Cruel Bondage Picture Legend(1976)

Tokyo Decadence(ja)

A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.

Sex and Fury(ja)

Sex & Fury chronicles Ocho's exploits as she searches for her father's killers, each identified by unique tattoos on their backs (a deer, a boar, and a butterfly). Along the way, she also crosses paths with Shunosuke, a radical set on murdering prominent politician Kurokawa, and Christina, an American spy posing as a gambler.

Sakuran(ja)

Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.

Antiporno(ja)

Kyôko, a traumatized young Japanese girl, finds herself struggling with her self-confidence in her adult life. Growing up in a family without her mother and her sister, she constantly questions the rationale of sex and the notion of liberty in modern Japanese society.

Street of Shame(ja)

Follows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

Angel Guts: Red Classroom(ja)

When Muraki, a porn magazine editor, watches a blue film depicting a gang rape in a school, he becomes obsessed with the lead actress. Quite by chance, whilst looking to reserve a location for a shoot, he happens to encounter her at a love hotel where she works as a receptionist. Her name is Nami and she reluctantly agrees to speak with him, and confesses that it was her in the film. Then, Muraki tells Nami that he wants her to model for him.

High and Low(ja)

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

The Life of Oharu(ja)

During the Edo Period, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

Ninja Scroll(ja)

Jubei is a masterless ninja who travels the land alone, lending his services to those with gold—or a worthy cause. His fearsome abilities have served him well, but a plot to overthrow the government threatens to end his wandering ways—and possibly his life.

Lady Snowblood(ja)

Yuki's family is nearly wiped out before she is born due to the machinations of a band of criminals. These criminals kidnap and brutalize her mother but leave her alive. Later her mother ends up in prison with only revenge to keep her alive. She creates an instrument for this revenge by purposefully getting pregnant. Yuki never knows the love of a family but only killing and revenge.

Love & Pop(ja)

Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates. Hiromi plunges deeper into this world to raise money for an expensive ring.

Intentions of Murder(ja)

The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41(ja)

After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.

Irezumi(ja)

Otsuya, the daughter of a rich merchant, elopes with her lover Shinsuke, an employee of her father's. During their flight, Otsuya's beauty attracts the gaze of Seikichi, a mysterious master tattooist who sees her pristine white skin as the perfect canvas for his art. The image of the large demonic spider that he emblazons across Otsuya's back marks her as the property of another man, radically altering her relationships with all around her as her personality seems to transform under its influence.

Sansho the Bailiff(ja)

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

The Insect Woman(ja)

A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.

Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple(ja)

After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto. Otsu waits for him, yet he has come not for her but to challenge the leader of the region's finest school of fencing. To prove his valor and skill, he walks deliberately into ambushes set up by the school's followers.

Samurai Rebellion(ja)

The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped by the lord. Her husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to rescue her.

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya(ja)

Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate.

Taboo(ja)

Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.

Zatoichi(ja)

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.

Rashomon(ja)

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Dogville(en)

A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town, she learns that their support has a price.

The Most Beautiful Night In The World(ja)

Betrayed and disgraced, big-city reporter Kazuya Mizuno is banished to a desk at Kaname's boring little town newspaper. But Kaname isn't as boring as it seems on the surface. Not with characters around like Shimeko, a girl genius with a childlike lack of propriety, and her ace fisherman/folk-singer dad. Or the overbearing and unpleasant local Shinto priest, a former Christian cultist. Or Endo, Kazuya's new colleague, a bitter drunk after his son's suicide. Or Kin, a former terrorist, now a hermit on his boat engaging in secret "research." Or perhaps most importantly Teruko, the hypnotically beautiful bar owner, the focus of all manner of innuendo and intrigue. Something mysterious, even mystical, is going on Kaname, and hapless Kazuya is about to be thrown into the middle of it.

The Last Samurai(en)

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.

7 Secretaries: The Movie(ja)

The seven secretaries who consist of the "Shadow Army" enjoy peaceful days. They receive a new request from Koichi Ogata, who runs a ramen restaurant in Nagano prefecture. He is furious at land development that is carried out by Alps Raicho Group. The Alps Raicho Group and their Alps Raicho Resort are run by the Tsukumo family. That family exerts tremendous influence around the region. The Tsukumo family seem like a well mannered family, but, in reality, they are a vicious family who will do anything for their own interests.

Wanted: For Forced Entry(ja)

Yuriko has been forced into a life with no freedom due to her husband’s domestic violence. Her friend Mari is worried about her but recruits her to a newly emerged religion in the hopes of helping her find happiness. However, there is no one that can save Yuriko from her despair. Meet Yoshii, a man who was in jail for killing his wife. After being released from prison, he immediately starts to plan a robbery/rape. He browses through the cell phone he stole from Mari’s house, and comes across a photo of Yuriko in her underwear, wearing an eyepatch. He decides that she will be his next target. He plans his entry when Yuriko’s husband is out of the house; once he gets into the house he sees a naked Yuriko all chained up. Yuriko, who was able to escape because of the robbery, starts to live together with Yoshii. Yoshii, who is dealing with the trauma of killing his wife, seems to fit well with Yuriko. That is until a certain incident causes everything to go wrong…

Unfinished Book, Unfinished Love(ja)

Yoshioka is a struggling sensual novel author. His wife, Michiru, believes in his talent and supports him. Unable to cope with his lack of success, Yoshioka becomes dependent on alcohol and women, causing much grief to Michiru, but she never leaves his side.Yoshioka vows to change and immerses himself in writing, finally publishing a novel and receiving an award. Months pass and one day on the beautiful Ishigakijima island, a drunk Yoshioka visits a local bar and tells the proprietress, Megumi, the story of how he disappointed his wife and eventually lost her in an traffic accident. Seeing the extent of his grief, Megumi tells Yoshioka about the Ishigakijima legend about a special “fragrance satchel”. If you take the satchel with you and go to a particular lighthouse, you will be able to meet a person who has died one last time for a short duration, until the smell of the satchel fades away. She hands him this fragrance satchel.

Dead or Alive 2: Birds(ja)

Two contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends. Together they take a break from killing and visit the small island they once called home. After reflecting on their past lives they decided to team up and use their talents in killing for good... much to the upset of the crime syndicates.

Lady Ecstasy: Pleasure Profound(ja)

Dolls(ja)

Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.

Mothra vs. Godzilla(ja)

Journalists Ichiro Sakai and Junko cover the wreckage of a typhoon when an enormous egg is found and claimed by greedy entrepreneurs. Mothra's fairies arrive and are aided by the journalists in a plea for its return. As their requests are denied, Godzilla arises near Nagoya and the people of Infant Island must decide if they are willing to answer Japan's own pleas for help.

Memoirs of a Geisha(en)

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

Looking for an Angel(ja)

Takachi, a young porno star from a small town in Japan is found dead. His death provides the opportunity to show us his true emotions, and how his two best friends in Tokyo remember him. These two travel back to Takachi's town, Kochi, which Takachi himself had visited just prior to dying. In Kochi, all boys seem to be angels.

Demon's Room(ja)

A wife gets a call from a man claiming to be from her husband's company. He tells her that he will come to pick her up on his behalf. But when he takes her to the hotel he locks her in a room and rapes her. The kidnapper then calls her husband but he doesn’t want a ransom. For reasons not yet known all he wants to do is to sexually humiliate her and to make sure the husband knows it.

Hello World(ja)

A shy high schooler in Kyoto meets a man claiming to be his future self, who tells him he’s hacked into the past to save their first love.

The Piano Teacher(fr)

Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.

To End All Wars(en)

Based on a real-life story, this drama focuses on a small group of Allied soldiers in Burma who are held captive by the Japanese. Capt. Ernest Gordon, Lt. Jim Reardon and Maj. Ian Campbell are among the military officers kept imprisoned and routinely beaten and deprived of food. While Campbell wants to rebel and attempt an escape, Gordon tries to take a more stoic approach, an attitude that proves to be surprisingly resonant.

Hinokio: Inter Galactic Love(ja)

Satoru, a wheelchair-bound elementary student, locks himself away from the outside world after his mother dies. His father designs a remote-controlled robot to go to school for him, allowing him to interact with people and do normal things.

The Notorious Bettie Page(en)

Bettie Page grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie's legendary pin-up photos made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into an erotic icon who continues to enthrall fans to this day.