best 80's and 90's Japanese movies ?

[Miyabear]

Dear Mario Desiderio:
I'm reluctant to post ten best lists of the '80s and '90s because, among other
variables, I've only seen a fraction of Japanese films produced in either
decade.  Therefore, the following is more than anything else a testimony to my
own ignorance.  It will also reveal a marked affection for virtually anything
that's come out of Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli, whether directed by
Miyazaki or not.  In any case, here goes.

These are in alphabetical order, rather than order of preference.  The U.S.
distributor is named, if there was one.  If not, the original Japanese
distributor or production company:

1980s

BLACK RAIN  (1989) - Directed by Shohei Imamura.  Released in the U.S. by
Angelika Films.  A great movie that brings the horror of the Atomic Bomb down
to earth.  Available on videotape with English subtitles.

GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (1988) - Directed by Isao Takahata.  Released on
English subtitled videotape by Central Park Media.  Although animated, a no
less powerful look at the suffering that Japanese citizens endured during the
Second World War, but without patriotic finger-pointing.

KAGEMUSHA (1980) - Directed by Akira Kurosawa.  Released in the U.S. by 20th
Century Fox.  Available on videotape with English subtitles.

MacARTHUR'S CHILDREN (Japanese title: THE INLAND SEA BOYS' BASEBALL TEAM)
(1984) - Directed by Masahiro Shinoda.  Released in the U.S. by Orion
Classics.  Set just after the war, a moving and lovingly filmed look at how
the American occupation is dealt with by the inhabitants of a small Inland Sea
island.  Available on videotape with English subtitles.

THE MAKIOKA SISTERS (1983) - Directed by Kon Ichikawa.  Released in Japan by
Toho.  Gorgeous period piece based on the Junichiro Tanizaki novel.  Available
on Criteron Collection laserdisc with English subtitles.

MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. LAWRENCE (1983) - Directed by Nagisa Oshima.  Released in
the U.S. by Universal Pictures.  This is actually a British-Australian co-
production, mostly in English, but qualifies as Japanese because of its
director, supporting cast (including Ryuichi Sakamoto and Takeshi Kitano) and
subject matter.  Available on videotape.

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988) - Directed by Hayao Miyazaki.  Released in the U.S.
by 50th Street Films (Troma).  Don't discount this as just a Japanese Barney
subtitute for moppets.  A typically beautiful Miyazaki blend of gloriously
detailed animation, nostalgia for the traditional values of Shinto and the
country (versus the city, a la a Japanese Henry Fielding) and the sanctity of
childhood.  Available on English-dubbed videotape, but the original Japanese
language version is available from Japanese video stores.  

RAN (1985) - Directed by Akira Kurosawa.  Released in the U.S. by 20th Century
Fox.  I don't need to extol its virtues.  An absolutely extraordinary film in
every sense.  Available on videotape with English subtitles.

RIKYU (1989) - Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara.  Released by Shochiku.
Teshigahara, himself a great aesthete (from a famed ikebana family), was the
perfect director for this story of the friendship and conflict between the
great chanoyu master and the vulgar, but admiring, Hideyoshi.  There was
another good film on the same subject made the same year by Kei Kumai, but the
Teshigahara is somewhat superior.  Only available on Japanese videotape.

TAMPOPO (1986) - Directed by Juzo Itami.  Released in the U.S. by New Yorker
Films.  Still Itami's best, most original and most outrageous film.  Available
on videotape with English subtitles.

1990s

AKIRA KUROSAWA'S DREAMS (1990) - Directed by (who else?) Akira Kurosawa.
Released in the U.S. by Warner Bros.  Although the dreams are of variable
quality, I'd still rather see Kurosawa's dreams on film than just about anyone
else.  Available on videotape with English subtitles.

47 KILLERS (1994) - Directed by Kon Ichikawa.  Released by Toho.  This may not
be Ichikawa's best work--nor was it much of a hit in Japan--but I think he
shows enormous courage in this bloody defusing of Japan's most enduring heroic
legend, the 47 loyal ronin.  (There have been countless other films on this
subject, most notably Mizoguchi's two-parter in 1942-43 and Hiroshi Inagaki's
hugely entertaining traditionalist version).  Available only on Japanese
videotape without English subtitles.

HEISEI TANUKI GASSEN POMPOKO (1994) - Directed by Isao Takahata.  Released by
Studio Ghibli.  Another great piece of animation from Miyazaki's company, this
is one of the most purely Japanese films I've ever seen...even though the
protagonists are all racoons!  If you're interested in the more supernatural
aspects of Shinto, this one to see!  Only available on Japanese videotape
without English subtitles.

LOVE LETTER (1995) - Directed by Shunji Iwai.  A Nippon Herald/Fuji TV
production.  A really lovely popular film from one of Japan's most notable
young filmmakers.  Only available on Japanese videotape without English
subtitles (although an American remake is reportedly on its way).

MIMI O SUMASEBA (IF YOU LISTEN CLOSELY) (1995) - Directed by Yoshifumi Kondo.
Released by Studio Ghibli.  Here I go again...another superb work of animation
from Miyazaki's company, a splendid blend of realism (animated realism,
anyway) and fantasy.  Available on Japanese videotape without English
subtitles.

OMOHIDE PORO PORO (ONLY YESTERDAY) (1991) - Directed by Isao Takahata.
Released by Studio Ghibli.  See above.  Ditto.  Available only on Japanese
videotape without English subtitles.

RHAPSODY IN AUGUST (1991) - Directed by Akira Kurosawa.  Released in the U.S.
by Orion Classics.  Available on videotape with English subtitles.

SHALL WE DANCE (1996) - Directed by Masayuki Suo.  Released in Japan by Herald
Ace (I've forgotten who released in the U.S.).  The very fact that this film
helped to revive interest in Japanese film among general audiences is reason
enough to include it here.  Not available on videotape yet (except in Japanese
video stores without subtitles), but it certainly will be.

SHARAKU (1995) - Directed by Masahiro Sinoda.  Released in Japan by Herald
Ace.    A wonderful imagining of the life of the famed ukiyo-e artist, with
marvelous period detail.  Unfortunately, a box office flop in Japan.
Available only on Japanese videotape without subtitles.

WAR AND YOUTH (1991) - Directed by Tadashi Imai.  Released by Shochiku.  This
is an utterly sentimental choice of a sentimental film (Imai's last) which was
nonetheless heartfelt in its contrasting of the wartime generation with the
'90s generation.  Available only on Japanese videotape without subtitles.

Please don't take any of the above as gospel.  As I said, it's based on only a
perfunctory viewing of the mass of Japanese films released over the last 20
years.  Also, I do not speak or understand Japanese.  I was lucky enough to
see some of the above with either English subtitles, translated scripts by my
side, or the hard work of my Japanese wife doing simultaneous translation.

Michael Singer