Movies by Mieko Harada

Ran

Ran

With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.

Dreams

Dreams

A collection of magical tales based upon the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.

Love Is in the Green Wind

Love Is in the Green Wind

A youthful film depicting the sexual awakening of a boy who has just entered adolescence and his heartbreaking romance during the summer holidays with a young sprightly girl.

The Samurai I Loved

The Samurai I Loved

A young samurai stuck at the bottom of the hierarchical order attempts to rescue his childhood sweetheart from an evil clan lord after learning of a plot to kill her and her infant child. Bunshiro Maki is a skilled swordfighter who's lethal with a blade, yet still can't rise through the ranks of the system. After his father is accused of plotting against his clan and forced to commit ritual suicide, his longtime love Fuku is sent to Edo to become the clan lord's concubine. A few years later, Fuku has bore the clan lord a son. When Maki learn...

Dororo

Dororo

Hyakkimaru, a warrior on a quest to reclaim 48 of his body parts which were each taken by a demon, is joined by Dororo, a thief on a quest to avenge the death of her parents.

Manatsu Girl

Manatsu Girl

The Special is loosely inspired by horror classics of the time, such as "Carry" and "Fury." The story is about a little girl who has nightmares and a series of murders in the area, which in a strange way, are related to them.

School Days with a Pig

School Days with a Pig

A sixth grade teacher raises a pig with his class.

Lullaby of the Earth

Lullaby of the Earth

The story of an orphan girl, brought up in naive, rustic innocence by an elderly relative, who is suddenly exposed to the brutality, greed and deceptiveness of the outside world when her grandmother dies.

A Duel Tale

A Duel Tale

Nakadai Tatsuya, Japan’s greatest living actor, gives the performance of a lifetime as Shoji Sanosuke, and elderly samurai forced to pick up his sword to protect those he loves in this adaptation of a Fujisawa Shuhei novel. As a ”Heya-zumi” (essentially a freeloader living off his family) Sanosuke has one last chance to help his grandniece escape from the cruel samurai of an arranged marriage. Nakadai proves he ”still has it,” when fate forces him into a deadly duel. This award winning samurai drama from the pen of noted author Fujisawa Shuh...

The Inferno

The Inferno

Hell manifests itself through the sins, shame and desires of an upper class rural family and a mother's grief from beyond the grave.

Making of 'Dreams'

Making of 'Dreams'

This 150-minute documentary, directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi on the set of Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew.

Kasajiro: Truncheon versus Sword

Kasajiro: Truncheon versus Sword

A series of murders at Fukagawa lumberyard is tied to a grudge letter from the deceased Kansuke Tsukunamiya. Officer Kasajiro Sakane investigates the baffling case.

If Cats Disappeared from the World

If Cats Disappeared from the World

A postman learns that he doesn't have much time left to live due to a terminal illness. A devil then appears in front of him and offers to extend his life if he picks something in the world that will disappear. The man thinks about his relationships with ex-friends, ex-lovers, relatives and colleagues who will be sincerely sad when he dies.

A Hundred Flowers

A Hundred Flowers

Diagnosed with dementia, Yuriko's mind quickly begins to fade. Yet, for her son Izumi, memories of the mother feel as vivid as when he lived them. One in particular, when he believed she had disappeared, haunts him terribly.

Tomodachi

Tomodachi

Shinta is a sixth grader in Kawasaki City a troublemaker that dreams to become a soccer player. Yoshiko, a classmate who moved to Kawasaki from Iwate Prefecture two years ago, is a gloomy girl who suffers from asthma due to the polluted air in Kawasaki and is ostracized by her class. Shinta is placed next to Yoshiko in class and their stories will take a turn.

Junichi

Junichi

Junichi, a random guy has no job or place to live. He attracts women drowned in their lives giving them a moment of sparks and never stays at one place but leaving a little ripple.

Somehow, Crystal

Somehow, Crystal

While her boyfriend Jun'ichi is out of town, college student and part-time model Yuri passes the time in Tokyo by shopping for luxury products, visiting affluent neighborhoods, eating expensive food, and seeking new kinds of entertainment. At a dance club she meets Masataka, to whom she describes her relatively frictionless life as "crystal". Yuri has a sexual encounter with Masataka that she enjoys but finds less satisfying than her experiences with Jun'ichi. When Jun'ichi returns, Yuri learns that he also was unfaithful during his trip, bu...

A Samurai Chronicle

A Samurai Chronicle

A retired samurai must redeem himself for a crime that he committed earlier in his life.

Begging for Love

Begging for Love

During a quest to find a Taiwanese father's grave, disturbing memories of child abuse are aroused.

Bakumatsu seishun graffiti: Ronin Sakamoto Ryoma

Bakumatsu seishun graffiti: Ronin Sakamoto Ryoma