, he's found by a nearly naked woman who is playful and compliant. He decides to erase his signs of distress and remain on the island. What awaits? In the second, an adolescent searches for the words of a nursery rime he remembers bits of. His journey takes him into dreams, sexual awakening, and Oedipal fantasy. Third, a man of wealth in late-nineteenth century Paris hires a prostitute for the night. She's also cabaret performer and takes him to her room. He fears he's about to be robbed. What's her secret?

Renowned detective Kosuke Kindaichi is called to an island where a dying man's words lead him to investigate a series of murders connected to the 'Nue' legend and the powerful Osakabe family, who separate twins at birth.

A sendup of the stereotypical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman jerk, unable to relate to anyone; mom is a hopeless housewife; the older son is a moderate academic success; but the younger son is a rebellious goof-off for whom a tutor must be hired. The tutor proceeds to blow the entire family apart.

Working on a documentary about infamous painter Mamiya Ichiro, a TV crew filming at his old home come under attack from the ghost of the painter's wife.

A runaway cat-loving girl begins a love triangle with a reckless older man and a young biker in high school. The film follows their subsequent chaotic relationships.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the denizens of a small Japanese fishing village struggle with defeat, cultural change, and the arrival of American troops.

Immigrant gangs terrorize a Japanese town with their threats, loud jazz, and tasteless fashion sense, and only the tough but suave Dr. Amamiya (Ando) can stop them, as long as he gets rid of his silly peace-loving ideals.

Eiji lives a quiet life running a small Izakaya with his wife. He spends his days cooking for and serving the lively residents of his small hometown.

Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.

Akira is haunted by a "bouncing ball" song that he remembers his mother singing when he was a small child, and now on the verge of a sexually active adulthood, he wants to find the origins of the song. The young man ostensibly wanders into a time-warp in which aspects from his childhood and adulthood mix together. In this never-never land he comes across a beautiful woman/witch who is lost inside the labyrinth of her mansion, just as the young man is lost in the labyrinth of time — and on some levels, perhaps the labyrinth of his subconscious.

Prisoners with special skills from all over Japan are sent to the battlefront on a mission.

A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "Marusa no Onna 2" a.k.a. "A Taxing Woman's Return".

Nakadai is an English teacher at a local school. He’s put-upon like the patron figure of dozens of films and televisions shows. Viewers who are especially fans of Nakadai will appreciate how the actor comically rants about here. His home life is almost disastrous, with a ditzy (but attractive) wife, three young children, a loud school nearby that’s controlled by a corrupt businessman he loathes, and frequent visits from layabout friends. And the grey-furred, green-eyed cat!

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The film is dedicated to the souls of flight school graduates killed in World War II. Young boys dream about becoming pilots and apply to flight schools. However, the flight schools have extremely demanding, harsh training, and once they finally become pilots, they must become suicide bombers and give their lives for their homeland.

Mariko is living the life of a typical Japanese college student in the 70's, spending far more of her time balancing boyfriends and part-time jobs than on her schoolwork. She finds herself torn between a former boyfriend who's the tough, insensitive-but-sexy, type, and a new acquaintance who's more sensitive to her feelings, but who still acts childishly selfish at times. Will she choose one of them, or decide to go her own way?

A documentary about the legendary Japanese filmmaker.

Who will be the next prime minister? As two candidates start to compete, political game and brutal murder ensue. And the existence of secret love letters changes the situation.

A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "Minbo no Onna" a.k.a. "Minbo: the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion".

The tragic tale of Kiyono, a young woman from the mountain who fell in love with Takuji, a fisherman's son, and her devotion to him during a time of war.

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Story of loyal sailors giving their lives for their country as human torpedoes towards the end of the War.

Based on a true story, an elderly woman resiliently spends nine months attempting to retrieve her husband's dead body, fighting government bureaucracy and indifference all along the way.

A Japanese racing driver for Nissan named Godai (Yujiro Ishihara) have a rivalry with a French driver named Pierre (Jean-Claude Drouot). Godai is enlisted to race in an annual endurance race, The East African Safari Rally. Peripheral to this is the story concerning Godai's former lover Yuko (Ruriko Asaoka), a fashion designer, and her friend Anna (Emmanuel Riva), who happens to be Pierre's wife.

A man and a little girl meet in a bicycle parking in Tokyo. The little girl says she wants to watch the sea, and their travel begins. The man does not intend to be a kidnapper – he asks the girl to phone her mother and tell her she's with him. During their trip they meet various people, but they always must continue on, lest the man be arrested.

A youth drama set in a Japanese university which is home to a group of active, leftist students.

This is an ensemble period drama adapted from Shotaro Ikenami's popular novel, featuring the famous Kabuki actor brothers Kinnosuke Manya and Katsuo Nakamura, who made the transition from the Kabuki world to the film industry, and a cast of gorgeous and diverse faces. The Edo period. Nagato Abe, a Hatamoto (a feudal lord), is annoyed by his son's bad behavior, and when it becomes a hindrance to his own career, he asks Otowaya Hanemon, a black marketeer, to assassinate his son. The target is then taken care of by the assassin, Umeyasu. In order to keep his mouth shut, Nagatomon no Mamoru also attempts to take Otowaya's life. Nagato's brother-in-law, Omiya Sahei, a corrupt merchant from the Kamigata region, also plans to replace Otowaya as the head of Edo's black market business, so Umebayashi and his fellow trapper Hikojiro set out to eliminate them.

A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "Daibyonin" a.k.a. "The Last Dance".

Intellectual collegue professor Sasa becomes obsessed with beautiful Sugiko, a virgin. Eventually, luring her to a love hotel.

Jūzō Itami's debut short film, concerning a group of unique young people in the high economic growth period who are into games with rubber band pistols.

A dynamic woman who aspires to be a writer, living a wild life in constant search of freedom while indulging in lust with four men.

Yukio, a farm boy, and Toru, a fisherboy, live in a small Japanese village that is periodically threatened by a volcano on one side and tidal waves on the other. Yukio's younger sister Setsu follows then and dreams of becoming a pearl diver. Toru is preparing to go fishing with his father when a bell tolls and a danger flag is hung high on the hill behind the village to warn of an impending tidal wave by the village patriarch, known as Old Gentleman.

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A survivor of the tragic mass suicides on Tokashiki Island in 1945 falls in love with a near-mute motorcycle engineer.

A 1970 juvenile delinquent drama.

A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "A-Ge-Man" a.k.a. "Tales of a Golden Geisha".

Nobuko Otowa plays a former Seto Inland Sea island farmer who has moved to the mainland in order to find work, but instead ends up dead. The film begins with the discovery of her corpse, which leads to an investigation that uncovers the narcotics, prostitution, and murder in which many poor farmers had found themselves trapped after World War II.

Documentary about the making of Juzo Itami's film "Tampopo" (1985).

A behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Juzo Itami's "Marusa no Onna" a.k.a. "A Taxing Woman".

An archery club on retreat in Hokkaido is forced to rescue their teacher who is kidnapped.

Kenkichi Godai, a reporter for the social affairs desk, returns home after covering the war-torn Vietnam. Compared to Vietnam, with its gunpowder smoke and carnage, Tokyo seems nothing short of paradise.

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Three men vs. gangsters in a fight involving smuggled gold.

A youth action drama depicting the struggles of a young man who gets involved in an extraordinary incident at a convenience store. This film is based on the novel of the same name written by Asato Izumi, written and directed by newcomer Hisashi Toma. Isamu Nagata of “Asatte DANCE” was in charge of the photography.

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A documentary about the Juzo Itami memorial museum in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan.

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