Masaki Kobayashi — Director (20)
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Movie

The Empty Table (1985)
食卓のない家 WikiData IMDb TMDB NeoDB
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Tatsuya Nakadai / Mayumi Ogawa …
other title: La Table vide / 食卓のない家 …
One year after the Kidojis' eldest son Otohiko was arrested for his part in a terrorist kidnapping, which resulted in multiple deaths, all the other perpetrators' parents have either resigned from their professional positions or taken their own lives, Nobuyuki Kidoji remains adamant that he is not responsible for his son's actions.
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Movie

Three Loves (1954)
三つの愛
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Isuzu Yamada / Keiko Kishi …
other title: Trois amours / 三つの愛 …
In a mountain village, Heita, a translator's son, is a gifted boy but is shunned by the villagers. He can imitate birds' cry and befriends another boy who works in a brewery. Heita also finds solace in the village pastor Yasugi and his teacher Michiko, but they too have problems of their own.
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Movie

Glowing Autumn (1978)
燃える秋 WikiData IMDb TMDB
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Shinsuke Ashida / Hisashi Igawa …
other title: L’Automne embrasé / 燃える秋
A very beautiful Japanese woman is in love with Persian carpets. She is being chased by lecherous Saburi Shin and a handsome young photographer. Lecherous Saburi Shin knows what she wants, and is able to produce it for her.
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Movie

Black River (1957)
黒い河 WikiData IMDb TMDB NeoDB
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Fumio Watanabe / Ineko Arima …
other title: La Rivière noire / Río Negro …
A love triangle develops between a benevolent student, his innocent girlfriend, and a cruel petty criminal, all as a point of diagnosis of a social disease that had Japan slowly succumbing to lawlessness during the post-War era.
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Movie

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959)
人間の條件　第３部望郷篇／第４部戦雲篇
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Tatsuya Nakadai / Michiyo Aratama …
other title: La Condizione Umana: Parte II – Cammino verso l'eternità / Guerra e Humanidade II: Estrada Para a Eternidade …
Kaji is sent to the Japanese army labeled Red and is mistreated by the vets. Along his assignment, Kaji witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against the recruit Obara. He also sees his friend Shinjô Ittôhei defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.
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Movie

The Fossil (1975)
化石
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Shin Saburi / Keiko Kishi …
other title: 化石 / Les Fossiles …
An industrialist is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He is on a trip to Europe at the time, and a glimpse of a Japanese woman in that setting causes him to fantasize about her as the personification of his impending death. As his dialogue with his imagined mortality continues, he actually meets the living woman who is the template for his fantasy, and together they tour rural churches. Gradually he comes to some kind of peace about the diagnosis. When he returns to Japan, he is met with a series of challenges which profoundly test the lessons he has learned.
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Movie

The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
人間の條件　完結篇
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Tatsuya Nakadai / Michiyo Aratama …
other title: La Condizione Umana: Parte III – La preghiera del soldato / 人間の條件　完結篇 …
After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old life, Kaji faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his fellow men sneak behind enemy lines.
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Movie

Harakiri (1962)
切腹
★ 9.2 19 ratings
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Tatsuya Nakadai / Akira Ishihama …
other title: Haraquiri / 切腹 …
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.
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Movie

The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
人間の條件　第１部純愛篇／第２部激怒篇
★ 9.2 5 ratings
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Tatsuya Nakadai / Michiyo Aratama …
other title: La Condizione Umana: Parte I – Nessun amore è più grande / Guerra e Humanidade I: Não Há Amor Maior …
After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labor chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts, and moves to Manchuria with his newly-wed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.
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Movie

Kwaidan (1965)
怪談
★ 7.7 7 ratings
Masaki Kobayashi actor: Michiyo Aratama / Rentarō Mikuni …
other title: Kwaidan - Storie di fantasmi / Kwaïdan …
Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.