YÅ«ko Mochizuki – MRQE

The White Orchid

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A Japanese adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s short story Boule de Suif, directed by Kimura Keigo

Nihon no higeki

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

At the close of the war in Japan, a widowed mother makes every possible sacrifice to bring up her ungrateful son and daughter who are unimpressed with their poor standard of living at home. They gradually reject her in search of the material comforts that working as a maid cannot provide. The mother’s despair becomes interminable.

Ano te kono te

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

An intellectual couple in a staid and tedious marriage are surprised when the wifes niece, who has run away from home, turns up unexpectedly to stay with them. Their mundane lives are sent into disarray by the emotional and energetic Ako.

Akage

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Impersonating an Imperial Army officer by wearing a “red lion’s mane”, a poor servant returns to his village after 10 years of absence to end the village’s suffering caused by corrupt officials.

Narayama bushiko

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In Kabuki style, the film tells the story of a remote mountain village where the scarcity of food leads to a voluntary but socially-enforced policy in which relatives carry 70-year-old family members up Narayama mountain to die. Granny Orin is approaching 70, content to embrace her fate. Her widowed son Tatsuhei cannot bear losing his mother, even as she arranges his marriage to a widow his age. Her grandson Kesa, who’s girlfriend is pregnant, is selfishly happy to see Orin die. Around them, a family of thieves are dealt with severely, and an old man, past 70, whose son has cast him out, scrounges for food. Will Orin’s loving and accepting spirit teach and ennoble her family?

Bangiku

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

What is the life of a Geisha like once her beauty has faded and she has retired? Kin has saved her money, and has become a wealthy money-lender, spending her days cold-heartedly collecting debts. Even her best friends, Tomi, Nobu, and Tamae, who were her fellow Geisha, are now indebted to her. For all of them, the glamor of their young lives has passed; Tomi and Tamae have children, but their children have disappointed them. Kin has two former lovers who still pursue her; one she wants to see, and the other she doesn’t. But even the one she remembers fondly, when he shows up, proves to be a disappointment.