Best movies like Satoyama II: Japan's Secret Watergarden

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Satoyama II: Japan's Secret Watergarden Starring David Attenborough, and more. If you liked Satoyama II: Japan's Secret Watergarden then you may also like: Ugetsu, Nature's Half Acre, A Night in the Show, Nightmare at Noon, The Old Man and the Sea 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.

Each home has a built in pool or water tank that lies partly inside, partly outside its’ walls… A continuous stream of spring water is piped right into a basin, so freshwater is always available. People rinse out pots in the tank and clean their freshly picked vegetables. If they simply pour the food scraps back in the water, they risk polluting the whole village supply. However, carp can scour out even the greasy or burnt pans. They do the washing up in Satoyama villages. This traditional arrangement is called the riverside method. It’s used all over Japan. Cleaned up by the carp, the tank water eventually rejoins the channel.

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Ugetsu

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

Nature's Half Acre

The strange and wonderful world that lies beneath our feet, under leaf, log and rock, peopled by millions of weird and fascinating creatures. Released theatrically alongside Alice In Wonderland.

A Night in the Show

Mr. Pest tries several theatre seats before winding up in front in a fight with the conductor. He is thrown out. In the lobby he pushes a fat lady into a fountain and returns to sit down by Edna. Mr. Rowdy, in the gallery, pours beer down on Mr. Pest and Edna. He attacks patrons, a harem dancer, the singers Dot and Dash, and a fire-eater.

Nightmare at Noon

Scientists poison the water supply of a small town, turning the residents into homicidal maniacs who kill each other and anybody who passes through.

The Old Man and the Sea

Santiago is an aging, down-on-his-luck, Cuban fisherman who, after catching nothing for nearly 3 months, hooks a huge Marlin and struggles to land it far out in the Gulf Stream.

Klunkerz

Long before the mountain bike entered our global consciousness, the cycling enthusiasts of Northern California's Marin County rode modified pre-WWII bicycles down the slopes of Mount Tamalpais. They developed their bikes through rigorous field-testing, often risking life and limb to do so. Some of these cyclists were Category-1 road racers looking for a new way to train during the off-season. Others were simply fun-loving hippies looking for a new way to commune with nature. Their early bikes were scavenged from dumpsters and junkyards. It was from these humble beginnings that a multi-billion dollar industry, a form of recreation for the masses, and an Olympic event, were born. These hefty steeds were affectionately known as Klunkerz.

Black Rain

Shigematsu Shizuma lives with his senile mother, his wife Shigeko, and his niece Yasuko in a village near Fukuyama. He, his wife, his niece and his close friends in the village were present at the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The Shizumas look for prospective husbands for Yasuko, but find that the families withdraw on finding out she was at Hiroshima.

An Enemy of the People

A small forest town is trying to promote itself as a place for tourists to come enjoy the therapeutic hot springs and unspoiled nature. Dr. Stockmann, however, makes the inconvenient discovery that the nature around the village is not so unspoiled. In fact, the runoff from the local tanning mill has contaminated the water to a dangerous degree. The town fathers argue that cleaning up the mess would be far too expensive and the publicity would destroy the town's reputation, so therefore news of the pollution should be suppressed. Dr. Stockmann decides to fight to get the word out to the people, but receives as very mixed reaction.

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

Takeo, a capricious wife from Tokyo high society, is bored by her dull husband, a quiet and reliable company executive raised in the country. After a crisis, she understands better his true value. A parallel sub-plot shows her niece rebelling against the tradition of arranged marriages.

Locating Silver Lake

Upon graduating college, a brokenhearted aspiring writer, without a dime or connections, packs his bags and heads to Los Angeles in the hopes of finding a new beginning. He quickly gets immersed into two very different worlds - one young, provocative and alluring, the other rooted in diversity, community and loyalty - both with their own unique appeals, advantages and dangers. Through his new experiences, he realizes who he is and where he belongs.

How High

Multi-platinum rap superstars Redman and Method Man star as Jamal and Silas, two regular guys who smoke something magical, ace their college entrance exams and wind up at Harvard. Ivy League ways are strange but Silas and Jamal take it in a stride -- until their supply of supernatural smoke runs dry. That's when they have to start living by their wits and rely on their natural resources to make the grade.

Minari

A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

My Little Pony: The Movie

The first day of Spring is on its way and the Little Ponies are preparing for it with a big festival. But all the fun may come to an end if the witch Hydia has her way! Can the Ponies defeat Hydia and her evil daughters, Reeka and Draggle? More importantly, can they save Ponyland from the witches’ concoction, the strange purple goo called Smooze, that’s threatening to bury the whole town?

Evergreen Love

Sayaka works at a office. She's not very good at her job or with love. One night, she finds a man, Itsuki, collapsed in front of her home. She takes him inside and they begin to live together. Itsuki teaches Sayaka about cooking wild herbs and collecting wild herbs, but he has a secret.

A Long Goodbye

A seventy-year-old retired school headmaster informs his wife and daughters that he has Alzheimer’s disease. They are all concerned, but react differently due to their individual situations. The family watches as the husband and father regresses due to the disease and loses his memory. Interestingly, there are sparkling moments of his life of which the man will not let go.

Tracked by the Police

The Laguna Dam is to be built in Arizona to supply water to desert-land unfit for cultivation or stock-raising. Rival companies bid for the building contract, which leads to violence and danger for Bob Owen and his dog Satan.

Real Girl

Hikaru Tsutsui is a high school student. He enjoys animation and video games in the virtual world, but he doesn't enjoy his real life. People at his school don't even know he exists. One day, he cleans up the pool at his school with beautiful Iroha Ikarashi. Iroha approaches Hikaru and confesses that she likes him.

The Dreams of Rene Sendam

Rene Sendam is deeply troubled. A lonely graduate student studying poetry and an often alienating eccentric, Rene leads a fantasy life built on delusion and wonder… and a real life of isolation and rejection. “The Dreams of Rene Sendam” follows Rene’s friendships with three other students, including with Marie DiPierro, a free spirit traumatized by her father’s untimely death. Eventually Rene’s dangerous dreams threaten to rupture reality, putting Marie's life at risk.

Lake Fear 2: The Swamp

It's March in South Florida. The beach towns are flush with young people looking for action and excitement. For one unlucky group of thrill-seeking spring breakers, their adventure leads to the black waters of the Florida Everglades - a place with mosquitoes the size of birds, snakes as long as school buses and tens of thousands of flesh-ripping alligators. But beyond the scope of the traditional predators famous for keeping the glades wild is another phenomenon - one with two legs and an insatiable thirst for killing.

Sand Land

In the far future, war has destroyed the entire Earth, leaving only a barren wasteland where the supply of water is controlled by the greedy king. In search of a long-lost lake, Sheriff Rao asked the king of the demons for help...and got the king's son, Beelzebub, and his assistant, Thief. Together the unlikely trio sets off across the desert, facing dragons, bandits and the deadliest foe of all... the King's army itself!

The Handsome Suit

An overweight cook is given the opportunity to woo the girl of his dreams when he is given a "handsome suit" that transforms him into an idealized human being in this absurd Japanese comedy.

Gokuraku sentô: Kyonyû yumomi

"Tachibana Yusen" in a certain town. There is a public bath that Kasuko, who has extraordinary big breasts, inherited from her father. There are regular customers from my father's time, but young people and old people gathered for Kasuko's big breasts. However, it was decided to open a sports gym with a spa in the neighborhood, and as a countermeasure, he was considering new services with regular customers.

What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?

A by-the-book Captain is ordered to capture a strategic village in Italy. The Italian soldiers are willing to surrender, if they can have a festival first. The lieutenant convinces the Captain this is the only way. Because of aerial reconnaissance, they must look like they are fighting. To sort this out an intelligence officer is sent in. Meanwhile the festival gets complicated with the Mayors daughter.

This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection

Amongst the mountains of Lesotho, an 80-year-old widow winds up her affairs and makes arrangements for her burial. But when her village is threatened with resettlement due to the construction of a reservoir, she finds a new will to live and ignites a spirit of resistance within her community.

Little Forest: Winter/Spring

Ichiko bakes a cake for an end-of-year party with her friends. In the depths of winter, making mochi and curry keeps the people of Komori warm. Later, spring brings thoughts of her absent mother as well as rice planting and sakura, and she begins to think of leaving Komori behind again.

Riverside Mukolitta

A lonely young man moves in a 50-year-old apartment building. When he meets the cheerful residents, he finds himself surrounded by small happiness.

Mio on the Shore

Mio is 20 years old. Having lost her parents early, she and her grandmother run a traditional inn in Nagano. However, her grandmother gets sick. Mio moves to Tokyo and lives with her father’s best friend, Kyosuke. He runs a public bath. She begins to work at the public bath, but it is scheduled to be demolished to make way for redevelopment.

The Dry Spell

The story takes place during a summer of continuous sunshine when water supply restrictions are issued in the city. Shunsaku Iwakiri works for the city's water department and his job is to visit homes and stores that are behind on their bills and either collect the money or shut off the water supply (water suspension enforcement). Shunsaku is separated from his wife and children, and his heart grows thirsty as he spends his days visiting poor households and being abhorred. One day, during a water shutoff, Shunsaku meets two young sisters who have been neglected. He sees them as his own children and offers them a helping hand.

The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)

An eight-hour fiction shot for a total of twenty-seven weeks, over a period of fourteen months, in a village population forty-seven in the mountains of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is a geographic description of the work and non-work of a farmer. A portrait, over five seasons, of a family, of a terrain, of a soundscape, and of duration itself. A film-as-adaptive-landscape. A georgic in five books.

Mystic Shrine Maiden

Tōko works as a shrine maiden. Her days are full of joy, as she would be called out by the village people to play or sometimes simply savor time with nothing spectacular to do. One day, Tōko finds out that the village festival which she has been waiting for with great anticipation will be cancelled due to an old superstition. Tōko, who wants to make the festival happen, starts preparations against the advice of the villagers. Events unfold in an unexpected direction when she meets a strange little girl by the lake.

The Pacific War and Himeyuri Corps

The last fight put up by remaining forces and a special volunteer nursing corps in 1944-5.

Colors of Wind

Yuri leaves Ryo with mysterious words. Ryo goes to Hokkaido knowing that his doppelganger magician is missing. Ryo realizes Yuri was also the magician’s lover and he learns magic. The story that crosses over two identities, illusion and magic.

Kiss the Ground

Sheds light on an alternative approach to farming called “regenerative agriculture” that could balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world.

How Music Got Free

'How Music Got Free' details the fascinating, and often hilarious, inside story of the technology-driven disruption that changed music in the late '90s and early 2000s," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The documentary looks at the technology that made it possible for millions of young people to quench their thirst for new music by simply downloading it for free.

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