Movies by Shima Iwashita
Harakiri
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations...
Takeshi: Childhood Days
A story of childhood life during wartime Japan. Takeshi, the intelligent son of a fisherman, is the schoolyard bully. When his cousin comes to stay with his family to avoid bombing raids, Takeshi at first treats him well, then begins bullying him too. Takeshi eventually loses his position of leadership.
Youth in Fury
A reckless student contemplates terrorism in a prescient film that confirmed Shinoda as a fearless member of Shochiku's iconoclastic New Wave. At the height of student protests, Shimojo takes his aggressions to another level, beset by seemingly insoluble feelings of alienation.
The River Fuefuki
In a time of continuous civil wars ravaging the fields of feudal Japan, the eldest son of a very poor peasant family, living alongside the bridge over the Fuefuki river, decides to serve a warlord to escape his miserable condition, being soon followed by his younger brothers. Although not all the men of the family take this tragic path of death, women of the family will be doomed to endure the pain of loss during the next five generations.
After the Wind Has Gone
Yakuza Ladies: Blood Ties
Turbulent life of Kiwa, the successor of the most prominent yakuza in Osaka, the Domoto Clan.
Killers on Parade
A vengeful contractor hires a series of young killers to target a woman muckraker. Trouble brews when an amateur marksman shows up his eclectic competition.
Samurai from Nowhere
Misawa Ihei (Nagato) is traveling with his wife Tae (Iwashita Shima) who abhors the practice of sword fighting for prize money. Tae is the daughter of the clan's chief counselor who married the low-ranking Ihei to avoid becoming the clan lord's mistress. Into the mix comes Oba Gunjuro (Tetsurō Tamba), a mysterious ronin who will do anything for money. This leads to a fitting climax as the forces of hate and love converge while the couple attempt to break through the border!
Red Lion
Japan, February 1868. As the Tokugawa shogunate declines and the power of Emperor Meiji grows, Gonzo, a soldier of the Restoration Army, returns to Sawando, his hometown, to announce the end of tyranny.
Lone Wolf and Cub: The Final Conflict
A noble samurai serving the Shogun as 'Kogi Kaishaku-nin' (Official Executioner) is the target of a plot by the evil Yagyu Clan to take away his position and replace him with a member of their own family. When his wife is murdered and evidence is produced that he was plotting against the Shogun the Code of Bushido calls for him and his son to commit sepuku. Instead he defies the Shogun's orders and takes up arms against his enemies, becoming an assassin for hire.
Ballad of Orin
A blind traveling musician is abused and oppressed wherever she goes, even as the modern world imposes change around her.
Akanezora Beyond the Crimson Sky
A young tofu maker, Eikichi comes from Kyoto to open a tofu shop in a friendly neighborhood. He meets there a feisty local girl Ofumi who befriends him as he sets up his shop, Kyo-ya and in spite of the difficulties stemming from cultural differences between the two ancient capitals including the favored taste of tofu itself, they eventually marry and become the owner of a tofu shop on a more respectable street. Behind the rock-solid business of Kyo-ya, their son, Eitaro bears the brunt of other tofu shops' animosity toward Kyo-ya's refusal ...
The Petrified Forest
Follows a young med student's relationships with two women: a dangerous affair with a childhood friend and his mother's struggle to rebuild their estranged relationship.
The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan
An outlaw pushes the residents of Edo's red light district to rebel against a growing number of stifling, moralistic laws.
Taira no Kiyomori
The tale of Taira Kiyomori who started as a young inexperienced warrior who led the Heike into the battle against the brutal pirates on Setouchi.
Yakuza Ladies Revisited: Love is Hell
The seventh movie of the series “Yakuza Ladies” focuses on a wife of a small Osaka family. She risks her life to protect her husband’s family and its members against much larger, more established organizations.
Yakuza Ladies: The Final Battle
A Yakuza boss's wife and the widow of a rival crime syndicate's murdered leader bond over a common purpose: to seek vengeance.
Moment of Demon
Filled with guilt over his forbidden desires, a young man leaves home and his studies. He finds a new smaller place to stay, a low-paying but satisfying job and a girlfriend. Then his mother, unable to fight her forbidden desires, shows up.
Monument to Holy Service
A rural high school takes part in a mountain-climbing exercise and are caught in a sudden typhoon.