Many years ago the BBC did a series on films from all over the world, to mark the 100th anniversary of cinema or something like that. One of the films was "Sonatine", directed by and starting the ubiquitous Beat Takeshi. That was a film unlike any I'd seen before, and I subsequently watched and enjoyed several others of his.
Battle Royale is great, the original "Ringu" is excellent.
And of course there are the Kurosawa classics.
Some good some bad. The bad ones are basically tv doramas with the same stylized overacting.
(Opens eyes and mouth as wide as possible and makes fifteen-second "heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh" sound)
There have been many great Japanese films down the years, and I'd like to add Perfect Days (joint Japan-Germany production) to this list as a recent one I really enjoyed.
Sadly, the quality of TV programs here is generally pretty terrible, with awful acting (and especially over-acting), and elementary school-level dialog and plots.
I'm not sure why there tends to be such a gap between film and TV, but it's something that's always stood out for me.
A lot of Japanese mainstream movies seem to have a hyperactive, almost manic quality which I can't get into at all. As pointed out by other commenters here, I assume this is because these movies are seen as little more than outgrowths of Japanese TV shows, which often seem to have the same problem. This is a shame, as the movie format should allow for more depth and complexity than a TV may allow, but apparently that's what domestic audiences want to see.
Japanese movies are very interesting and at times intriguing. However no movie comes even close to Manga series rurouni Kenshin Himura hitokiri battousai
This is a shame, as the movie format should allow for more depth and complexity than a TV may allow, but apparently that's what domestic audiences want to see.
Yes, and I think one of the issues is that this is mostly all the domestic audience has ever seen, so they don't actually know what they're missing. If you turn on Japanese TV, or watch mainstream movies or online content, you will mostly see simplistic, poorly-acted things. Because this stuff is so well-entrenched, many Japanese people sadly grow up thinking that "this is what entertainment is."
The same problem can be see in comedy (manzai acts shouting is considered "funny"), music (boy/girl bands are considered "talented"), and several other areas.
But all is certainly not lost, as Japanese creatives have also proved they can produce deep, thought-provoking, and original stuff, as seen in manga, anime, and games.
I guess it's the same "commercial crap" problem we see in other countries, but perhaps we just notice it more here as there's such an enormous gap between the good stuff, and the bad stuff.
The first thing that got me interested in Japan about 50 years ago was a series of Kurosawa films that was shown at the university in London where I was studying. These were masterpieces, Rashomon, Yojimbo, Tsubaki Sanjuro, Akahige, and the magnificent Seven Samurai. If it hadn't been for these movies, I might not have come to Japan.
People often make the mistake of comparing Japanese (or other foreign language films) with bigger-budget Hollywood films. You have to remember that the majority of movies are made for the domestic market and there is very little international interest. Considering the budgets involved, and the fact that they're essentially designed to be forgotten about after their run, they're not so bad.
I think the standout movies are well known, and with good reason- they have received international support. Kurosawa would not have been as well known in the west without being championed by the likes Spielberg, Coppola and Lucas, for example. As other have mentioned, films like Perfect Days is a collaboration with Western Studios and with a German director.
I personally like some of the oddball stuff by people like Miike Takashi. At one point he gained some fame by submitting some of his work to film festivals, but much of his work was straight to video. I think Audition and Ichi the Killer became somewhat well known, and they're just two examples of his good work.
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BertieWooster
The Otoko wa tsurai yo! series and anything by Kurosawa and Itami Juzo. Wonderful movies!
YeahRight
I've always thought that Japanese horror films were much better than American slasher movies. Ring comes to mind.
kohakuebisu
Some good some bad. The bad ones are basically tv doramas with the same stylized overacting.
The good ones are as good as movies from anywhere. Basically any Japanese film released on DVD by Criterion or Masters of Cinema will be pretty good.
Some dude
Many years ago the BBC did a series on films from all over the world, to mark the 100th anniversary of cinema or something like that. One of the films was "Sonatine", directed by and starting the ubiquitous Beat Takeshi. That was a film unlike any I'd seen before, and I subsequently watched and enjoyed several others of his.
Battle Royale is great, the original "Ringu" is excellent.
And of course there are the Kurosawa classics.
Some good some bad. The bad ones are basically tv doramas with the same stylized overacting.
(Opens eyes and mouth as wide as possible and makes fifteen-second "heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh" sound)
isabelle
There have been many great Japanese films down the years, and I'd like to add Perfect Days (joint Japan-Germany production) to this list as a recent one I really enjoyed.
Sadly, the quality of TV programs here is generally pretty terrible, with awful acting (and especially over-acting), and elementary school-level dialog and plots.
I'm not sure why there tends to be such a gap between film and TV, but it's something that's always stood out for me.
Ai
My favorite movie is ‘ Shinsou wo ohanasisimasu’ . This movie tells us fear of SNS. I think everyone has to see this.
purple_depressed_bacon
Japanese horror films are great for the scare factor but the acting is generally over-the-top or wooden.
Garthgoyle
I skip anything, movie or TV that has Japanese acting in it. Hard to find non cringe Japanese acting.
Tho lately, I found this TV show called ホットスポット. It has zero cringe acting, funny and very entertaining.
Arrrgh-Type
A lot of Japanese mainstream movies seem to have a hyperactive, almost manic quality which I can't get into at all. As pointed out by other commenters here, I assume this is because these movies are seen as little more than outgrowths of Japanese TV shows, which often seem to have the same problem. This is a shame, as the movie format should allow for more depth and complexity than a TV may allow, but apparently that's what domestic audiences want to see.
Cephus
Japanese movies are very interesting and at times intriguing. However no movie comes even close to Manga series rurouni Kenshin Himura hitokiri battousai
isabelle
Yes, and I think one of the issues is that this is mostly all the domestic audience has ever seen, so they don't actually know what they're missing. If you turn on Japanese TV, or watch mainstream movies or online content, you will mostly see simplistic, poorly-acted things. Because this stuff is so well-entrenched, many Japanese people sadly grow up thinking that "this is what entertainment is."
The same problem can be see in comedy (manzai acts shouting is considered "funny"), music (boy/girl bands are considered "talented"), and several other areas.
But all is certainly not lost, as Japanese creatives have also proved they can produce deep, thought-provoking, and original stuff, as seen in manga, anime, and games.
I guess it's the same "commercial crap" problem we see in other countries, but perhaps we just notice it more here as there's such an enormous gap between the good stuff, and the bad stuff.
BertieWooster
The first thing that got me interested in Japan about 50 years ago was a series of Kurosawa films that was shown at the university in London where I was studying. These were masterpieces, Rashomon, Yojimbo, Tsubaki Sanjuro, Akahige, and the magnificent Seven Samurai. If it hadn't been for these movies, I might not have come to Japan.
Negative Nancy
People often make the mistake of comparing Japanese (or other foreign language films) with bigger-budget Hollywood films. You have to remember that the majority of movies are made for the domestic market and there is very little international interest. Considering the budgets involved, and the fact that they're essentially designed to be forgotten about after their run, they're not so bad.
I think the standout movies are well known, and with good reason- they have received international support. Kurosawa would not have been as well known in the west without being championed by the likes Spielberg, Coppola and Lucas, for example. As other have mentioned, films like Perfect Days is a collaboration with Western Studios and with a German director.
I personally like some of the oddball stuff by people like Miike Takashi. At one point he gained some fame by submitting some of his work to film festivals, but much of his work was straight to video. I think Audition and Ichi the Killer became somewhat well known, and they're just two examples of his good work.