In Edo-era Japan, a ukiyo-e artist languishes in his master’s shadow. Creatively stifled, he finds consolation in the company of a prostitute, and becomes entangled in a love triangle. A mystery emerges involving two portraits and the sudden disappearance of the artist Sharaku. Helmed by Cannes-selected director Tatsuji Yamazaki, the film employs kabuki-inspired sequences and stylised sets.
Japan Japan
Similiar movies
Biography of a Bachelor Girl
Everyweek Newsmagazine editor Richard Kurt pursues famous free-spirited portrait artist Marion Forsythe on her return to the states from Europe, seeking to convince her to write her biography as a feature for his magazine. One of Marion's old beaus, now running for U.S. Senator from their home state, also comes calling.
Girl with a Pearl Earring
This film, adapted from a work of fiction by author Tracy Chevalier, tells a story about the events surrounding the creation of the painting "Girl With A Pearl Earring" by 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.
Love and Honor
A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
Still Walking
Twelve years after their beloved eldest son, Junpei, drowned while saving a stranger's life, Kyohei and Toshiko welcome their surviving children home for a family reunion. Younger son Ryota still feels that his parents resent that he isn't the one who died; his new wife, Yukari, is awkwardly meeting the rest of the family for the first time. Daughter Chinami strains to fill the uncomfortable pauses with forced cheer.
The Two Mrs. Carrolls
Struggling artist Geoffrey Carroll meets Sally while on holiday in the country. A romance develops, but he doesn't tell her he's already married. Suffering from mental illness, Geoffrey returns home where he paints an impression of his wife as the angel of death and then promptly poisons her. He marries Sally but after a while he finds a strange urge to paint her as the angel of death too and history seems about to repeat itself.
The Dragon Painter
A wild man and genius becomes a master painter's disciple, but loses his divine gift when he finds love.
Final Portrait
Paris, 1964. The Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, one of the most accomplished and respected artists of his generation, asks his friend, the American writer James Lord, to sit for a portrait, assuring him that it will take no longer than two or three hours, an afternoon at the most.
New Tale of Zatoichi
Wishing to find peace, Zatoichi travels to his old village but only finds trouble when he ends up in a love triangle and finds old scores have followed him home.
The Crimson Kimono
A Los Angeles detective and his Japanese partner woo an artist while solving a stripper's murder.
Sharaku
A crippled kabuki player is taken into a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold drawings, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal. The film explores the eternal relationship between artist and producer, and describes the emanicipation of a man who refuses to let himself become the plaything of power and money.
Love's Portrait
Lily is a museum curator who finds a painting that looks just like her. Lily’s search for the artist leads her to Ireland, where she meets William, a charming man who helps her on her quest and may also know more about the portrait’s origins than he’s letting on.
Living on Love
A man and woman, who've never met, are forced by circumstances to share the same apartment. A remake of the 1933 film "Rafter Romance".
Love's Twisting Path
Set in Kyoto in the last days of the Edo Period, the bloody conflict continues between local feudal domains, which aim to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the Shogun's police and city patrol. Tajuro Kiyokawa, once the master of the sword but now a depraved samurai who left his domain putting aside his past ambition, barely makes ends meet. Toyo, a woman who runs a tavern next door, feels affection for Tajuro who guards her place against nasty customers, but he never realizes Toyo's feelings.
Similiar TV Shows
Shadow Warriors
Shadow Warriors is a Japanese television jidaigeki show featuring Sonny Chiba that ran for four seasons in the early 1980s. Chiba played different ninja characters in each series. In the first series he played Hattori Hanzō III, in second one he played Tsuge Shinpachi, in the third one he played Tarao Hanzō, in the fourth series and in Bakumatsu Hen, he played Hattori Hanzō XV. In the 2003 direct-to-DVD series Shin Kage no Gundan he played Hattori Hanzō I.
Ryōmaden
Ryōmaden is the 49th NHK Taiga drama. It was shown on NHK from January 3 to November 28, 2010 spanning 48 episodes. The story centers on the life of 19th-century Japanese historical figures Iwasaki Yatarō and Sakamoto Ryōma. It has been announced that the series will be aired in several other countries, for example Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
A Taste of Honey
Naoko, who is a medical student falls in love for the first time for her uncle, Masato. She gets admitted into a prestigious medical school in Tokyo to get closer to him. There, she meets Aya, the daughter of the hospital's director and also a talented researcher at the school. Aya is also Masato's girlfriend. Aya feels insecure when Naoko meets Masato again.
Atami's Police Investigators
The story begins with the disappearance of a school bus and four high school girls. Still unsolved three years later, the case gets revived when one of the girls reappears. Odagiri plays a sharp national investigator searching for the truth behind the incident, which leads back to a seemingly peaceful town.
Always Smiling
Yumi, a 23-year-old office worker, is fired from her job out of the blue. A few days later, coming from a friend's wedding and having no time to change out of her kimono, she is rushing to an interview for a job at a publishing company. Yumi stumbles into the room, looking for somewhere to change out of her kimono, and finds popular comic book writer Reijiro Sakurai is having an editorial meeting with some staff. He is planning to lock himself away at a hot spring for the next three months to concentrate on his next project. Sakurai comments that if Yumi were to join him he wouldn't mind being away for so long..., and so their adventure begins.
Mute Samurai
A master swordsman, Kiichi Hogan, wanders Japan in search of the Spanish swordsman who murdered his parents and slashed his throat 18 years before. Renouncing any normal life the samurai has become the feared bounty hunter, "Devil" Hogan, the Mute Samurai.
Ooku: The Beginning
During the reign of the shogun, Iemitsu, an epidemic causes the population of men to greatly drop, leading to an ooku where the role of men and women are reversed. Thus, “the women become the shogun, served by 3000 handsome men”
Miyamoto Musashi
Musashi Miyamoto left his village and ended up fighting in the battle of Sekigahara with his friend Matahachi, but Musashi Miyamoto lost Matahachi. He goes back to the village to inform Matahachi's family about what happened. At the village, he is persecuted by people there. Musashi Miyamoto becomes worn down physically and mentally. At this time, Soho Takuan appears in front of Musashi Miyamoto. He then rebuilds his life with his sword. Musashi begins to travel for warrior training. He meets many masters of the sword and grows as a person.
IQ246: The Cases of a Royal Genius
Sharaku Homonji is the eldest son of a distinguished family who has studied crime for generations. The eldest son from the Homonji family has tested for an IQ of 246 for generations and Sharaku Homonji possess an IQ of 246. Soko Wato is a detective. One day, she is assigned to the investigation section #1. Her job there is not to investigate crimes, but to escort Sharaku
Izumo no Okuni
Izumo no Okuni was born about 1571. This time period in Japanese history was fraught with struggle. It was known as the Period of Warring States, that is, the land barrons (daimyo) fought against one another for power. Her father was a blacksmith for the Izumo Grand Shrine and, consequently, the family served as well. It was a custom to send priests and young women, such as Buddhist nuns, among others to solicit contributions. Izumo was sent to Kyoto to perform sacred dances and songs. Her Okuni Kabuki was known and applauded throughout the land. After 25 years she retired.
Kumokiri Nizaemon
During the Kyoho period in the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, there is a gang of thieves active not just in Edo but also the Tokaido and the Nakasendo, and all across the Kansai region, stealing large sums of money with skillful techniques. They only target the very wealthy and never kill or injure people. They appear with the clouds and disappear like the mist. On the night that the beautiful Ochiyo is to become the bride of a dry goods dealer, a large amount of money hidden inside the shop is stolen. The gang disappears without injuring anyone. It was a two-year plan to marry Ochiyo off so that she could bring them in. The leader of this gang is Kumokiri Nizaemon, the greatest bandit of all time. He keeps a rein on his highly-skilled and notorious followers Nanabake no Ochiyo, Kinezumi no Kichigoro, Subashiri no Kumagoro, Ingakozo Rokunosuke and others.
Epic Chushingura
Daichūshingura is a television dramatization of the events of the Forty-seven Ronin. The first episode aired on January 5, 1971, and the 52nd and final episode appeared on December 28 of the same year. The NET network broadcast it in the Tuesday evening 9:00–9:56 prime-time slot in Japan. The series featured an all-star cast. The central actor was Toshiro Mifune, who portrayed Ōishi Kuranosuke; Yoko Tsukasa his wife; and kabuki actor Onoe Kikugorō VII their son Chikara.
Revenger
As master assassin Usui Yuen looks into a series of assassinations made on the grand samurai clan, the Satsuma, he encounters Kurima Raizo, member and survivor of one of the attacks. Together, they discover the true nature of these murders is bigger than over stolen resources. As they get closer to the truth, will they come out alive to exact revenge?
Notes on Tokugawa Villainies
Matsudaira Tadateru (Shin'ichi Chiba) the sixth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu that was stripped of his title and began life under an assumed name in the Red Light district of Edo. He solves crimes, heals the sick, saves the Geisha from evil Samurai and along the way he teams up with Yagyu Jubei (a role played numerous times by Chiba himself). Awesome Samurai Action.
Chikaemon
Monzaemon Chikamatsu is a middle-age dramatist of jōruri (form of puppet theater that preceded bunraku and kabuki), but he is in a slump. His wife left him and his mother is fed up with him. All he does now is drink. The man then meets a gambler named Mankichi and his life begins to change.
Always - Sunset on Third Street
Leaving her provincial home, teenage Mutsuko arrives in Tokyo by train to take a job in a major automotive company but finds that she is employed by a small auto repair shop owned by Norifumi Suzuki. Suzuki's hair-trigger temper is held somewhat in check by the motherly instincts of his wife, Tomoe, and his young son Ippei immediately bonds with Mutsuko as if she were his older sister. The Suzuki shop lies almost in the shadow of the Tokyo Tower as it rises steadily above the skyline during construction in 1958.