1. Kwaidan (怪談)
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.
It has an average vote of 7.698 on TMDB.
2. High and Low (天国と地獄)
A shoe company executive who has mortgaged everything he has becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and is conflicted over whether he should pay the ransom.
It has an average vote of 8.311 on TMDB.
3. The Twilight Samurai (たそがれ清兵衛)
Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?
It has an average vote of 7.741 on TMDB.
4. Ugetsu (雨月物語)
In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
It has an average vote of 7.979 on TMDB.
5. Sanjuro (椿三十郎)
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
It has an average vote of 7.95 on TMDB.
6. Woman in the Dunes (砂の女)
A vacationing entomologist suffers extreme physical and psychological trauma after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village and made to live with a woman whose life task is shoveling sand for them.
It has an average vote of 8.22 on TMDB.
7. The Small Town (Kasaba)
Told from the perspective of two children, and in four parts which run parallel to seasons, The Small Town describes the relationships between members of a small-town family. Both brother and sister witness the complexities of the adult world, as well as the mysteries of life and nature.
It has an average vote of 6.6 on TMDB.
8. Haze (ヘイズ)
A man awakes to find himself trapped in a dirty, confined crawlspace. He barely has enough room to move. He also has no memory of why he's there, or why he's bleeding from a stomach wound. Apparently drugged, he occasionally 'zones out' of his surroundings as he tries to edge towards his way to freedom. But the more he explores, the more pain he has to endure, and the more frightening his predicament becomes.
It has an average vote of 6.484 on TMDB.
9. A Second Childhood (Una sconfinata giovinezza)
Lino and Chicca are an aging, childless middle-class couple whose life is disrupted after he's diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
It has an average vote of 6.7 on TMDB.
10. Cyclo (Xích lô)
Follows a young cyclo driver on his poverty-driven descent into criminality in modern-day Ho Chi Minh City. The boy's struggles to scratch out a living for his two sisters and grandfather in the mean streets of the city lead to petty crime on behalf of a mysterious Madame from whom he rents his cyclo.
It has an average vote of 7.1 on TMDB.
11. Save the Green Planet! (지구를 지켜라!)
A young man believes that his country's leaders are actually toxic reptilian aliens sent down to launch a takeover of his beloved Earth. So he decides to abduct them and force the truth out on camera in his basement that doubles as a film studio and torture chamber.
It has an average vote of 6.945 on TMDB.
12. Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (一命)
A tale of revenge, honor and disgrace, centering on a poverty-stricken samurai who discovers the fate of his ronin son-in-law, setting in motion a tense showdown of vengeance against the house of a feudal lord.
It has an average vote of 7.255 on TMDB.
13. The Road Home (我的父亲母亲)
Prompted by the death of his father and the grief of his mother, a man recalls the story of how they met in flashback.
It has an average vote of 7.5 on TMDB.
14. Little Forest: Winter/Spring (リトル・フォレスト 冬・春)
Ichiko bakes a cake for an end-of-year party with her friends. In the depths of winter, making mochi and curry keeps the people of Komori warm. Later, spring brings thoughts of her absent mother as well as rice planting and sakura, and she begins to think of leaving Komori behind again.
It has an average vote of 7.6 on TMDB.
15. I Am Twenty (Мне двадцать лет)
Having returned from the army, 20-year-old Sergei settles down at the thermal power station and merges into ordinary life. Every day he meets and spends time with childhood friends — the young family man Slava and the merry fellow Nikolai, and once at first sight he falls in love with a stranger on the bus. A lyrical story about a generation of young people entering adulthood, a reappraisal of values, life principles, traditions in culture and art.
It has an average vote of 7.2 on TMDB.
16. Mad Love
An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace her wounded pianist husband's hands with the hands of a knife murderer--hands which still have the urge to throw knives.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
17. The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix (Flåklypa Grand Prix)
100 miles north, a bit east and up, is Pinchcliffe, the home of bicycle repairman Reodor Felgen and his two assistants, Solan Gundersen and Ludvig. Sponsored by oil sheik Ben Redic Fy Fazan, they build the car "Il Tempo Gigante" to race against Reodor's former assistant Rudolf Blodstrupmoen, who has stolen one of Reodor's inventions to become a world racing champion.
It has an average vote of 7.6 on TMDB.
18. Mon oncle Antoine (Mon oncle Antoine)
Set in cold rural Quebec at Christmas time, we follow the coming of age of a young boy and the life of his family which owns the town's general store and undertaking business.
It has an average vote of 6.9 on TMDB.
19. Black Rain (黒い雨)
Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.
It has an average vote of 7.509 on TMDB.
20. Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (続宮本武蔵 一乗寺の決闘)
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. While Otsu waits, Akemi also seeks him, expressing her desires directly. Meanwhile, Takezo is observed by Sasaki Kojiro, a brilliant young fighter, confident he can dethrone Takezo. After leaving Kyoto in triumph, Takezo declares his love for Otsu, but in a way that dishonors her and shames him. Once again, he leaves alone.
It has an average vote of 7.2 on TMDB.
