Yasuzō Masumura

In 39 interviews with actors and actresses, writers, producers and staff members, interspersed with film excerpts and stills, Shindō recounts the...

A blind sculptor kidnaps an artists' model and imprisons her in his warehouse studio – a shadowland of perverse monuments to the female form....

A mysterious tattoo artist puts his masterpiece, a human-faced spider, on a kidnapped woman's back. She and her lover are then forced into a...

On his release from prison a young yakuza, along with his brother, decides to turn his back on criminal life instead of taking over the position of...

Against the backdrop of the Edo treasury devaluing currency and driving many into poverty, Hanzo Itami enforces the law without regard to status. He...

Hanzo extracts a confession from a ghost using his assaulting methods, foils thieves, connects with Heisuke Takei a friend from his youth, offers...

Against the backdrop of the Edo treasury devaluing currency and driving many into poverty, Hanzo Itami enforces the law without regard to status. He...

The four principals in a love affair collide when jealousy, blackmail and suicide enter the picture.

In 1939, Sakura Nishi is a young army nurse who is sent to the field hospitals in China during the Sino-Japanese war. She has to assist the surgeon...

Fascinated with women from an early age, Yonosuke had his first sexual encounter at the age of seven. From that day on, he recklessly and forwardly...

Two car manufacturers spy on each other to try to find out details and prices of a new sports car each is about to launch.

Nishi is an advertising executive for a caramel company that is planning to launch a new product, in fierce competition with two other companies.

A young woman undergoes psychiatric treatment after she no longer hears music and develops sexual hang-ups.

A young woman undergoes psychiatric treatment after she no longer hears music and develops sexual hang-ups.

Kinichi and Akiko meet when they visit their fathers in prison. After successfully gambling on a bicycle race, they spend an enjoyable day together...

Suicide has long been used as a form of social protest in Japan. In this film, set in 1703, samurai culture is being transformed by the emergence of...

On the eve of the Russo-Japanese war at the beginning of the 20th century, small-town girl Okane has married an old wealthy man to escape a life of...

A youth drama set in a Japanese university which is home to a group of active, leftist students.

Tied to a mountain between her brutalizing spouse and her secret lover, disaster strikes; the authorities accuse her of murder and prompt a...

The story of an orphan girl, brought up in naive, rustic innocence by an elderly relative, who is suddenly exposed to the brutality, greed and...

The disturbing story of a physician who conducted the first operation with general anaesthetic, and the women in his life who are both so determined...

Yuko is sent to the coastal regions to be raised away from the rest of her sophisticated family where she finds out from her ill grandmother that she...

In the forties in Japan, a group of brilliantly qualified university students are selected to break all ties with their previous lives and form the...

The first story concerns an attractive young woman who works in a Tokyo nightclub. Her plan for a solid financial future has a double whammy. In the...

The inventor of a ground-breaking glue, Sanada, becomes rich thanks to his discovery a high executive in his company. Because of this promotion, his...

A middle-aged factory engineer trains, marries, and ultimately loses a teenage bride after she enslaves him to her whims.

A model gets involved with some gangsters trying to pull a big deal.

This Japanese melodrama chronicles the exploits of a geisha's beautiful daughter. The daughter is the geisha's pride and she spares nothing to insure...

A model gets involved with some gangsters trying to pull a big deal.

The story revolves around a young man appointed to rescue a troubled hospital who must choose between two women, a dedicated nurse or a spoiled rich...

A young delinquent wants to avenge his sister from a college student who abandoned her after leaving her pregnant. To do this, he decides to seduce...

A journalist decides to do his own investigation after a series of strange murders are committed during a local election campaign.

A journalist decides to do his own investigation after a series of strange murders are committed during a local election campaign.

Namiko gets a crush on Ishizuka, a young CEO of a nightclub, but he was plotting to destroy her husband’s company by greenmail.

Nakano Institution is the so-called ‘Spy School’ where many young men are trained to be excellent spies. They erase their names,...

Kosaka drops to death while ice climbing with his friend Uozu to see the sunrise on the New Year’s Day. The investigators try to find the cause...

Detective Katahachi meets a young and beautiful pickpocket and doesn’t arrest her because she was not in the act. Instead, he listens to the...

A 16-year-old girl works in a factory to pay her late father’s debt. When she makes up her mind to become a hostess, a boy approaches her with...

Obscure Masumura film shot in 1961.

Contemporary musical drama film by Yasuzo Masumura.

One of many adaptations of "Onna no isshō", this time by Yasuzo Masumura as a starring vehicle for famed actress Machiko Kyo.

A comedy directed by Yasuzo Masumura starring Yunosuke Ito.

Psychological action drama about the activities of a corrupt lawyer.

Psychological action drama about the activities of a corrupt lawyer.

A young pick-pocket meets a sheltered teenage girl at an art museum while trying to lift her wallet. He falls in love with her and lures her to...

About small-time gangster Asakichi's chaotic life in the 1930s. His gambling addiction means that he must not continue working in the family...

Ichikawa's 1956 adaptation of Nihonbashi was the first to take the work of Kyoka Izumi— until then regarded as a writer of common tragic...

A young intellectual conscientious objector is forced to serve with the Japanese army in Manchuria. He joins with a dim-witted former gangster in an...

After a random encounter at a bar, two couples collide. Two men, two women, embroiled in a love-and-hate drama that threatens to engulf them. The...

Michi's first encounter with Nobuyuki Ishida, secretary to the chairman of a private school, takes place in the drawing room, when she attempts to...

On his return from school, young Ichiro finds his father in bed with his adopted sister, Namie. Enraged, he decides to outdo his father in terms of...

On his return from school, young Ichiro finds his father in bed with his adopted sister, Namie. Enraged, he decides to outdo his father in terms of...

Based on the original novel by Tokuda Shusei, adapted by frequent Masumura scribe Kaneto Shindo, this downbeat melodrama features a battle of women...

This Japanese melodrama chronicles the exploits of a geisha's beautiful daughter. The daughter is the geisha's pride and she spares nothing to insure...

Ken Ogata plays Shiro Miyagi, a sprinter with Olympic aspirations whose dreams were shattered by WWII. A broken man, he leads the dissolute life of a...

After a businessman is murdered, an investigation identifies a suspect who is then put on trial for that crime.

After a businessman is murdered, an investigation identifies a suspect who is then put on trial for that crime.

Tatematsu Minoru, a yakuza belonging to the Ishikawa group that runs the Shinjuku area, has a beautiful sister named Akane. He dreams of sending her...

Also known as: For My Daughter's 7th Birthday. Many years following her mother’s suicide, Maya seeks out her father, who deserted them, for...

Akiyama is an intern, disgusted with the noise pollution caused by the bullet trains and the heart attacks that noise has been causing in older...

The entangled relations between the son of a seductive tea-ceremony teacher and the women in his father's life. Based on the novel by Kawabata...

Three stories about the relationship between men and women: "Playgirl" (Masumura/Shirasaka), "Company No. 2" (Yoshimura/Kasahara), and "San Nyotai"...

Also known as: For My Daughter's 7th Birthday. Many years following her mother’s suicide, Maya seeks out her father, who deserted them, for...

Japanese horror move from 1978.

Akiyama is an intern, disgusted with the noise pollution caused by the bullet trains and the heart attacks that noise has been causing in older...

Yumi Ishikawa (Mari Atsumi) is nineteen and a popular geisha. Orphaned when a child, Yumi she was raised by Shizuko, the madame of a geisha house....

A young man who followed his father's wishes and became a travel actor causes a big commotion with his fellow members of the Gurentai group during...

A young man who followed his father's wishes and became a travel actor causes a big commotion with his fellow members of the Gurentai group during...

A man operates a small real estate business near Osaka. A man from Tokyo asks for help in buying a large tract of land in order, he says, to build an...

The lives of five prostitutes employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation is debating the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

Michi's first encounter with Nobuyuki Ishida, secretary to the chairman of a private school, takes place in the drawing room, when she attempts to...

A former soldier, reduced to working at a restaurant post-war, becomes a contract killer for the yakuza gangs he's in contact with.

In a rural district of Tokyo, the owner of a farm is abandoned by his two daughters who are attracted to the life of the big city.

A Yasuzō Masumura film about a love affair starring Ayako Wakao. The literal title is The Two Who Got Wet.

A man operates a small real estate business near Osaka. A man from Tokyo asks for help in buying a large tract of land in order, he says, to build an...

Shimada is a student of U College. When the college's baseball team wins the day, he and his friend Ito drug two girls they met at the game.

In eighth century China, the Emperor is grieving over the death of his wife. The Yang family wants to provide the Emperor with a consort so that they...

A young offender who is already guilty of many crimes is sentenced again for rape. Upon his release from prison, a year later, the victim waits to...

Suicide has long been used as a form of social protest in Japan. In this film, set in 1703, samurai culture is being transformed by the emergence of...