Japan and the Japanese

Apr 2, 2015 — Repertory Picks New York’s Japan Society is in the midst of celebrating two of Japanese cinema’s biggest stars in the screening series The Most Beautiful: The War Films of Shirley Yamaguchi and Setsuko Hara. Focusing on films made before, during,...

Aug 28, 2020 — This week’s highlights feature paintings brought to life, pioneering citizen journalists, early “race films,” and the first Japanese wave.

From artistically refined epics to gory, pulpy spectacles, these films showcase the richness of a uniquely Japanese action subgenre.

Apr 11, 2023 — Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Kiyoshi Kurosawa praise Somai as a major influence, and Japan Society will present the first North American retrospective.

Jan 29, 2001 — Masahiro Shinoda’s historical drama uses traditional elements of Japanese theater to explore the tension between ethics and eroticism.

Jul 6, 2020 — Kore-eda’s first feature shot outside of Japan also gives us the first pairing of Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche.

Dec 2, 1991 — Director Akira Kurosawa had wanted to make Throne of Blood for some time. “After finishing Rashomon [in 1950] I wanted to do something with Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but just about that time Orson Welles’s version was announced, so I postponed mine.”...

Mar 20, 2026 — This week: Thierry Frémaux on the Lumière brothers, Lynne Littman and Jane Alexander on Testament, and Christian Petzold on Hitchcock.

Aug 19, 2025 — This month’s programming celebrates the centenary of the great American filmmaker Robert Altman, the career of Oscar-winning actor Jodie Foster, and much more.

Jan 13, 2023 — This week’s eclectic round touches on experimental milestones, restorations, Mexican cinema, a Japanese series, and movies about movies.