Giants and Toys

Jun 22, 1958

1h 35m

★ 6.9

Overview

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

Genres

Comedy

Drama

Production Companies

Daiei Film

Giants and Toys Trailers

Cast

Yousuke Nishi

Hiroshi Kawaguchi

Kyoko Shima

Hitomi Nozoe

Junji Harukawa

Yūnosuke Itō

Masami Kurahashi

Michiko Ono

Takakura Higashi

Kyū Sazanka

Kohei Yashiro

Kinzō Shin

Ryuji Goda

Hideo Takamatsu

Miyuki Fujimoto

Hisako Horigome

Natsuki

Mantarō Ushio

Osamu Abe

Yoshihiro Hamaguchi

Fuyusaki

Tatsuo Hanabu

Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.

6.9

Fighting Elegy

Nov 9, 1966

Kiroku boards with a Roman Catholic family and falls for the daughter Michiko. He ignores his feelings, joins a gang, gets in fights and, eventually, becomes involved with the radical Kita Ikki group.

7.0

Tattooed Life

Nov 13, 1965

After his own gang sets him up to kill a rival mobster, a hit man is forced to flee with his younger brother.

6.5

Cruel Story of Youth

Jun 3, 1960

A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitchhiking to rob middle-class men.

7.1

Assassination

Jul 4, 1964

Assassination begins with the events of 1853 when "four black ships" anchored at Edo Bay, sparking civil unrest and the major political manoeuvring that saw the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. At a time when assassination had become a disturbing political tool, Shinoda's film follows Hachiro Kiyokawa, an ambitious, masterless samurai whose allegiances drift dangerously between the Shogunate and the Emperor.

6.9

Crazed Fruit

Jul 12, 1956

Two brothers compete for the amorous favors of a young woman during a seaside summer of gambling, boating, and drinking.

6.6

Gate of Flesh

May 31, 1964

In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos. But when a renegade ex-soldier stumbles into their midst, lusts and loyalties clash, with tragic results. With Gate of Flesh, visionary director Seijun Suzuki delivers a whirlwind of social critique and pulp drama, shot through with brilliant colors and raw emotions.

6.6

Kisses

Jul 23, 1957

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

6.6

Street of Love and Hope

Nov 17, 1959

The lives of a teenager, his impoverished family, a wealthy young woman who buys a pigeon from him, and his caring teacher converge and consequently become more complicated.

6.3

The Catch

Nov 22, 1961

Towards the end of WWII, a black American pilot is captured and imprisoned by rural Japanese villagers, who await official instructions as to how to proceed with their 'catch'.

6.4

Night and Fog in Japan

Oct 9, 1960

Long takes and a highly theatrical visual approach combine to form a tense and confrontational look at the decline of a socialist student activists' movement in Japan.

6.4

The Sun's Burial

Aug 9, 1960

In Osaka's slum, capricious folks without futures engage in pilfering, assault and robbery, prostitution, and the trading of ID cards and blood.

7.3

Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets

Apr 24, 1971

An experimental, psychedelic odyssey through Japanese subculture experienced via the eyes of a disillusioned young man, who must contend with intense familial dysfunction, psychosexual alienation, and existentialist malaise.

6.2

The Christian Revolt

Mar 21, 1962

In Tokugawa-era (1637) Shimabara, oppressed peasant Christians revolt against the shogunate with the aid of charismatic Christian rebel leader Shiro Amakusa.

6.4

The Affair

May 13, 1967

As a young woman, Oriko condemned her widowed mother for openly pursuing relationships with younger men. After her mother passes away, she finds herself in an unhappy, loveless marriage and begins to understand her mother’s actions.