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Kwaidan Masaki Kobayashi Four terrifying tales of the supernatural filmed with exquisitely creative visual sensitivity. This is no Japanese monster movie; rather, it creeps up on you by appealing to human emotions and fears - ghost stories as only the Japanese can tell them. An Academy Award nominee, this distinctive work is filled with graceful camera movement, unusual colors, haunting sound effects and music - "A horror picture with an extraordinarily delicate and sensuous quality" (Bosley Crowther, The New York Times). Japanese with English subtitles. Japan, 1964, 164 mins. DVD | $44.95
Rebel Samurai: Sixties Swordplay Classics Masahiro Shinoda/Kihachi Okamoto/Masaki Kobayashi/Hideo Gosha Four late-1960's entries in the Japanese samurai genre, in which traditional chanbara elements have been subverted in favor of anti-hero protagonists, double crossing plot lines, and pitch-black humor. Includes Samurai Rebellion (Masaki Kobayashi, 1967, 121 mins.), starring Toshiro Mifune as a peaceful man who decides to take a stand against injustice. Sword of the Beast (Hideo Gosha, 1965, 85 mins.) follows a clan defector as he teams up with a motley band of fighters to bring about reform. Samurai Spy (Masahiro Shinoda, 1965, 100 mins.) stars Tetsuro Tamba in a violent epic marked by deceit, ninja spies, and back-stabbing double crosses. Finally, Kill! (Kihachi Okamoto, 1968, 114 mins.) plays samurai film conventions for kicks in a darkly comic maelstrom of swordplay based on the same source novel as Kurosawa's Sanjuro. 4-DVD set. Criterion Collection Edition. Letterboxed. Includes essays, director interviews, trailer, and more. In Japanese with English subtitles. Japan, 1965-1968, 420 mins. DVD | $119
Harakiri Masaki Kobayashi This grim and exquisite film explores the honor in death and the death of honor venerated by the 17th-century samurai. After an unemployed samurai is forced to commit ritual suicide before a feudal lord, his father-in-law returns to the scene, seemingly to commit the same act. Instead this warrior acts out against the cruelly rigid society that enforces such harsh discipline. The DVD is a Criterion Collection Edition 2-DVD set and includes video interviews with actor Tatsuya Nakadai and screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto, video introduction by film historian Donald Richie, essay by scholar Joan Mellen and a reprint of her 1972 interview with Kobayashi, trailer, poster gallery, and more. Japanese with English subtitles. Japan, 1962, 135 mins. DVD | $44.95
Samurai Rebellion Masaki Kobayashi This samurai classic, set in 18th-century Japan, combines great acting and thrilling action with thoughtful writing and direction. The magnificent Toshiro Mifune (Seven Samurai, The Samurai Trilogy) stars as Isaburo, a renowned swordsman who takes a heroic but deadly stand for individual freedom. Isaburo is the essence of samurai loyalty until his daughter-in-law is commandeered as mistress for his overlord. The injustice moves him toward a revolt he can never win. Kobayashi creates a bloody climax raging with power and emotion. Japan, 1967, 121 mins. DVD | $44.95
