Hoodlum Soldier and Nakano Spy School
All Mixed Up (Manji)
(Country: Japan; Year: 1964; Director: Yasuzô Masumura)
A childless, unhappy wife falls under the spell of the beguiling art pupil Mitsuko.
The Black Test Car (Kuro no tesuto ka)
(Country: Japan; Year: 1962; Director: Yasuzô Masumura)
Noir about a mole in a car firm.
The Blind Beast (Mōjū)
(Country: Japan; Year: 1969; Director: Yasuzô Masumura)
A blind sculptor, with the aid of his mother, kidnaps an aspiring virginal model in order to create the world’s most sensorial sculpture.
A Cheerful Girl (Aozora musume)
(Country: Japan; Year: 1957; Director: Yasuzô Masumura; Writer: Yoshio Shirasaka; Stars: Ayako Wakao, Kenji Sugawara, Keizo Kawasaki)
A high school student goes in search of her estranged cleaning lady mother and her businessman father, who never acknowledged her.
Giants And Toys
(Country: Japan; Year: 1958; Director: Yasuzô Masumura; Writer: Yoshio Shirasaka, based on the work of Ken Kaiko; Stars: Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Hitomi Nozoe, Hideo Takamatsu)
Corporate satire of three caramel candy companies fighting for Japan’s hearts and pockets.
Hoodlum Soldier (Heitai yakuza)
(Country: Japan; Year: 1965; Director: Yasuzô Masumura; Writer: Ryuzo Kikushima; Stars: Shintaro Katsu, Takahiro Tamura, Keiko Awaji)
This buddy comedy centers on the unlikely friendship between a hell-raising ex-yakuza gangster unwillingly turned into a soldier and a meek pacifist intellectual.
Kisses (Kuchizuke)
(Country: Japan; Year: 1957; Director: Yasuzô Masumura; Writer: Kazuo Funahashi based on the work of Matsutaro Kawaguchi; Stars: Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Hitomi Nozoe, Eitaro Ozawa)
Romance blossoms between a young man and woman whose fathers are both in jail.
Nakano Spy School (Rikungun Nakano)
(Country: Japan; Year: 1966; Director: Yasuzô Masumura; Writer: Seiji Hoshikawa; Stars: Raizo Ichikawa, Mayumi Ogawa, Daisuke Kato)
An idealistic young man finds himself recruited in Japan’s first military intelligence school and faced with ethical choices.
The Red Angel (Akai tenshi)
(Year: 1966; Director: Yasuzô Masumura)
A young nurse is transformed from a rape victim into the titular angel when she starts gifting her patients with sexual relief before their inevitable death.
The Spider Tattoo (Irezumi)
(Country: Japan; Year: 1966; Director: Yasuzô Masumura; Writer: Kaneto Shindo based on the work of Junichiro Tanizaki; Stars: Ayako Wakao. Akio Hasegawa, Gaku Yamamoto)
A woman forced into prostitution becomes a murderess out for revenge.
The Wife's Confession (Tsuma wa kokuhaku suru)
(Year: 1961; Director: Yasuzô Masumura; Writer: Masato Ide based on the work of Masaya Maruyama; Stars: Ayako Wakao, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Eitaro Ozawa)
A young wife Ayako stands trial for the suspected murder of her abusive husband during a fateful mountaineering accident.
