Bakumatsu seishun graffiti: Ronin Sakamoto Ryoma

Laughing Under the Clouds

In the dawn of the Meiji period, the Gokumonjou, an inescapable prison, has been established in the middle of an enormous lake to counter the soaring crime rates the new era has brought. Serving as the ferrymen are the famous Kumou brothers: the eccentric family head, Tenka; the reckless but noble second son, Soramaru; and the guileless youngest, Chuutarou. In spite of their grim work, the three lead relatively peaceful lives in the ever-cloudy town of Oumi, together with their housekeeper, Shirasu Kinjou. But buried in the long history of Oumi is the legend of the terrifying "Orochi," a serpentine beast that awakens every three hundred years in a human vessel. Unbeknownst to Soramaru and Chuutarou, the actual job of the Kumou family is to seal the Orochi away before it fully revives—or the world will be plunged into destruction. Amid the monster's next resurrection, the Kumou family must find the resolve to keep laughing under the clouds.

Lady Snowblood

Yuki's family is nearly wiped out before she is born due to the machinations of a band of criminals. These criminals kidnap and brutalize her mother but leave her alive. Later her mother ends up in prison with only revenge to keep her alive. She creates an instrument for this revenge by purposefully getting pregnant. Yuki never knows the love of a family but only killing and revenge.

Red Beard

Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.

Warau Iemon

Having put down his sword and given up the will to fight, the masterless samurai Iemon lives in solitude while being haunted by his violent enigmatic past...

Miss Hokusai

A daughter is constantly overshadowed by her famous father, but she is determined to make her own mark in the world.

Two Portraits of MIYAGINO

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.

The Sword of Doom

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

The Samurai of Edo

This historical film depicts the life of a man who was at the mercy of the waves during transition from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration, and therefore, shows audience the dynamic change from Edo to Meiji. Before the war, the director, Eisuke Takizawa, together with the writers, formed a scenario writer group "Narutaki-gumi and they shot many historical masterpieces.

Kagemusha

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.

The Return

Tatsuya Nakadai, the world’s greatest living actor, returns to the screen in a brilliant adaptation of a story by novelist Shuhei Fujisawa. A traveling gambler known as “Funeral Uno” he is now 86 years old and returning to his hometown for the first time in 30 years. Partly told in flashbacks, he is forced to face his lifelong nemesis, Boss Kyuzo, a vile yakuza portrayed by another superstar of samurai cinema, Atsuo Nakamura! Before the two old gamblers can settle a 30-year-old score they must put their lives on the line in a game of dice that can only lead to a bloody sword duel the likes of which has never before been seen! Superb performances all around in a film loaded with surprises and exciting swordplay!

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx

In the second film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto battles a group of female ninja in the employ of the Yagyu clan and must assassinate a traitor who plans to sell his clan's secrets to the Shogunate.

After the Rain

A group of travelers is stranded in a small country inn when the river floods during heavy rains. As the bad weather continues, tensions rise amongst the trapped travelers.

The Twilight Samurai

Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?

Harakiri

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

When the Last Sword Is Drawn

Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them.

Yojimbo

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice

Fearless Edo-period police inspector Hanzo Itami, nicknamed The Razor, has developed his own unique way of extracting information for his inquiries. His first adventure sees him investigating his superior officer's mistress, whom he suspects of having ties with a reputed criminal on the loose.

Hana

In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge the death of his father. He isn't an accomplished swordsman however, and he prefers sharing the life of the residents, teaching the kids how to write etc. When he finally finds the man he is looking for, he will have to decide whether he follows the way of the samurai or chooses peace and reconciliation.

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.

Violent Streets

With a Kansai syndicate setting their sights on Tokyo, a former yakuza boss gets dragged back into a world of violence.

The Secret Six

Bootlegger/cafe owner, Johnny Franks recruits crude working man Scorpio to join his gang, masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Newton. Scorpio eventually takes over Frank's operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy, and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of six masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair.

Mantovani, the King of Strings

Known for his unmistakable cascading strings and recordings such as Charmaine, Mantovani enthralled the world with his sublime arrangements. This is the story of the man and his music.

The Lord of the Rings the Musical - Original London Production - Promotional Documentary

This 15-minute DVD follows the adaptation of LOTR for the stage, and features rehearsal and show footage of the initial production in Toronto as well as interviews with the creative team now preparing for the London production.

America's Family

When ICE raids the Diaz home and business, Mother Marisol is detained, son Koke is deported, and father Jorge goes into sanctuary. As the siblings Milo and Valentina fight to reunify the family, they also fight for the love that connects them.

Career Girl

Zoska, is an attractive, well-educated and hard working woman who doesn't want to be stereotypically labeled by modern world. When she gets fired her world collapses, now she must realize what she really wants from life.

Life of a Mutt

Through seven scenes, the film follows the life and destinies of stray dogs from the margins of our society, leading us to reconsider our attitude towards them. Through the seven “wandering” characters that we follow at different ages, from birth to old age, we witness their dignified struggle for survival. At the cemetery, in an abandoned factory, in an asylum, in a landfill, in places full of sorrow, our heroes search for love and togetherness. By combining documentary material, animation and acting interpretation of the thoughts of our heroes, we get to know lives between disappointment and hope, quite similar to ours.

Tales of the Inner Chamber

Love-hate drama of three beautiful sisters in Ooku in Edo Castle.

I Was on Mars

Silva fulfills herself a dream: from Poland she flies to USA. With only a few hundred dollars she arrives in New York, incapable of the language. Not long until the charming swindler Avi steals all her money - but she doesn't give up: She hunts him down, follows him around, demanding her money back.

The Return is the Movement of Tao

This fascinating musical documentary explores the career of Chinese pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei, with a particular focus on her quintessential piece: Bach's The Goldberg Variations.

El rosario de la Aurora

Aurora lies in bed and suddenly receives a divine call revealing the unknown whereabouts of a relative. The old woman enters a brothel called 'El Buen Camino' (The Good Way), frequented by folkloric and religious transsexual prostitutes. At the end of the joint she finds her relative and after a chase she shouts: Mateo! He stops and starts a tense discussion where religion and transsexuality will be united with an Andalusian folkloric touch.

Art in the Public Eye: The Making of Dark Star Park

This piece documents the process behind the creation of Holt's major public art installation, Dark Star Park, in Arlington, Virginia. The park, which features giant concrete spheres and pipes, allows the visitor to reconsider the experience of space, earth and sky within an urban context. It also serves as a kind of contemporary Stonehenge: once a year, on August 1 at 9:30 am, the shadows of the objects exactly align with outlines on the ground. Interviews with the artist, the architects, engineers, contractors, and the public, among others, reveal Dark Star Park as both a public sculpture and a functioning park that reclaims a blighted urban environment.

Die Alpenklinik

After an alleged malpractice that led to the death of his brother, heart surgeon Daniel Guth took the consequences: he gave up his beloved job and retreated into the solitude of nature. At his place of refuge, the Salzburg mountains, the heiress to a private clinic is desperately looking for a capable chief physician. Daniel declines the post, although he finds the woman attractive. When a boy is seriously injured in a bus accident, he is confronted with his trauma again.

Uttarakhand, aux sources du Gange

Hum Hai Raahi CAR Ke

Hum Hai Raahi CAR Ke is the story of two friends who on one New Year's night decide to travel from Mumbai to Pune. But a trip that should only take a couple of hours ends up becoming an all-nighters, with wacky events keeping them on the road and preventing them from reaching their destination.

Stakeout on Dope Street

Three teens get into the drug business when they discover two pounds of uncut heroin in a briefcase that was lost during a botched drug bust.

Romeo a Julie na konci listopadu

When sixty-year-old Karel Pluhař meets Marie, a woman who is unhappy in many ways, he feels that if he seizes this opportunity, regardless of petty interests and inhibitions, he may find himself on the threshold of new happiness.