The Films of Japan List

World Cinema with Professor Frink Mission Statement

Hello, and welcome to World Cinema with Professor Frink.  World Cinema is a database filled with films from around the world personally procured by me, Professor Frink.   I am a licensed history teacher in Social Studies in secondary education, as well as a film fanatic.  Throughout my time as a teacher including subbing for all ages, I came to understand that we have severe inadequacies in how we teach history strictly from an American standpoint, hindering our student’s opportunities at gaining valued perspective.  Instead, we have a large part of the population who has been taught history and the modern world from a highly ethnocentric, linear point of view.  This in turn makes it harder for the average American student to empathize with different cultures from around the world, which in turn has a negative lasting effect on how we treat people from different cultures or societies than our own. 

The idea behind World Cinema is, “what if we created a database that helped students and teachers as a resource behind better understanding this beautiful, crazy world of ours?”  

So, what is included in this database?  When focusing on worldwide cinema, I believe it is crucial to allow filmmakers from their respective countries to tell the story of their culture/society.  All too often, if we show films in Social Studies/History, it’s usually dressed up by Western filmmakers attempting to depict a society that they don’t belong to.  A great example I like to use the film Slumdog Millionaire.  Slumdog is a brilliant film in my opinion, but it has no place in this database as it’s about people living in the slums of India, but written by a British guy, and directed by a Scottish Guy.  If the writer or director were Indian or Indian British, then it would be perfect for this database.  The only time where this rule gets overturned is if the film is a documentary that I think accurately presents a specific aspect of the culture being represented. 

We have films that I have personally procured from all around the world in which we create a guide including the synopsis, film themes, and my personal analysis of how that film could be used in the classroom.  I have watched every minute of each film in this database, so I will be acting as your personal curator.   We also give a school grade breakdown for films in order to be age appropriate.  We break it down by country and eventually will have an easily accessible website, like this one!, that will hopefully be a guide for both teachers and students, especially ones in high school and college. 

With the addition of streaming content sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBOMax, or our favorite The Criterion Collection, popping up seemingly every day. There is now unprecedented access to the films included on World Cinema.   Access to these films would not have been possible without the new technology and the increasing prospects of virtual learning in the age of a pandemic.   For the first time in its 96-year history, the Academy Awards gave Best Picture to a foreign language film, Parasite, and it won’t be the last time as brilliant filmmakers from all over the world are shining on a spotlight on their respective homelands.  We have films for all ages, time periods, and genres, so there really is something for every major aspect of that particular country/culture.  

Enjoy!

Rating out of 10  Green= 9-10  Orange 7-8  Red 5-6 Black 1-4

Japan

Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind – Environment

My Neighbor Totoro – Family Life, Environment

Only Yesterday – Young Romance

Porco Rosso – WW2

Whisper of the Heart – Young Romance, COA

Princess Mononoke – Industrialization vs Environment

Spirited Away – Old Spiritualism/Shintoism vs Modernity, COA

The Cat Returns – COA

Howls Moving Castle – War

The Secret World of Arrietty – Environment, Family Life, COA

From Up on Poppy Hill – (GM) Post WW2, YA romance

The Wind Rises – WW2

The Boy and the Heron – WW2

Kiki’s Delivery Service – Coming of Age, Magic

Pom Poko – (IT) Environment

My Neighbor the Yamadas – (IT) Family life

Ponyo – Young child COA

The Tale of Princess Kaguya – (IT) Folklore, Environment

When Marnie Was There – YA Romance

Castle in the Sky – Fantasy/ Environment

Ocean Waves – COA

Earwig and the Witch – COA/ Magic

The Castle of Cagliostro

Grave of the Fireflies (IT) WW2

Akira Kurosawa

Rashomon – Feudalism

Ikuru – Post WW2 Bureaucracy

Seven Samurai – Samurai and Bushido Code

Sanjuro – Ronin

Ran – Power Structure of Japanese Feudalism

Kagemusha – Samurai, Bushido Warfare

Throne of Blood – Macbeth/Samurai adaptation 

Scandal – Post WWII life, corruption

Red Beard – 19th century

Dodes’ka-den – Post WWII, Socioeconomics

The Hidden Fortress – Samurai

Sanshiro Sugata – Different Martial Art Styles

Yojimbo – Ronin

High and Low – Film Noir, Class Struggle

Japan

Tokyo Story – Young vs. Old           

Hungry Soul Part II – 1950’s Japan, Romance

Harakiri – Samurai/Ronin, Bushido Code, Revenge

Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate – End of Shogun, Comedy

Sansho the Bailiff – Shakespearean type tragedy, Dark ages of Japan

Late Spring – history vs. modernity

Hiroshima Mon Amour – Post WWII Hiroshima

Funeral Parade of Roses – Exploration of LGBT community in Tokyo in the late 60’s

Your Name. – YA Romance, COA

In This Corner of the World – WW2 COA

Mirai – Young Children

Sans Soleil – 1980’s Japan, documentary

Tokyo-Ga – Modernizing Japan, disregarding of history

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness – Biopic

Tokyo Idols – Unique Cultural Aspects

The Man Who Skied Down Everest – Biopic/ Adventure

The Departure – Documentary, Balancing Work and Life

Tokyo Olympiad – 1964 Tokyo Olympics Documentary

White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Documentary of the Atomic Attacks and the Aftermath of those who survived

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Environmentalism and Music

Departures – Taboos with death

Tampopo – Ramen and Ronin

Letters from Iwo Jima – WW2, Japanese Warrior Psychology

Tojo Studios Godzilla Series – Environmentalism

One Cut of the Dead – Satire, Joy of DIY Filmmaking

House – Surrealism

Violent Cop – Revenge, Bureaucracy, Yakuza

Still Walking – Extended Family

Kuroneko (Black Cat) – Samurai Vampire Revenge Romance?

Millennium Actress – Memory, Reality vs Film

The Summit of the Gods – Exploration/Mountaineering

Drive My Car – Psychological Drama

Belle – COA, Social Media

Cure – J-Horror OG

Hungry Soul – Post WWII, Female Empowerment

Miss Hokusai – Female Empowerment, Old Japan

A Silent Voice – Bullying, Adolescence

Shoplifters- Class, Family

The Balloon – Class, Capitalism, Post WW2

Paprika – Psychedelia

Akira – Post Apocalypse, technology vs. society

Dreams of Sushi – Documentary, Food

13 Assassins – Samurai

Battle Royale – Generational divide

Tag – Generational Divide

Outrage Coda – Yakuza

Gate of Hell – Samurai meets obsession/stalker tragedy

Woman in the Dunes – Existentialism

Around the World When You Were My Age – Travel

The Garden of Words – Loneliness and Personal Discovery

Weathering with You – COA, YA Romance

Modest Heroes – Stories of modern day bravery

Onibaba – Classic Folk Tale turned into Classic Horror Movie

Destroy All Monsters – Godzilla and friends vs. Aliens

Children of the Sea – YA Science Fiction

Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki – Documentary, Aging

Kusama: Infinity – Bio Doc, Art, Trendsetters   

Perfect Blue – Celebrity, Reality

Tokyo Godfathers – Unconventional family

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy – Luck and Fate

Pulse – J-horror

Plan 75 - Population

Mary and the Witch’s Flower – COA, Magic

Neon Genesis – Psychedelia

5 Centimeter Per Second – COA, YA romance

Nuclear Nation – Environmental disaster

Gantz: 0 - Futurism

Ghost in the Shell - AI

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters – Environmentalism

Memories

Mifune: The Last Samurai – Biopic

Ringu – Horror

The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi – Samurai

Ugetsu – Spirits/Ghosts in the age of the Samurai

Good Morning

Blame

Boiling Point

Golden Demon