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1950s Japanese-language Movies

Public list by WPS with 116 movies or TV shows/series

Related lists: Japanese-language Movies | 1930 | 1940 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020

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115 movies found (page 1/4):

Seven Samurai(1954)

FSK: 16+ years
| 3h 27min | Action, Drama
4.3/5 (with 1,498 votes)

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

Godzilla(1954)

3.8/5 (with 386 votes)

Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Yemani soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.

Godzilla Raids Again(1955)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 22min | Science Fiction, Horror
3.0/5 (with 100 votes)

Two fishing scout pilots make a horrifying discovery when they encounter a second Godzilla alongside a new monster named Anguirus. Without the weapon that killed the original, authorities attempt to lure Godzilla away from the mainland. But Anguirus soon arrives and the two monsters make their way towards Osaka as Japan braces for tragedy.

Tokyo Story(1953)

FSK: 12+ years
| 2h 17min | Drama
4.1/5 (with 429 votes)

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

Rashomon(1950)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 28min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
4.1/5 (with 913 votes)

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

The Bridge on the River Kwai(1957)

FSK: 12+ years
| 2h 41min | Drama, History, War
3.9/5 (with 945 votes)

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson , the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

Sansho the Bailiff(1954)

2h 4min | Drama
4.1/5 (with 152 votes)

In medieval Japan, a woman and his children journey to find the family's patriarch, who was exiled years before.

Ikiru(1952)

2h 23min | Drama
4.2/5 (with 448 votes)

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

Throne of Blood(1957)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 48min | Drama, History
4.0/5 (with 336 votes)

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

Ugetsu(1953)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 36min | Fantasy, Drama, Mystery
4.0/5 (with 228 votes)

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

Hiroshima Mon Amour(1959)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 32min | Drama, History, Romance / Love
3.9/5 (with 325 votes)

The deep conversation between a Japanese architect and a French actress forms the basis of this celebrated French film, considered one of the vanguard productions of the French New Wave. Set in Hiroshima after the end of World War II, the couple -- lovers turned friends -- recount, over many hours, previous romances and life experiences. The two intertwine their stories about the past with pondering the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on the city.

The Hidden Fortress(1958)

4.0/5 (with 243 votes)

Japanese peasants Matashichi and Tahei try and fail to make a profit from a tribal war. They find a man and woman whom they believe are simple tribe members hiding in a fortress. Although the peasants don't know that Rokurota is a general and Yuki is a princess, the peasants agree to accompany the pair to safety in return for gold. Along the way, the general must prove his expertise in battle while also hiding his identity.

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The Burmese Harp(1956)

1h 56min | Drama, Music, War
3.9/5 (with 60 votes)

In the War's closing days, when a conscience-driven Japanese soldier fails to get his countrymen to surrender to overwhelming force, he adopts the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk.

Rodan(1956)

3.3/5 (with 64 votes)

Mining engineer Shigeru investigates the disappearance and death of his fellow coworkers when prehistoric nymphs are discovered emerging from the mines. After an attack on the local village, Shigeru heads deeper into the mines only to make a more horrifying discovery in the form a prehistoric flying creature. Soon a second monster appears as the two converge in Fukuoka.

I Live in Fear(1955)

1h 43min | Drama
3.6/5 (with 44 votes)

Kiichi Nakajima, an elderly foundry owner, is convinced that Japan will be affected by an imminent nuclear war, and resolves to move his family to safety in Brazil. His family decides to have him ruled incompetent and Dr. Harada, a Domestic Court counselor, attempts to arbitrate.

Early Summer(1951)

2h 15min | Drama
3.9/5 (with 65 votes)

A 28-year-old single woman is pressured to marry.

Street of Shame(1956)

1h 27min | Drama
3.9/5 (with 52 votes)

The personal tales of various sex workers who occupy a Japanese brothel.

Good Morning(1959)

3.9/5 (with 102 votes)

A lighthearted take on director Yasujiro Ozu’s perennial theme of the challenges of inter­generational relationships, Good Morning tells the story of two young boys who stop speaking in protest after their parents refuse to buy a television set. Ozu weaves a wealth of subtle gags through a family portrait as rich as those of his dramatic films, mocking the foibles of the adult world through the eyes of his child protagonists. Shot in stunning color and set in a suburb of Tokyo where housewives gossip about the neighbors’ new washing machine and unemployed husbands look for work as door-to-door salesmen, this charming comedy refashions Ozu’s own silent classic I Was Born, But . . . to gently satirize consumerism in postwar Japan.

Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto(1954)

1h 33min | Drama, Action, Adventure
3.6/5 (with 66 votes)

Struggling to elevate himself from his low caste in 17th century Japan, Miyamoto trains to become a mighty samurai warrior.

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness(1958)

2h 38min | War, Drama
3.5/5 (with 31 votes)

All her life, Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was the place where she belonged. Not qualified to be sent there as a missionary, Gladys works as a domestic to earn the money to send herself to a poor, remote village. There she eventually lives a full and happy life: running the inn, acting as "foot inspector", advising the local Mandarin, and even winning the heart of mixed race Captain Lin Nan. But Gladys discovers her real destiny when the country is invaded by Japan and the Chinese children need her to save their lives. Based on a true story.

The Ballad of Narayama(1958)

1h 38min | Drama
3.8/5 (with 31 votes)

In Kabuki style, the film tells the story of a remote mountain village where the scarcity of food leads to a voluntary but socially-enforced policy in which relatives carry 70-year-old family members up Narayama mountain to die. Granny Orin is approaching 70, content to embrace her fate. Her widowed son Tatsuhei cannot bear losing his mother, even as she arranges his marriage to a widow his age. Her grandson Kesa, who's girlfriend is pregnant, is selfishly happy to see Orin die. Around them, a family of thieves are dealt with severely, and an old man, past 70, whose son has cast him out, scrounges for food. Will Orin's loving and accepting spirit teach and ennoble her family?

Battle in Outer Space(1959)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 30min | Science Fiction
3.0/5 (with 18 votes)

In 1965, the space station JSS-3 is destroyed by a fleet of UFOs, which then begin a global siege on Earth, using rays to manipulate gravity and control the minds of men. In response, a global council meeting is held to determine the source of the attacks and prepare a rocket ship armada for a counter-attack, a true battle in outer space. . . The film is a sequel of sorts to Toho's THE MYSTERIANS in the reprise of the Etsuko Shiraishi character of that film as its heroine. It was edited to 74 minutes for its American release.

Gate of Hell(1953)

3.6/5 (with 33 votes)

Japan, 1159. Moritō, a brave samurai, performs a heroic act by rescuing the lovely Kesa during a violent uprising. Moritō falls in love with her, but becomes distraught when he finds out that she is married.

The Lower Depths(1957)

2h 5min | Drama
3.6/5 (with 50 votes)

Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man and an aging actor, get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi to romance her younger sister, Okayo, Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband.

The Life of Oharu(1952)

2h 16min | Drama
4.0/5 (with 73 votes)

Follows a woman's fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of the society.

The Idiot(1951)

2h 46min | Drama, Romance / Love
3.5/5 (with 45 votes)

Kameda, who has been in an asylum on Okinawa, travels to Hokkaido. There he becomes involved with two women, Taeko and Ayako. Taeko comes to love Kameda, but is loved in turn by Akama. When Akama realizes that he will never have Taeko, his thoughts turn to murder, and great tragedy ensues.

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail(1952)

3.4/5 (with 33 votes)

Yoshitsune Minamoto, disguised with his retinue as monks, must make do with a comical porter as their guide through hostile territory en route to safety.

Twenty-Four Eyes(1954)

2h 36min | Drama
3.9/5 (with 31 votes)

Schoolteacher Hisako Oishi struggles to imbue her students with a positive view of the world despite the fact that war is looming.

Joyu(1956)

1h 33min | Drama

Based on Kakuko Mori's autobiography, about her life and retirement from acting due to her increasing blindness.

Crazed Fruit(1956)

1h 26min | Romance / Love, Drama
3.6/5 (with 16 votes)

Two brothers compete for the amorous favors of a young woman during a seaside summer of gambling, boating, and drinking.

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