The Bad Sleep Well
(1960) [PG]

In this engaging drama, acclaimed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa deftly splices together the nuances of hypocrisy, old feudal misconceptions lingering in modern corruption, and Shakespeare's Hamlet. The rotten corporate world is taken on by Koichi Nishi (Toshiro Mifune), who is looking for...  More

Dersu Uzala (2 disc set)
(1975) [G]

A Russian army explorer who is rescued in Siberia by a rugged Asiatic hunter renews his friendship with the woodsman years later when he returns at the head of a larger expedition. The hunter finds that all his nature lore is of no help when he accompanies the explorer back to civilisation. Four...  More

Ikiru
(1952) [PG]

When petty official Kenji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) learns he is going to die he begins a quest for the true meaning of existence. Realising that his life until now has been wasted and no longer finding solace in his family or job he withdraws his money from the bank, intending to spend his last...  More

Sanjuro
(1963) [PG]

In response to the huge critical and commercial success of Yojimbo, Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune re-teamed a year later to make Sanjuro, a hilarious comedy of manners altogether more light-hearted than its predecessor. The plot has Sanjuro (Mifune) running lazy rings around nine naive and...  More

Red Beard
(1965) [M]

The last collaboration between Kurosawa and the powerhouse actor Toshiro Mifune, Red Beard is the story of a young and arrogant medical graduate. Assigned to serve at an impoverished local clinic, Dr Yasumoto feels he is better than his surroundings. His superior is Dr Niide- known as 'Red Beard'...  More

Scandal (Kurosawa)
(1950) [PG]

Ichiro is a young painter on holiday in the mountains. By chance he meets Miyako- a famous singer who is staying at the same hotel. Wanting privacy, Miyako is uncooperative with the press and soon a tabloid magazine falsely suggests a scandalous relationship between the singer and the young...  More

Stray Dog
(1949) [M]

Rookie detective Murakumi (Toshiro Mifune) is pick-pocketed on a bus and his police pistol is stolen. A frantic search for the gun leads him to the Tokyo underworld. The gun has been passed to a gangster who uses it in the murder of a woman. Deseperate to solve the crime, Murakumi turns to senior...  More

Sanshiro Sugata 2
(1945) [PG]

In 1887, the Japanese culture is insulted by American military imperialists. Against this backdrop of hostility to the Japanese population, a frail rickshaw driver being assaulted by an American sailor is saved when Judo master Sanshiro steps in. In response, the embassy decides that a boxing...  More

High and Low
(1963) [PG]

yle thriller. A ruthless kidnapper, aiming to snatch wealthy industrialist Kingo Gondo's young son, takes the chauffeur's boy by mistake – but still demands the ransom. Gondo is left with an agonising choice, since paying the ransom will ruin him. Meanwhile the tenacious Inspector Tokuro is...  More

Sanshiro Sugata
(1943) [PG]

The Directorial debut from one of the screen's greatest ever Directors - Akira Kurosawa. SANSHIRO SUGATA is the tale of the emergence of the fighting art of Judo in old Japan. Set in the late 19th century, the film follows a wayward young man Sugata and his quest for knowledge. After witnessing...  More