Best movies like I Want to Be a Shellfish

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like I Want to Be a Shellfish Starring Frankie Sakai, Mutsuko Sakura, Toshie Takada, Shin Saburi, and more. If you liked I Want to Be a Shellfish then you may also like: 12 Angry Men, No Way Back, Ju-on: The Grudge, Kabei: Our Mother, The Kiss and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

Television production of I Want to Be a Shellfish. On a post-war peaceful day in Japan, Toyomatsu Shimizu, a barber as well as a good father and husband, is suddenly arrested by the Prefectural Police as a war criminal and sued for murder. According to the accusation by GHQ, Toyomatsu "attemped to kill a US prisoner", which was nothing but an order by his superior and failed after all with hurting the prisoner by weak Toyomatsu. Also, Toyomatsu was driven to corner at the trial by the fact that he fed the US prisoner some burdock roots to nourish him. Toyomatsu believes nothing but being not guilty, but he is sentenced to death by hanging. Prior to the execution, Toyomatsu writes a long farewell letter to his family, the wife and the only son: "If I ever incarnate, I hate to be a human being any more.... Oh yes, I would like to be...a shellfish living on the rock-bottom of the sea."

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12 Angry Men

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

No Way Back

When FBI Agent Zack Grant's partner is killed during a blown-up operation, he attempts to find the person responsible. Mafiaso Frank Serlano believes Zack is responsible for his only sons death in the same operation and kidnaps Zacks son to hold as bait. The action gets wild when airline stewardess Mary is taken hostage to add what seems an another insurmountable problem for Zack. There appears to be no way out.

Ju-on: The Grudge

Volunteer home-care worker Rika is assigned to visit a family, she is cursed and chased by two revengeful fiends: Kayako, a woman brutally murdered by her husband and her son Toshio. Each person that lives in or visits the haunted house is murdered or disappears.

Kabei: Our Mother

Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.

The Kiss

An unhappily married woman is caught up in scandal and murder when her affection toward a young man is misinterpreted.

The Staircase Murders

After he calls 911 to report his wife's accident, successful novelist and aspiring politician Michael Peterson (Williams) becomes the prime suspect in her alleged murder.

Macbeth

Scotland, 11th century. Driven by the twisted prophecy of three witches and the ruthless ambition of his wife, warlord Macbeth, bold and brave, but also weak and hesitant, betrays his good king and his brothers in arms and sinks into the bloody mud of a path with no return, sown with crime and suspicion.

Prisoner Maria: The Movie

Convicted of killing the drug dealer who murdered her husband, Maria is blackmailed into serving as a covert assassin. She must do the government's bidding if she is ever to regain her freedom, or her son. With each completed mission, her sentenced is further re- duced. Yet, with every job she feels further away from her goal of a peaceful life.

Farewell to the King

An American soldier who escapes the execution of his comrades by Japanese soldiers in Borneo during WWII becomes the leader of a personal empire among the headhunters in this war story told in the style of Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling. The American is reluctant to rejoin the fight against the Japanese on the urging of a British commando team but conducts a war of vengeance when the Japanese attack his adopted people.

Recoil

Detective Ray Morgan accidentally kills the son of a mob boss. The mob boss orders to have Morgan killed unknowing that the assassin killed Morgan's wife and kids. Now Morgan's out for revenge..and he'll do it his own way

The Shop at Sly Corner

The French owner of an antique shop, Desius Heiss, (Oskar Homolka) has become disillusioned with society since his torture as a prisoner on Devil's Island, since when he has allowed his shop to become a front for criminal activity, and he himself is a receiver of stolen goods.

Hurricane Smith

Rodeo rider Hurricane Smith is wrongly convicted of murder and robbery, but escapes and creates a new life, but one of the real criminals shows up to claim the loot which he believes Smith has.

A Gunfighter's Pledge

After killing former sheriff Matt Austin's wife and son for revenge, a quest begins. An escaped prisoner shows that he remembers who sent him to do time in jail so long ago. In a small town saloon Austin's mission to locate his family's murderer comes to an end. The pursuit was long and difficult. Upon discovering the killer a gunfight ensues, unfortunately in the crossfire an innocent bystander is shot and injured. Once again the murderer made a quick getaway.

Grip of the Strangler

A researcher investigating a notorious serial killer who was hanged 20 years earlier seemingly becomes possessed by the long dead strangler.

In Tranzit

Nazi POWs suspected of heinous acts are locked up in a Soviet women's prison run by vengeful female guards. To weed out the guilty, the innocent must pay. Can supposed enemies turn into great loves? Based on a true post-World War II story, this drama stars Thomas Kretschmann, John Malkovich and Vera Farmiga in a bitter game of cat and mouse and a battle between hate and humanity, mercy and revenge.

The Incident

Small town lawyer, Harmon Cobb, defends a Nazi prisoner of war against murder charges. Set during World War II, Cobb has to contend with the difficulties of defending the devil when the town's only doctor (Barnard Hughes) dies while at "Camp Bremen" in the fictitious town of Bremen, Colorado.

A Mighty Heart

Based on Mariane Pearl's account of the terrifying and unforgettable story of her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl's life and death.

The Phantom

Carlos DeLuna was arrested in 1993 aged 21 for the murder of Wanda Lopez, and protested his innocence until his execution, declaring that it was another Carlos who committed the crime.

Moment of Terror

When an only child is struck by a car and dies, the child's mother seeks vengeance against the driver in this thrilling drama. The car was driven by the wife of a company president who is having an affair. The woman's husband manages to buy silence about the incident, but the victim's mother discovers the identity of the driver. After she secures a job in the home of the company president and his philandering spouse, the woman plans to murder the couple's son when he reaches the age of her late son.

Death by Hanging

A Korean man is sentenced to death in Japan but somehow survives his execution, sending the authorities into a panic about what to do next.

Good Day for a Hanging

As a youth, Eddie came into the town with his gang to rob the bank, but was caught and convicted. Marshal Ben helped him to become a honorable citizen. Now, many years later, the gang returns to again rob the bank. On their flight they shoot the Marshal. Eddie is the only one to identify the murderer - but is in doubt if he shall be loyal to his new or his old friends.

A Covenant with Death

An innocent man is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but as he's about to be hanged he accidentally kills his executioner. He now faces a new trial, presided over by a young and inexperienced judge.

The Prisoner of Shark Island

After healing the leg of the murderer John Wilkes Booth, responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, perpetrated on April 14, 1865, during a performance at Ford's Theatre in Washington; Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, considered part of the atrocious conspiracy, is sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to the sinister Shark Island Prison.

Passion and Paradise

Sir Harry Oakes is a wealthy magnate, living amongst the British aristocrats who have made their home in the Bahamas just prior to World War II. Their small community is one of privilege and status and when Sir Harry's beloved daughter marries a handsome but penniless gigolo, Alfred De Marigny, Sir Harry is outraged by the union. But before Sir Harry can break up the marriage he is brutally and viciously murdered and his son-in-law is the prime suspect. Nothing is as it appears and Sir Harry's death soon points towards intrigue and deception on an international scale.

Old Man River

Documentary film version of the stage show in which actress Cynthia Gates Fujikawa explores the story of her father, actor Jerry Fujikawa, who had a long career in films and television, most often as a stereotyped Asian. The daughter, in the course of searching out her late father's history, discovers many things that she had not known, among them that her father had spent time in Manzanar, the internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II, that he had had a family prior to hers, and that somewhere out there was a sister she had never known existed.

What I Long For

High school student Juri leaps to her death. Afterwards, Juri wanders to her house, school and street. She feels loneliness as nobody else is able to see her. She talks to those that she comes across including her mother and classmates, but nobody responds to her comments. Juri then sees a horrifying monster, which she never saw prior to her suicide. She calls the scary monster "Bug Man". When the mind of humans become weak, the Bug Man tempts those to commit suicide. One day, Juri walks along the street as usual. She then meets a girl that is able to see Juri. Juri names the girl Ringo-chan and plays at the park with her. Their happy moments does not last long. When they come back from the park, Juri sees Ringo-chan's mother with a grim face. The Bug Man is standing behind her mother.

Honor Thy Father

Joseph Bologna stars as Bill Bonanno in this made-for-television adaptation of the controversial bestseller from Gay Talese, chronicling the rise of New York's infamous Bonanno organized crime family. When his father disappears in 1964 and Bill is compelled to take over the "empire," other mafiosi attempt to take what's theirs. Brenda Vaccaro and Richard S. Castellano fill out the impressive cast of this gripping crime tale.

Another Life

A woman is wrongly accused of murdering her husband in Edwardian London. Just before the outbreak of World War I, Edith Graydon married her boyfriend Percy Thomson. He survives the war but theirs is not a happy marriage. She doesn't really love him and he feels it every day. He's also possessive and their daily life is a constant battle. She meets and falls in love with Frederick Bywaters, her sister's one-time boyfriend. They have a long affair and her desperate attempts to get either a formal separation of divorce from her husband falls on deaf ears. They are at their wits end and Bywaters decides to do something about it. On a dark evening when Edith is walking with her husband, Bywaters stabs him to death. Edith is charged with murder along with Bywaters and both are found guilty. She claims her innocence right up until the day they are both executed by hanging in 1923. Based on a true story.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

A teenage high school drop-out Bobby McLaughlin is accused of the murder of a local drug dealer he says he didn’t commit. When he is convicted with little evidence, his father begins a fierce struggle to free his son from prison.

Nitro Rush

In the follow up to the box-office hit Nitro (2007), we catch up with Max as he serves time for the role he played in the death of a police officer. When the film begins, Max learns that his 17-year-old son Theo has just been recruited by a criminal organization. Desperate to get him out of this situation, Max escapes from prison. He discovers that Theo and his best friend Charly have fallen under the control of Daphne, an alluring femme fatale, who is taking advantage of the teens’ expert computer skills to plan a bold and risky burglary. Quickly understanding he’ll be unable to persuade his son to walk away from it all, Max joins the team in order to protect them. His driving skills and his athletic prowess will prove to be invaluable assets in this action-packed sequel.

I Want to Be a Shellfish

1944, in the depths of World War II. Toyomatsu Shimizu is a completely typical barber from a remote sea-side town who lives frugally but happily with his wife Fusae and their five-year-old son. Eventually, though, the army beckons and he is drafted. One day an officer on the battle-field orders him to kill a captive U.S. soldier. Although Toyomatsu lacks the spirit to kill the man, and only wounds him in the arm, the victorious U.S. soldiers will not accept this, and Toyomatsu is arrested and tried as a war-criminal. And he receives the cruelest sentence possible...

21 Days

After Larry Darrent accidentally kills his lover's blackmailing husband, someone else is arrested for the crime. When he is found guilty, Larry and Wanda have just three weeks together before he must give himself up or let an innocent man go to the gallows.

The Strangling

The men who surround and torment the young protagonist (demanding teacher, owner of the company that rapes his own daughter, despotic and uncompromising father) are opposed to women (victims of men) as embodiment of salvation.

I Want to Be a Shellfish

On a post-war peaceful day in Japan, Toyomatsu Shimizu, a barber as well as a good father and husband, is suddenly arrested by the Prefectural Police as a war criminal and sued for murder.

Promise: The Nabari Poisoned Wine Case, The Life of a Death-row Inmate

Masaru Okunishi is a prisoner who has been on death-row for over 40 years. In 1961, 5 women died from drinking poisoned wine in a small village gathering in Nabari City in Mie Prefecture. After his arrest, he appealed his innocence on the grounds that the police coerced his confession. He was found not guilty in the first trial. However, it was overturned and he received a death sentence in the second trial, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1972. Since then, Okunishi has continuously appealed for retrial, fighting against the horror of capital punishment. This TV dramatization of the Nabari Poisoned Wine Case depicts Okunishi in an isolated cell, his mother’s unwavering belief in his innocence, and the effort of people who have rallied to Okunishi’s defense.

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