Judo Life

Sonny Chiba's first martial arts film, a partially fictionalized judo biopic based on prominent judoka Shiro Saigo (Chiba), the second student of judo founder Jigoro Kano (Naoki Sugiura). Akira Kurosawa’s Sanshiro Sugata is based on the same character and shares some scenes, but Judo for Life focuses more on the martial arts philosophy and training, including scenes depicting how the protagonist learned his famous cat-like landing, coined the term judo, and trained with Tsunejiro Tomita (Hideo Murata). There’s also a slight yakuza film influ...

Roar of the City

This action drama depicts a horrifying murder case over a photo of a mysterious beautiful woman hidden in a wallet, and the justice and love-hate relationship between the men involved in the case.

The Phantom Goblin

An injured Edo official is rescued by a vassal whose appearance is exactly like himself, and swears to sweep out the criminals from the town on his behalf.

Poisonous Caress

A Pinku film from the independent production studio Kanto featuring a starring role for the former Japanese sex symbol Hisako 'Choko' Tsukuba.

Love Letter

A nightclub manager is in love with his pianist. However, she has a ranger boyfriend who's been permanently stationed in the mountain wilderness. Their only communication is by letter. As time passes the correspondence slows to a trickle. Then nothing. The manager persuades the girl to visit the boy. She does, but she's totally unprepared for her bizarre discovery.

浅草の侠客

Sonny Chiba is a young gambler on the run. He pretends to be an innocent student, and is taken in by an honorable Yakuza in Tokyo's Asakusa district.

Passport to Darkness

A jazz bandleader, falsely accused of murdering his girlfriend, tries to stay one step ahead of the police as he dives into Tokyo's sin-city in search of the real killer in this dark and beautiful noir from master Seijun Suzuki.