Chikamatsu Monogatari

7.8

1954

102 mins

DramaRomance

When the wife of a 17th-century Kyoto scrollmaker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves truly falling for one another.

Early Spring

Year : 1956Rating : ⭐ 7.5

A young salaryman and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he embarks on an extramarital affair.

Maborosi

Year : 1995Rating : ⭐ 7.5

A tragedy strikes a young woman's life without warning or reason. She continues living while searching for meaning in a lonely world.

Dolls

Year : 2002Rating : ⭐ 7.5

Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.

The Sea of Trees

Year : 2016Rating : ⭐ 6.2

In Japan's Aokigahara Forest, a troubled teacher meets a mysterious lost stranger who takes him on a life-changing journey of love and redemption.

Norwegian Wood

Year : 2010Rating : ⭐ 6.4

Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

Year : 1952Rating : ⭐ 7.6

The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.

We Made a Beautiful Bouquet

Year : 2021Rating : ⭐ 7.8

Two people meet each other after missing the last train home, leading to a beautiful relationship over five years.

Romance Doll

Year : 2020Rating : ⭐ 7.1

It was a pre-destined love and marriage for Sonoko and Tetsuo. They tied the knot and became husband and wife no questions asked. All is well then. Well, perhaps not. Each holds a secret that even the binds of matrimony cannot untie.

An Autumn Afternoon

Year : 1962Rating : ⭐ 7.9

Widower Shuhei Hirayama's caretaker is his 24-year-old daughter, Michiko. Gradually, he comes to realize that Michiko should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

My Happy Marriage

Year : 2023Rating : ⭐ 7.4

An unhappy young woman from an abusive family is married off to a fearsome and chilly army commander. But the two learn more about each other, love may have a chance.

Not Easily Broken

Year : 2009Rating : ⭐ 6.3

A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.

High and Low

Year : 1963Rating : ⭐ 8.4

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Year : 2021Rating : ⭐ 7.2

An unexpected love triangle, a seduction trap, and a random encounter are the three episodes, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.

Memoirs of a Geisha

Year : 2005Rating : ⭐ 7.6

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

47 Ronin

Year : 2013Rating : ⭐ 6.2

Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.

The Man from Elysian Fields

Year : 2001Rating : ⭐ 5.9

A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.

Late Spring

Year : 1949Rating : ⭐ 8.0

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Year : 1927Rating : ⭐ 7.8

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

Blue Spring Ride

Year : 2014Rating : ⭐ 6.7

In middle school, Futaba Yoshioka was madly in love with Tanaka Kou but he moves away with his mother. She is reunited with him later in life but he is not the same person anymore.

After the Storm

Year : 2016Rating : ⭐ 7.2

Ryota is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko and he has an 11-year-old son Shingo. His mother Yoshiko lives alone at her apartment. One day, Ryota, his ex-wife Kyoko, and son Shingo gather at Yoshiko's apartment. A typhoon passes and the family must stay there all night long.