Tadashi Imai
1912 - 1991Description above from the Wikipedia article Tadashi Imai , licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Nippon no obaachan
Tadashi Imai
Chôchô Miyako, Tanie Kitabayashi
Two obaachans become fast friends listening to music in front of a record store. They both boast about their loving sons but in reality, one had just escaped a retirement home and the other was looking for an escape from her son and daughter-in-law. With nowhere to go, the two wander around, befriending a cosmetics salesman and a kind waitress who give them beer. This biting social satire starring two memorable grandmothers, scripted by Yôko Mizuki, picked up on Japan’s aging population problem far ahead of its time.
Nippon no obaachan
Revenge
Tadashi Imai
Kinnosuke Nakamura, Takahiro Tamura
An innocuous comment during a weapon inspection wounds the pride of low-ranking samurai Shinpachi, leading to an argument with his superior. The situation snowballs out of control, leading to a deadly duel and political fallout which threatens the entire clan.
Revenge
純愛物語
Tadashi Imai
Shinjirô Ehara, Hitomi Nakahara
Junai Monogatari AKA Story of Pure Love is about two poor youths, Mitsuko and Kando, rebelling against society in various ways, who are desperately trying to be together despite tortuous circumstances. The film depicts their lives as thieves, menial laborers who can get little pay, society outcasts, and of course, lovers. Junai Monogatari depicts, mostly, their struggles within the Japanese reformatory system and Mitsuko's worsening sickness.
The Story of Pure Love
武士道残酷物語
Tadashi Imai
Kinnosuke Nakamura, Ineko Arima
After a salary-man's fiancée attempts suicide, he recounts his gruesome family history which saw generations of his ancestors suffer and sacrifice themselves for the sake of their cruel lords.
Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai
夜の鼓
Tadashi Imai
Rentaro Mikuni, Ineko Arima
Following a yearlong attendance upon his shogun in Edo, samurai Hikokuro makes a long-awaited return to his home and doting wife, Dane. Initially greeted by the effusive welcome of his family, spiteful whispers also reach his ear about an adulterous affair carried on, in his long absence, between his wife and a famous drummer. With Hikokuro’s honor imperiled by rumor, his family insists on a formal investigation into the veracity of the gossip. Through the combined testimony of many witnesses, a tale unwinds around the visits of a traveling musician hired to tutor the family heir, the spurned attentions of the man who started the rumor, and the ultimate truth behind the accusations. The conclusion of events prove as much an indictment of bushidō as it is of the reluctant parties involved. Adapted from a 1706 play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon and based on a true case.
Night Drum
Yuki: The Snow Fairy
Tadashi Imai
Chie Ushihara, Akiji Kobayashi
Up in Heaven, Yuki’s grandparents decide that, having turned thirteen years old, she must go down to Earth to a village that is torn by bandits and intervene to save its people. However if she does not succeed within one year she will become as insubstantial as the wind. Down in the village, Yuki is befriended by a group of orphans whose parents have all been killed by the bandits and who now subsist by begging. Yuki amazes them by taming the wild horse Blizzard. She is instrumental in getting the orphans and farmers to stand up to first the warring bandits and then Goemon, the greedy lord that owns the region. But Yuki must face her greatest challenge yet when the displeased Demon God that lives in the volcano emerges to destroy those who live beneath.
Yuki
A Story from Echigo
Tadashi Imai
Yoshiko Sakuma, Shoichi Ozawa
A sake factory worker on holiday returns to his home town, where he rapes the wife of one of his co-workers in the forest. The other man returns home to find his wife changed and suspects that she has been unfaithful.
A Story from Echigo
にごりえ
Tadashi Imai
Yatsuko Tan'ami, Yoshiko Kuga
Three short tales from stories by Ichiyo Higuchi. In one, a young woman is degraded by her family after an arranged marriage. Another deals with the troubles heaped upon a young servant by her family and the wealthy people who employ her. The final story tells of a prostitute and her hopes of finding a new, respectable life.
An Inlet of Muddy Water
ひめゆりの塔
Tadashi Imai
Keiko Tsushima, Eiji Okada
A group of Okinawan high school girls are drafted as nurses during the American invasion of the island. As the enemy army advances further, the situation for the girls becomes increasingly desperate as food and shelter run out and the number of injured climbs, leading to the film's tragic finale.
Tower of Lilies
