Nanking

Ca-bau-kan

Ca-bau-kan is set between 1930 and 1950 in Indonesia. An Indonesian woman, adopted as a young girl and taken to the Netherlands, returns to Indonesia where she learns about her past and falls in love.

The Year of Living Dangerously

The Year of Living Dangerously is about an Australian journalist who travels to Indonesia during the reign of Sukarno in 1965 to cover the civil war there.

Paloh

Paloh takes place during the Japanese occupation of Malaysia in a town called Paloh. The movie is about the struggle between communist supporters and supporters of the Japanese occupiers. There are no trailers online but you can find a synopsis of the film here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paloh_(film)

The Killing Fields

The Killing Fields is about a New York Times journalist who travels to Cambodia to cover the war during the time that the murderous Khmer Rouge regime was in power.

Beyond Rangoon

Beyond Rangoon is about a woman that goes on vacation in Berma but ends up following Burmese students she meets fighting against the dictatorship though the country.

The Legend of Suriyothai

The Legend of Suriyothai is about Queen Suriyothai of Thailand. The queen sacrificed her life during battle to save the life of the king and the kingdom in 1548 against the Burmese army.

Bang Rajan

Bang Rajan is a film about villagers fighting off invaders from Berma. The film is set before the fall of Thailand's capital, Ayutthaya, to Burmese armies.

Anna and the King

Anna and the King, The King and I, and Anna and the King of Siam are all based on the book
Anna and the King of Siam. They tell the story of a British woman who travels to Siam to teach English to the king's children and eventually she and the king fall in love.

The Sand Pebbles

The Sand Pebbles is about an engineer on a gunboat patrolling the Yangtze river during the revolutionary fighting of the 1920's.

55 Days at Peking

In 55 Days at Peking diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion.

The Great Conqueror's Concubine

Xi Chu Bawang (The Great Conqueror's Concubine) is about the founding of the Han Dynasty. A general and a peasant join forces to overthrow the emperor and help win the civil war.

The Blue Kite

The Blue Kite is about a Chinese boy growing up during 1950s and 1960s in China. The story follows the boy and his family through the Hundred Flowers Campaign, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.

Empire of the Sun

Empire of the Sun is a story of a British child caught in China during the Japanese WWII invasion. The boy is separated from his parents and held in an internment camp during Japanese occupation.

The Emperor's Shadow

Qin Song (The Emperor's Shadow) is about Chin's first emperor who tries to make his childhood friend, now a great composer, compose an anthem about his accomplishments.

Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea

Aoki Okami Chi Hate Umi Tsukiru (Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea) is a Japanese-made film about Genghis Khan and his conquests, including Northern China.

A Terracotta Warrior

Qin Yong (A Terracotta Warrior) is about a Chinese emperor who seeks immortality and builds an army of soldiers made with terracotta.

A Battle of Wits

Muk Gong, A Battle of Wits in English, tells the story of a warrior who must save a city being attacked by a massive army. The story takes place in the 3rd century when China was comprised of seven rival kingdoms.

"Muk gong"-Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

The Last Emperor

The Last Emperor is about the life of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China. Pu Yi ruled China from 1908 to 1912 before abdicating after the Xinhai Revolution.

Memoirs of a Secret Empire

A PBS documentary about the Japanese isolationist period covering 250 years, between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Kundun

Kundun begins in 1937 when a two year old child is identified as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. The boy is taken to Lhasa where he is schooled as a monk and head of state. The film follows him into adulthood and when he is 14, the Chinese invade Tibet. He travels to China to meet with Mao but is eventually forced to flee to India.

Seven Years in Tibet

Seven Years in Tibet is based on a true story of an Austrian mountain climber, played by Brad Pitt, who journeys to the holy city of Lhasa, Tibet during WWII. He meets the 14 year old Dalai Lama and begins a personal journey that leads to a greater self-awareness and inner wisdom. As the name suggests, he stays in Tibet for seven years, until the Chinese invasion in 1950.

Unmistaken Child

The documentary Unmistaken Child follows the four-year search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at age 84. The Dalai Lama charges the deceased monk’s devoted disciple, Tenzin Zopa, to search for his master’s reincarnation. Along the way, Tenzin listens to stories about young children with special characteristics, and performs rarely seen ritualistic tests designed to determine the likelihood of reincarnation. He eventually presents the child he believes to be his reincarnated master to the Dalai Lama so that he can make the final decision.

Other films about or related to Japan

Takashi Miike is a prolific director, who has directed over 50 films in the past two decades. He crosses genres. He directed One Missed Call (horror) and Zatoichi (Samurai). Another prolific director is Yoji Yamada, whose Yellow Handkerchief was also recently remade into a US film starring William Hurt and Kriten Stewart (of Twilight fame)

There are, of course, the various Godzilla films, which are part of the Kaiju (giant monsters) genre.

In Hollywood, there are plenty of war/anti-war films about the Japanese. Tora Tora Tora (about Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor), Pearl Harbor (of course), the Clint Eastwood-directed Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.

Some other recommended Japan-related films are:

American Ninja,
American Yakuza (with Viggo Mortensen of Lord of the Rings fame),
Angel Dust (psychological thriller shot mostly in Tokyo),
The Ballad of Narayama (family tale/drama set in the late 19th? century; highly-recommended),
The Barbarian and the Geisha (which stars John Wayne),
Memoirs of a Geisha (does not star John Wayne),
Black Rain (directed by Ridley Scott of Blade Runner and Gladiator fame),
Blind Fury (loosely based on the Zatoichi films),
Bridge on the River Kwai (based on the famous bridge in Thailand; WWII story),
The Bushido Blade (with a complete disregard of Japanese-US history; a cult classic)
Code of Honour (which is about Japanese-American soldiers in WWII; a documentary)
Death Shadows (for a different view of the Samurai; based during the Edo period)
Enter the Ninja (one of the earliest Hollywood-Ninja films)
Kagemusha (based on a true story about a general and his body double)
Yojimbo (Kurosawa again; the film on which A Fistful of Dollars was based)
The Famous Sword (wartime Japanese film about the values & greatness of the Samurai)
Destroy all Monsters (a '60s film in which various Japanese monsters fight aliens!)
Empire of the Sun (based on a J.G. Ballard novel about a boy during WWII)
Heaven and Earth (rival Japanese warlords fight for the future of Japan)
The Hidden Fortress (Kurosawa again; George Lucas said he drew on this for some of his ideas for the original Star Wars)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (French film about life in Hiroshima; emphasis on a love story rather than on the impact of the bombing)
The Idiot (Dostoevsky story as envisaged by Kurosawa)
Journey of Honour (a Samurai masterpiece set in the 1600s and based on real events)
The Karate Kid 1-3 (of course)
King Rat (about Allied POWs during WWII. A classic)
The Life of Oharu (about a court lady in 17th C Kyoto)
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (set in a POW camp in Japan. Starring David Bowie)
Midway (starring Hollywood stars; about the Battle of Midway of WWII)
The Pillow Book (Loosely based on this)
Ran (Kurosawa's adaptation of King Lear)
Rashomon (Kurosawa again. Another classic. Looks at one even from many viewpoints)
Rebellion (Excellent film about the feudal period/feudalism in general)
Shogun (there is a film and a miniseries, both based on James Clavell's Shogun series of books. The miniseries is far superior)
Sisters of the Gion (a 1936 film that looks at the exploitation of women)
You Only Live Twice (Bond film, set mostly in Tokyo)

Japanese horror films

Popular and well-known in Japan but less common elsewhere. Some which you have heard of (or seen English-language adaptations of) are likely to be these. These films are less about gore and blood and more about the psychological effects of fear. They also draw upon local folk beliefs about spirits and ghosts.


The Ring (and sequels), The Grudge (below), One Missed Call, Infection and the Suicide Club series (which does have plenty of gore and is pretty disturbing so be warned). Dark Water is another (and you can find this online on YouTube)

Disclaimer: all these films (and some of the trailers) are based on horror genre conventions and include aspects which might not be comfortable for viewing. The links go directly to the Japanese versions, which tend to be scarier than the English adaptations.

The Grudge:

Japanese Samurai Films

This is a sub-genre of its own but some well-known ones (again, "well-known" being defined as "found outside of Japan/with English-language dubbing or versions):

Seven Samurai (the director, Akira Kurosawa, is very well-known outside of Japan)



Throne of Blood (which was based on Macbeth. Also by Kurosawa)



Samurai Rebellion is based in the Edo period as is Harakiri (below). The Edo period was in the 17th century.



The story of a dishonourable samurai, the Sword of Doom, has blood, betrayal and gore.



The 47 Ronin is based on this event and is one of the earliest Samurai films (this appears to be a different trailer).



In 2003, Zatoichi was made and it received popular attention. It's the story of a blind samurai and is based on a TV series.

Popular Japanese Anime

"Popular" being well-known in non-Japanese circles.

Princess Mononoke (this was adapted/written by well-known fantasy author Neil Gaiman for the English-language version) and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who is one of Japan's top directors.



Sprited Away, also by Miyazaki, is an environmental fable/parable:



and Howl's Moving Castle, which is a rousing adventure and a meditation on age/getting old/falling in love. Also by Miyazaki and based on a book by British author Diana Wynne Jones.



And, of course, anything by Osamo Tezuka (who wrote a series of books on the Buddha, along with other graphic novels). This is a 1964 animation.



Others you may be familiar with include: Avatar, the Last Airbender; Astro Boy; Pokemon; Ponyo (which is also a Miyazaki film), Dragon Ball Z, Akira, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Ghost in the Shell.

One of the best anti-war films ever made is The Grave of the Fireflies, an anime. It takes place at the end of World War Two and is about two orphaned children. I highly recommend this.

A State of Mind

Another BBC documentary on North Korea, which follows two gymnasts as they train for the Pyongyang mass games.

The Game of Their Lives

A documentary about the North Korean team which did very well in the 1966 football (soccer) world cup.