Many of Japan’s greatest filmmakers’ films have won Academy Awards. However, its films with American performers are more recognised abroad. Japanese filmmakers have sought international recognition in recent years. These films may not have won the Academy Awards, but they have received critical praise and are regarded among the most significant and relevant of their time.
Drive My Car
Drive My Car follows a newly bereaved theater director dealing with loss. He directs Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima with a driver. Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) attempts to reconcile his past and present in the peaceful, contemplative drama. His TV scriptwriter wife Oto (Reika Kirishima) cheated on him and died of a brain hemorrhage. The film covers emotions and relationships with Kafuku’s hardships. This calm meditation on sorrow, art, and humanity is disturbing.
Spirited Away
Spirited Away is a highly regarded and widely seen film by Hayao Miyazaki. It’s another one of Studio Ghibli’s all-time greats. The movie premiered in 2001, and it ended up taking home an Oscar for best animated picture that year. It’s not as light and simple as Studio Ghibli’s classic My Neighbour Totoro, but it’s still a masterpiece of animation.
The m4ufree movie is ideal for older kids who can withstand the dark and distressing content. It’s not as bloody as other anime, but there are a few tense moments nevertheless. The more Chihiro learns about the spirit realm, the more she develops her own sense of independence, confidence, and respect. It’s a daring depiction of maturation.
Departures
Departures (also known as Drive My Car), a drama about a cellist who responds to an ad to become an apprentice at a funeral home, received the best film prize at Japan’s top film awards on Thursday. It’s a smash at the box office and the Japanese submission for best foreign language film in 2009. It’s a tender yet profound tale about the transience of existence. Lana Wilson, the film’s director, presents a very religious viewpoint.
This film doesn’t shy away from discussing death as many others do. It demonstrates how death is an integral aspect of being human and how one can still find meaning and joy in life while knowing that one’s time on Earth is limited.
La Maison En Petits Cubes
Kunio Kato, a Japanese animator, has received widespread appreciation for his short film La Maison En Petits Cubes, better known as “The House of Small Cubes.” The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2008 went to this short. In under 12 minutes and 7 seconds, it becomes a magnificent allegory for memory. An elderly man in a city that is always under water builds additional stories onto his house, sealing up the entrances with cube-shaped bricks. He swims to the bottom of the ocean to retrieve his lost pipe.
As the old widower makes his way down the empty levels of his tower, he encounters objects and places from his life. The thought occurs to him that his late wife is always around.
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
The Academy Award-winning historical drama depicts the transformation of Musashi Miyamoto (Toshiro Mifune), a famed samurai of the seventeenth century, from a rebellious young man into a wise warrior in the middle of a bloody civil war. This Eastmancolor film is a work of beauty, perfectly capturing the spirit of jidaigeki (Japanese martial arts). Though the film’s running duration isn’t excessive, it does take some time to become invested in the protagonists and see their growth. A few historically accurate details are included, heightening the intensity of the drama.
The story’s pacing and structure are also excellent. The protagonist undergoes a radical change, and so do the supporting characters. This contributes to the film’s overall success as an exciting and engaging adventure.
