( 1) Nijûshi no hitomi (Twenty-Four Eyes)
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita
Production Co.: Shôchiku
DVD Availability : Japan_code: B008368O4W (out of stock), USA_code: B0019X400S,
UK_code: B000CS351Q
( 2) Onna no sono (Woman's World)
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita
Production Co.: Shôchiku
DVD Availability : Japan_code: B00836JY8C
( 3) Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Production Co.: Toho
DVD Availability : Japan_code: B00R4LOY0U, USA_code: B000G8NXYG,
UK_code: B00I5NWH0A, and more
( 4) Kuroi ushio (Black Tide)
Director: Sô Yamamura
Production Co.: Nikkatsu
DVD Availability : None
( 5) Chikamatsu monogatari (A Story from Chikamatsu)
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Production Co.: Daiei
DVD Availability : Japan_code: B000SM2NNM, UK_code: B0010NWANQ (out of stock),
FR_code: B0017L3I50
( 6) Yama no oto (Sound of the Mountain)
Director: Mikio Naruse
Production Co.: Toho
DVD Availability : Japan_code: B00L3NQ1YC (out of stock),
UK_code: B000I5XN7O (out of stock)
( 7) Bangiku (Late Chrysanthemums)
Director: Mikio Naruse
Production Co.: Toho
DVD Availability : UK_code: B000WM9WL4 (out of stock)
( 8) Kunsho (Medals)
Director: Minoru Shibuya
Production Co.: Haiyû-za
DVD Availability : None
( 9) Sanshô dayû (Sansho the Bailiff)
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Production Co.: Daiei
DVD Availability : Japan_code: B0093T4E0Q (out of stock), USA_code: B00SC8KV24,
UK_code: B00718WDZ4 (out of stock)
(10) Ôsaka no yado (An Inn at Osaka)
Director: Heinosuke Gosho
Production Co.: Shin-toho
DVD Availability : Japan_code: B000TC7NS6
(*) Japanese DVDs not subtitled.
(*) The region code of Japanese, UK, or french DVD is "2".
(*) The format of UK's or French DVD is "PAL".
The numbers of ranked titles of each Production Co, is as follow:
Shôchiku : 2 (1 and 2);
Toho : 3 (3, 6 and 7);
Daiei : 2 (5 and 9);
Shin-toho : 1 (10); and
other 1 (8, distributed by Shôchiku).
This is one of the two peak years of Japanese cinema; indeed, it's one of the peak years of *any* cinema. In this list are no less than five accepted masterpieces (3, 5, 6, 7, 9). I personally would add one little-seen film to the list of classics (10). Two of the films I would not really consider masterpieces (1 and 2), but they are both beautifully crafted and are highly regarded in Japan. I have of course not seen 4 and 8, which are unavailable on DVD anywhere. There were also many excellent films released in 1954 that did not make the top 10. Among these are Kobayashi's charming "Somewhere Under the Broad Sky" (11), Imai's interesting (and very radical) "Street without Sun" (14), Mizoguchi's fascinating "The Woman in the Rumor" (16), and Kaneto Shindo's strange, haunting "Dobu (Ditch)." There are also other 1954 films, like Yoshimura's "Cape Ashizuri," which I'd love to see but haven't. 1954 was a stellar year, by any standard!
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