Aruitemo aruitemo aka Still Walking (Japan , 2008)

Ratings - IMDB - 7.9 | Matacritic - 89 | Rotten Tomatoes - 100% fresh

Release Year - 2008
Country - Japan
Genres - Drama

IMDB page | Metacritic page | Rotten Tomatoes

Only watch if you want to see something emotional
A Family Apart ... Will Come Together

"Transcendent ... completely absorbing , so sure of its own scale and scope that while you're watching it the rest of the world fades into irrelevance" - A.O. Scott , The New York Times

"The closest thing to a masterpiece ... A universal, deeply felt portrait of middle-class family life ... Comparable to Yasujiro Ozu's 1953 masterpiece, 'TOKYO STORY.' " - Stephen Holden, The New York Times

"Painful family issues are more likely to stay beneath the surface, known to everyone but not spoken of. Still Walking, a magnificent new film from Japan, is very wise about that, and very true." - Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times

Synopsis : The film is a portrait of a family over roughly 24 hours as they commemorate the death of one member.

The lyrical, profoundly moving Still Walking (Aruitemo aruitemo) is contemporary Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda’s most personal work to date. Created as a tribute to his late mother, the film depicts one day in the life of the Yokoyamas, gathered together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear. Rather than focus on big dramatic moments, Kore-eda relies on simple gestures and domestic routines (especially cooking) to evoke a family’s entire life, its deep regrets and its daily joys. Featuring vivid, heartrending performances and a gentle naturalism that harks back to the director’s earlier, documentary work, Still Walking is an extraordinary portrayal of the ties that bind us.

Awards

• Won Best Director
• Asian Film Award
• Blue Ribbon Award
• Chlotrudis Award

Special Mention

• Official Selection at
• Toronto Film Festival
• Tribeca Film Festival
• San Francisco Film Festival

Download Links

713 Mb | DVDRip XVid
http://rapidshare.com/files/449386960/Still.Walking.2008.DVDRip.XviD-VCDVaULT.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/449386992/Still.Walking.2008.DVDRip.XviD-VCDVaULT.part2.rar

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Kaidan aka Kwaidan (Japan , 1964)

Ratings - IMDB - 8.0

Release Year - 1964
Country - Japan
Genres - Fantasy | Horror

IMDB page

Synopsis : Kwaidan is a 1964 Japanese portmanteau film directed by Masaki Kobayashi; the title means 'ghost story'. It is based on stories from Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folk tales. The film consists of four separate and unrelated stories.

"Black Hair": A poor samurai who divorces his true love to marry for money, but finds the marriage disastrous and returns to his old wife, only to discover something eerie about her. "The Woman in the Snow": Stranded in a snowstorm, a woodcutter meets an icy spirit in the form of a woman spares his life on the condition that he never tell anyone about her. A decade later he forgets his promise. "Hoichi the Earless": Hoichi is a blind musician, living in a monastery who sings so well that a ghostly imperial court commands him to perform the epic ballad of their death battle for them. But the ghosts are draining away his life, and the monks set out to protect him by writing a holy mantra over his body to make him invisible to the ghosts. But they've forgotten something. "In a Cup of Tea": a writer tells the story of a man who keep seeing a mysterious face reflected in his cup of tea.

Awards

• Won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival
• Nominated for Oscar in Best Foreign Language Film category

Special Mention

• Rated by more than 5k users on IMDb

Download Links

549Mb | 640x272 | Mkv

Sample file
http://rapidshare.com/files/332173183/Kwaidan.1964.UNCUT.DVDRip.x264_sample.mkv

http://rapidshare.com/files/332174227/Kwaidan.1964.UNCUT.DVDRip.x264.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/332175085/Kwaidan.1964.UNCUT.DVDRip.x264.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/332175941/Kwaidan.1964.UNCUT.DVDRip.x264.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/332176998/Kwaidan.1964.UNCUT.DVDRip.x264.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/332178349/Kwaidan.1964.UNCUT.DVDRip.x264.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/332178811/Kwaidan.1964.UNCUT.DVDRip.x264.part6.rar

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Tengoku to jigoku aka High and Low (Japan , 1963)

Ratings - IMDB - 8.3

Release Year - 1963
Country - Japan
Genres - Crime | Drama | Thriller
IMDB page

Synopsis: An executive of a shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and held for ransom.


An executive mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives. He needs the same money, though, to pay the ransom that will possibly save a child's life. His resolution of that dilemma -- the certain loss of the company vs. the probable loss of the child -- makes for one distinct drama, and an ensuing elaborate police procedure makes for a second.


Awards

• Won Mainichi Film Award for Best Film
• Nominated for Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival

Special Mention - Rated by more than 9k users on IMDb

Download Links

200 Mb links

http://rapidshare.com/files/352910304/High_And_Low_-_Tengoku_to_jigoku.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/352883191/High_And_Low_-_Tengoku_to_jigoku.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/352878239/High_And_Low_-_Tengoku_to_jigoku.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/352901635/High_And_Low_-_Tengoku_to_jigoku.part4.rar

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Rashômon aka Rashomon (Japan , 1950)

Ratings - IMDB - 8.4
Release Year - 1950
Country - Japan
Genres - Crime | Drama | Mystery
IMDB page

Synopsis: A crime witnessed by four individuals is described in four mutually contradictory ways.


A priest, a woodcutter and another man are taking refuge from a rainstorm in the shell of a former gatehouse called Rashômon. The priest and the woodcutter are recounting the story of a murdered samurai whose body the woodcutter discovered three days earlier in a forest grove. Both were summoned to testify at the murder trial, the priest who ran into the samurai and his wife traveling through the forest just before the murder occurred. Three other people who testified at the trial are supposedly the only direct witnesses: a notorious bandit named Tajômaru, who allegedly murdered the samurai and raped his wife; the white veil cloaked wife of the samurai; and the samurai himself who testifies through the use of a medium. The three tell a similarly structured story - that Tajômaru kidnapped and bound the samurai so that he could rape the wife - but which ultimately contradict each other...


Films Basis - Two short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, "Rashōmon" (for the setting) and "Yabu no naka", otherwise known as "In a Grove" (for the story line).


Tagline - The great, exciting Japanese production that brings a new experience to the cinema.


Awards

• Won Oscar - Best Foreign Language Film
• Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival
• Italian Critics Award
• National Board of Review - Best Director and Best Foreign Film
• Blue Ribbon Awards - Best Screenplay

Lists

• Ranked #5 in Top ten list in 1950, Kinema Junpo 
• Among Top 10 - Directors' Top Ten Poll in 1992 & 2002, Sight & Sound
• Ranked #22 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010
• Ranked #290 in The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time in 2008, Empire
• 50 Klassiker, Film by Nicolaus Schröder in 2002
• 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die by Steven Jay Schneider in 2003
• IMDB Top 250 #78

Special Mention

• The film led to the coining of the term "Rashomon Effect" in psychology. The effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it.
• Rated by ~ 51k users on IMDb

Films Influence

• Other Films - The film's concept has influenced a variety of subsequent films, such as Hero, Vantage Point, Courage Under Fire, Basic, One Night at McCool's and U Mong Pa Meung (Thai Movie)
• Television - The multiple-perspective concept has also been used, sometimes with over-the-top exaggeration for comedic expression, in episodes of many television programs like All in the Family  - "Everybody Tells the Truth" , CSI - "Rashomama" , Ed, Edd, n Eddy - "Once upon an Ed" , The Dick Van Dyke Show - "The Night the Roof Fell In" , Diff'rent Strokes  - "Rashomon II" , Mama's Family  - "Rashomama" to name a few

Download Links

DVDRip XViD | 715 Mb

http://rapidshare.com/files/142078764/Rashomon.1950.INTERNAL.DVDRip.XviD-SChiZO.part1.rar 100 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/142078799/Rashomon.1950.INTERNAL.DVDRip.XviD-SChiZO.part2.rar 100 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/142078888/Rashomon.1950.INTERNAL.DVDRip.XviD-SChiZO.part3.rar 100 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/142079424/Rashomon.1950.INTERNAL.DVDRip.XviD-SChiZO.part4.rar 100 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/142079488/Rashomon.1950.INTERNAL.DVDRip.XviD-SChiZO.part5.rar 100 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/142079563/Rashomon.1950.INTERNAL.DVDRip.XviD-SChiZO.part6.rar 100 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/142079668/Rashomon.1950.INTERNAL.DVDRip.XviD-SChiZO.part7.rar 100 Mb
http://rapidshare.com/files/142080223/Rashomon.1950.INTERNAL.DVDRip.XviD-SChiZO.part8.rar 15 Mb

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Yôjinbô aka Yojimbo (Japan , 1961)

Ratings - IMDB – 8.4

Release Year - 1961

Country - Japan

Genres – Action | Crime | Drama

IMDB page

Synopsis: First part of the Yojimbo - Sanjuro two films set


A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.

Sanjuro, a wandering samurai enters a rural town in nineteenth century Japan. After learning from the innkeeper that the town is divided between two gangsters, he plays one side off against the other. His efforts are complicated by the arrival of the wily Unosuke, the son of one of the gangsters, who owns a revolver. Unosuke has Sanjuro beaten after he reunites an abducted woman with her husband and son, then massacres his father's opponents. During the slaughter, the samurai escapes with the help of the innkeeper; but while recuperating at a nearby temple, he learns of innkeeper's abduction by Unosuke, and returns to the town to confront him.

Awards – Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins

Lists - Ranked at #95 in Empire magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time
IMDB Top 250 #115


Special Mention - Rated by more than 37k users on IMDb


Trivia - In both the films, the lead actor Toshirō Mifune takes the name Sanjuro (meaning "Thirtysomething") but he takes a different "surname" (in both films, he takes his surname from the plants he happens to be looking at when asked his name)

Download Links (w English Subs)

699mb - 640x288 - 1:50:27 - 24fps - avi - english subtitle

http://rapidshare.com/files/78007677/Yojimbo.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78031280/Yojimbo.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78066901/Yojimbo.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78203821/Yojimbo.part4.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78233537/Yojimbo.part5.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78257482/Yojimbo.part6.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78402361/Yojimbo.part7.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78425838/Yojimbo.part8.rar

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Shichinin no samurai aka Seven Samurai (Japan , 1954)

Ratings - IMDB - 8.8 | Metacritic - 99
Release Year - 1954
Country - Japan
Genres - Adventure | Drama
IMDB page | Metacritic page

Synopsis: A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves.


A veteran samurai, who has fallen on hard times, answers a village's request for protection from bandits. He gathers 6 other samurai to help him, and they teach the townspeople how to defend themselves, and they supply the samurai with three small meals a day. The film culminates in a giant battle when 40 bandits attack the village.

Awards

• Won Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival - 1954
• Nominated for BAFTA award - Best Film and Foreign Actor

Lists

• Ranked #1 in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010
• Sight & Sound's list of the ten greatest films of all time in 1982, and to the directors' top ten films in the 1992 and 2002 polls
• Roger Ebert Top 100
• IMDB Top 250 #14

Special Mention - Described as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made

• Innovated the now-common plot element of the recruiting and gathering of heroes into a team to accomplish a specific goal, a device used in later films such as The Guns of Navarone, Ocean's Eleven, The Dirty Dozen, and the western remake The Magnificent Seven
• Single largest undertaking by a Japanese filmmaker at the time, Seven Samurai went on to become Japan's highest-grossing movie and set a new standard for the industry
• Rated by more than 120k users on IMDb

Legacy - Film spawned several sequels and there was also a short-lived 1998 television series

Download Links
788 Mb (divided into 200 Mb links)

Sample Screen

http://www.mediafire.com/?xlwzjwn4d2w

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Tsubaki Sanjûrô aka Sanjuro (Japan , 1962)

Ratings - IMDB - 8.1
Release Year - 1962
Country - Japan
Genres - Action | Drama | Thriller
IMDB page

Synopsis : Second part of the Yojimbo - Sanjuro two films set (sequel of Yojimbo)


A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.


A group of idealistic young men, determined to clean up the corruption in their town, are aided by a scruffy, cynical samurai who does not at all fit their concept of a noble warrior.


Special Mention - Rated by more than 10k users on IMDb

Download Links (with Eng Subs)

750 Mb

http://rapidshare.com/files/78688174/Sanjuro.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78715637/Sanjuro.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78902655/Sanjuro.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/78929072/Sanjuro.part4.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/79088785/Sanjuro.part5.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/79112547/Sanjuro.part6.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/79173081/Sanjuro.part7.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/79194176/Sanjuro.part8.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/79194196/Sanjuro_ser.sub

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Kakushi-toride no san-akunin aka The Hidden Fortress (Japan , 1958)

Ratings - IMDB - 8.1
Release Year - 1958
Country - Japan
Genres - Action | Adventure
IMDB page

Synopsis : Lured by gold, two greedy peasants escort a man and woman across enemy lines. However, they do not realize that their companions are actually a princess and her general.

The story follows two greedy peasants in feudal Japan, Tahei and Matashichi, who are returning home from a failed attempt to profit from a war between neighboring clans. En Route they encounter the remnants of the defeated tribe that consists, most notably, of a famous General and a Princess who are hiding out in a fortress in the mountains. General Rokurota Makabe and Princess Yuki need to escape into allied territory with their large supply of gold so that they can rebuild their shattered clan. To do this the Peasants are tricked into helping them, with the promise that they will receive a large share of the gold when the destination is reached. Along the way, the General's prowess is put to the test as he must guide the 4, and later 5 with the inclusion of a freed slave, through close encounters with the pursuing enemy, and out of difficult situations the bumbling peasants manage to get them into.

Awards - Won FIPRESCI Prize , Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival

Won Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film

Nominated for Golden Bear

Special Mention - Rated by more than 13k users on IMDb

Download Links (with Eng Subs)

DVDRip | 720 X 304 | 500Mb | MKV

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1563350884/HiddenF.part1.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1563351054/HiddenF.part2.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1563351114/HiddenF.part3.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1563351134/HiddenF.part4.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1563351094/HiddenF.part5.rar

http://www.filesonic.com/file/1563350964/HiddenF.part6.rar

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http://www.fileserve.com/file/dDaGjkj/HiddenF.part1.rar

http://www.fileserve.com/file/8y3nWDt/HiddenF.part2.rar

http://www.fileserve.com/file/5j3UNb5/HiddenF.part3.rar

http://www.fileserve.com/file/5GAQrsW/HiddenF.part4.rar

http://www.fileserve.com/file/K7uVhW3/HiddenF.part5.rar

http://www.fileserve.com/file/uhVU58Z/HiddenF.part6.rar

Password - tenfold

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Kumonosu-jô aka Throne of Blood (Japan , 1957)

Ratings - IMDB - 8.2
Release Year - 1957
Country - Japan
Genres - Drama
IMDB page

Synopsis: A ruthlessly ambitious lord, egged on by his wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become Emperor.

A transposition of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' to medieval Japan. After a great military victory, Lords Washizu and Miki are lost in the dense Cobweb Forest, where they meet a mysterious old woman who predicts great things for Washizu and even greater things for Miki's descendants. Once out of the forest, Washizu and Miki are immediately promoted by the Emperor. Washizu, encouraged by his ambitious wife, plots to make even more of the prophecy come true, even if it means killing the Emperor...

Special Mention - Rated by more than 14k users on IMDb

Download Links

http://rapidshare.com/files/6427879/Throne_of_Blood.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6684407/Throne_of_Blood.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6802920/Throne_of_Blood.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6834400/Throne_of_Blood.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6853592/Throne_of_Blood.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6952934/Throne_of_Blood.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/6993163/Throne_of_Blood.part7.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/7044699/Throne_of_Blood.part8.rar

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Okuribito aka Departures (Japan , 2008)

Ratings - IMDB - 8.1 | Metacritic - 68
Release Year - 2008
Country - Japan
Genres - Drama | Music
IMDB page

Synopsis: A newly unemployed cellist takes a job preparing the dead for funerals.


Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

Awards - Won Oscar (Best Foreign Language Film of the Year - 2009); Best Film (Award of the Japanese Academy - 2009) ; Audience Award (Hawaii International Film Festival - 2008) ; Best Asian Film (Hong Kong Film Awards - 2010) 

Special Mention - Rated by more than 14k users on IMDb

Download Links (w Encoded English Subs)

Departures.part1.rar.html 

Departures.part2.rar.html 

Departures.part3.rar.html 

Departures.part4.rar.html

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Hadashi no Gen aka Barefoot Gen (Japan , 1983)

Ratings - IMDB – 8.1

Release Year -1983

Country - Japan

Genres – Animation | Drama | War

IMDB page

Synopsis - A powerful statement against war, Barefoot Gen is a story about the effect of the atomic bomb on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.

Gen and his family are living in Hiroshima as Japan nears the end of World War II. Gen's father has come to believe that the war is unwinnable, thus earning the wrath of the town officials and, in turn, discrimination from the rest of their neighbors. Shunned by the local merchants and tradesmen, food becomes scarce for Gen and his family. All these concerns soon pale, however, as the American military begins its final assault on Japan with the unleashing of its terrible new weapon.

Tagline - The Bombing Of Hiroshima As Seen Through The Eyes Of A Boy.

Download Links (w English Subs)

Barefoot_Gen_(1983).part1.rar.html

Barefoot_Gen_(1983).part2.rar.html

Barefoot_Gen_(1983).part3.rar.html

Barefoot_Gen_(1983).part4.rar.html

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Kaze no tani no Naushika aka Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Japan , 1984)

Ratings - IMDB – 8.1

Release Year -1984

Country - Japan

Genres – Animation | Action | Adventure

IMDB page

Synopsis: Warrior/pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet.

Awards & Lists: IMDB Top 250 #249 | 3 more wins
Special Mention: Rated by more than 28k users on IMDb

Download Links (w English Subs)

Nausicaa_of_the_Valley_of_the_Wind.part1.rar.html

Nausicaa_of_the_Valley_of_the_Wind.part2.rar.html

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Tonari no Totoro aka My Neighbor Totoro (Japan , 1988)

Ratings - IMDB – 8.2

Release Year -1988

Country - Japan

Genres – Animation | Adventure | Family

IMDB page

Synopsis: Two young girls, Satsuke and her younger sister Mei, move into a house in the country with their father to be closer to their hospitalized mother. Satsuke and Mei discover that the nearby forest is inhabited by magical creatures called Totoros. They soon befriend these Totoros, and have several magical adventures.

Awards & Lists - IMDb Top 250 #183 | Another 5 wins

Special Mention - Rated by more than 42k users on IMDb

Download Links (w English Subs)

My_Neighbor_Totoro.part1.rar.html

My_Neighbor_Totoro.part2.rar.html

My_Neighbor_Totoro.part3.rar.html

My_Neighbor_Totoro.part4.rar.html

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Tasogare Seibei aka The Twilight Samurai (Japan , 2002)

Ratings - IMDB – 8.1 | Metascore - 82

Release Year - 2002

Country - Japan

Genres – Drama | Romance

IMDB page

Synopsis: Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai, leads a life without glory as a bureaucrat in the mid-XIX century Japan. A widower, he has charge of two daughters (whom he adores) and a senile mother; he must therefore work in the fields and accept piecework to make ends meet. New prospects seem to open up when Tomoe, his long-time love, divorces a brutal husband. However, even as the Japanese feudal system is unraveling, Seibei remains bound by the code of honour of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedences. The consequences are cruel.

Awards & Lists - Nominated for Oscar. Another 37 wins

 

 

 

 

 

Download Links (w English Subs)

The_Twilight_Samurai_(2002).part1.rar.html

The_Twilight_Samurai_(2002).part2.rar.html

The_Twilight_Samurai_(2002).part3.rar.html

The_Twilight_Samurai_(2002).part4.rar.html

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