Shomin-geki / Shōshimin-eiga
Shomin-geki (the West) or Shoshimin-eiga (as it's known in Japan) are slice of life films about the common working class Japanese people. Also called; 'dramas of the little people' and 'tales of the underclass'.
Sometimes described as 'a soap opera with an absence of a major plot', shomin-geki films can frustrate Westerners for not having a dramatic climax.
Sometimes described as 'a soap opera with an absence of a major plot', shomin-geki films can frustrate Westerners for not having a dramatic climax.
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- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsMinoru TakadaKinuyo TanakaUtako SuzukiFeeling the position to be beneath him, a college graduate turns down a receptionist job, but soon finds it necessary to fool his mother and fiancé into thinking that he is employed."I Graduated, But..." (in English)
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTatsuo SaitôTomio AokiMitsuko YoshikawaTwo young brothers throw a tantrum when they discover that their father isn't the most important man in his workplace.
- DirectorHeinosuke GoshoStarsKinuyo TanakaDen ÔhinataTokuji KobayashiIn this adaptation from Kawabata, a young student becomes friends with a brother and sister in a troupe of travelling entertainers, who perform at a geisha house in mining country.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsMitsuko YoshikawaAkio IsonoSumiko MizukuboTwo Geisha with a connection to a young man deal with life's hardships.
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiTakuaki SeiryôStarsTokihiko OkadaIchirô SugaiBontarô MiakeThe tragic tale of a woman who despite doing good where she can gets punished by society."The Water Magician" (in English)
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsSumiko KurishimaTeruko KojimaJun AraiA single mother works tirelessly as a Ginza bar hostess to ensure a better life for her young son until--her long-lost husband returns.
- DirectorYasujirô ShimazuStarsYumeko AizomeRyôtarô MizushimaDen ÔhinataKeitaro (Obinata Den) is a law student and Yaeko (Aizome Yumeko) is a high school girl. They are neighbors, and their friendship is starting to develop into something more romantic. Then, Yaeko's sister Kyouko (Okada Yoshiko) has a breakup with her husband and returns home. Kyouko is clearly interested in Keitaro and Yae becomes anxious."Our Neighbor, Miss Yae" (in English)
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsSetsuko ShinobuAkio IsonoHikaru YamanouchiStory of a waitress whose life, despite a host of male admirers and even some intrigued movie talent scouts, ends up taking a stiflingly domestic turn after a wealthy businessman accidentally hits her with his car.
- DirectorHeinosuke GoshoStarsTatsuo SaitôMitsuko YoshikawaMasao HayamaAn aging couple truffle to pay for their daughter's marriages while keeping their much younger son from feeling left out."Burden of Life" (in English)
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsIsuzu YamadaDaijirô NatsukawaMitsusaburô RamonIn Tokyo, Osen is the servant girl of an unscrupulous antiques dealer, Kumazawa, who takes in the penniless Sokichi Hata. Kumazawa mistreats Sokichi and Osen, while swindling some Buddhist monks out of their temple treasures. When Kumazawa is arrested, Osen agrees to help Sokichi finance his dream of going to medical school. They live in a humble room, and eventually the only way Osen can find enough money for them is to prostitute herself during the day, without Sokichi knowing.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsSachiko ChibaYuriko HanabusaToshiko ItôWhen she reaches adulthood, a precocious young woman sets out to find her biological father, who, as her mother tells her, abandoned them for another woman.
- DirectorHiroshi ShimizuStarsKen UeharaRyuji IshiyamaEinosuke NakaA friendly bus driver and his passengers over the duration of one journey through the mountains to the nearest train station.
- DirectorHeinosuke GoshoStarsToshiko IizukaShin TokudaijiChôko IidaA woman asks her brother to speak to her son. After she's sacrificed everything for him, it seems he's going to squander it all for an idle life. Though the uncle tries to set him straight, it may already be too late."Woman of the Mist" (in English)
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsIsuzu YamadaYôko UmemuraBenkei ShiganoyaTwo geisha sisters lead a hard life in the Gion district of Kyoto. After one of them feels obliged to support a bankrupt businessman, the other sister sets up various schemes to get rid of him.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChôko IidaShin'ichi HimoriMasao HayamaA widow sends her only son away to receive a better education. Years later, she visits him, finding him a poor school teacher with a wife and son.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSumiko KurishimaTatsuo SaitôMichiko KuwanoAn affluent medical professor, Komiya, and his bossy wife, Tokio, are to look after Setsuko, their high-spirited niece from Osaka. Setsuko is a liberated woman who does what she wants, including smoking, even though she is a minor. On Saturday, the professor does not feel like going to his weekend golf game, but his wife packs him off anyway. So he leaves his bag at the apartment of his student Okada, and goes to a bar with a friend. Setsuko traces him there, and insists that he take her to a geisha house. When she gets rather tipsy, the professor calls Okada to take her home, while he sleeps at Okada's. The wife becomes suspicious of Setsuko when she sees Okada bringing her home, and also of her husband when she discovers that he did not go golfing.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsIsao NumasakiChieko NakakitaAtsushi WatanabeDuring a Sunday trip into war-ravaged Tokyo, despairing Yuzo and optimistic Masako look for work and lodging, as well as affordable entertainments to pass the time.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûSetsuko HaraYumeji TsukiokaSeveral people try to talk 27-year-old Noriko into marrying, but all she wants is to keep on caring for her widowed father.
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsKinuyo TanakaKyôko KagawaEiji OkadaA teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.
- DirectorHeinosuke GoshoStarsKinuyo TanakaKen UeharaHideko TakamineWhere Chimneys Are Seen focuses primarily on the interconnected lives of two couples in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Senju, a poor industrial section of Tokyo.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.
- DirectorKazuo KurokiStarsKaori MomoiKaho MinamiNobuko SendôOn 9 August 1945, the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. This film describes the daily life of people the day before that fateful event, their feelings of joy and sadness. For them, tomorrow would never come.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsAkira EmotoKumiko AsôJacques GamblinAt the end of WWII, Japanese doctor Akagi searches for the cure for hepatitis in the prisoner-of-war camp.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsHiroshi AbeYui NatsukawaYouA family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.