Country: Japan

Colourful, comic booked tinged ninja tale, ‘Kamui’ is a fun sword swishing time that packs in action, drama and some striking scenery.

While there is an abundance of neatly choreographed action, there is a vast black hole where a proper plot and believable characters should be.

Another superbly constructed piece of cinema that really captures the imagination and warms the heart.

Unlike many Hollywood takes on a similar subject, ‘Kikujiro’ prides itself on its unpredictability and genuine heart.

Tsukamoto proves that he can stand with the filmic legends as he proudly represents a unique sense of style in a densely populated medium.

Aside from a few glimpses of the impressive skills of Rina Takeda, ‘Kunoichi’ doesn’t really have anything else to offer.

A rewarding stand-alone experience, ‘Elegant Slaughter’ is also an irresistible taster for stories yet to come. The queue starts here.

‘Lala Pipo’ is nevertheless a brave film on certain levels, often funny and will push some viewers out of their comfort zone even when they find themselves laughing out loud.

Despite taking a little longer to settle than other Miyazaki movies, ‘Laputa: Castle In The Sky’ emerges as one of his most magical and charming outings to date.

‘Laundry’ is predominantly the story of two people who need a friend. While that may not sound much to hang a film on, this production has a great deal on offer.

It just takes a while to get going with too much wandering around, the leads randomly and conveniently bumping into everyone, and their romance clogging up too much of the runtime.

A 4 hour, yes 4 hour, epic about love, religion and all manner of weirdness from one of Japan’s most out there directors, Sion Sono.