Masayuki Satō

Summer of the Moonlight Sonata

Two soon-to-be kamikaze pilots stop by a local school near their base to play the piano one last time, leaving a deep impression on a teacher. Years later, she seeks out the relatives of the pilots when the piano is old and about to be discarded.

Willful Murder

The president of the Japanese National Railways is found dead during a period in which train service is plagued by numerous layoffs, strikes and shutdowns. The government says that the president was murdered; the police claim it was a suicide. A quizzical reporter follows the case for years, but the basic question remains unanswered: was the victim killed by members of the burgeoning Communist movement in Japan, or was the death stage-managed by the authorities in hopes of discrediting the Communists?

Gassan

Akira leaves for the Mt. Gassan foothills before winter's onset, visiting the local temple and interacting with the residents all while falling for fair Fumiko.

Hunter in the Dark

Yataro Tanigawa, a one-eyed hired assassin, impresses yakuza boss Gomyo Kiyoemon with his skill. Gomyo hires Tanigawa as his bodyguard, or yojimbo, to protect him during an inter-clan conflict. Tanigawa quickly rises in stature in the clan, but finds his boss's enemies almost overwhelming.

Glowing Autumn

A very beautiful Japanese woman is in love with Persian carpets. She is being chased by lecherous Saburi Shin and a handsome young photographer. Lecherous Saburi Shin knows what she wants, and is able to produce it for her.

Love and Separation in Sri Lanka

A Japanese businessman is sent to Sri Lanka and meets a beautiful Japanese woman with a past. They befriend an old Japanese-Indian widow who has an estranged son in Japan.

Cape of the North

A Swiss nun falls in love with a Japanese engineer.

Sandakan No. 8

A young journalist interviews an elderly woman about being forced into prostitution in Borneo at a brothel called Sandakan No. 8.

The Castle of Sand

Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.

The Fossil

An industrialist is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He is on a trip to Europe at the time, and a glimpse of a Japanese woman in that setting causes him to fantasize about her as the personification of his impending death. As his dialogue with his imagined mortality continues, he actually meets the living woman who is the template for his fantasy, and together they tour rural churches. Gradually he comes to some kind of peace about the diagnosis. When he returns to Japan, he is met with a series of challenges which profoundly test the lessons he has learned.

The Blossom and the Sword

Tai Kato’s early 20th century set yakuza epic about an ordinary merchant girl (Hiroko Maki) who crosses paths with an assassin (Tetsuya Watari). The encounter sends her to jail as a suspected accomplice. Years later she marries a yakuza boss, whose gang is affiliated with working class people.

Long Journey into Love

A beautifully told story of a woman hardened by marriage to a man she doesn't love, after giving herself to another. She dedicates herself to her work, designing and creating plaited cords for kimono.

The Long Darkness

A delicate study of the relationship between two disillusioned young people, shot in atmospheric monochrome among Tokyo's decaying lumberyards and the inhospitable snowscapes of the north.

The Wolves

After going to prison for killing the boss of the Kanno gang, Seji Iwahashi (Tatsuya Nakadai) gets released early -- only to find that his former gang has merged with the Kannos. But with bitter resentments lingering on both sides, how long will it be before the bloodshed begins anew? Set in 1926 Japan, this serpentine crime thriller from director Hideo Gosha also stars Toshio Kurosawa and Isao Natsuyagi as Iwahashi's closest ally.

Inn of Evil

The story takes place in feudal Japan, when any commerce with the rest of the world was strictly prohibited. An idealist suddenly appears in an isolated inn (the one that the title refers to), the head-quarters of a group of smugglers, with stolen money intended to ransom his loved one who is forced to work in a brothel.

Banner of the Young

The final part of the trilogy. It is about a younger brother, Suekichi. He learned well the lessons that life taught his older brothers. Therefore, he does not think to study, but strives for material well-being alone. To make a career, he ruthlessly pushes his colleagues with his elbows. For him, the high ideals of trade union activists Jiro and Saburo are an example of old-fashioned thinking, naive behavior.

Forward, Young People!

The second film tells about the life of matured brothers and sister Sato. Taro became a foreman. He saves every yen to fulfill his dream of building his own house with stone gates. Jiro continues to work in the transportation office, he dreams of getting married. Saburo faces a moral problem: in order to get a good position, he must answer the questions of the entrance test differently than his conscience tells him. At the exam, Saburo does not hide his views on life and is deprived of the promised position. Orie and Suekiti believe that he did wrong and betrayed his older brothers. But the anxiety in the Sato family is not limited to these events. Orie was being asked to marry a handsome, well-established young man, but she suddenly announced her decision to marry Tozaka, who was suffering from radiation sickness. Sato's peaceful home is falling apart...

Goyokin

A guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.

Young People

"Young People" is a story about the lives of four brothers and a sister, Sato. After the death of his parents, the older brother, Taro, who works in construction, decides to replace them. The second brother, Jiro, is a truck driver. The third, Saburo, is a student, dreams of a better future for the whole family are connected with him, with his career. Brothers and sisters are fighting to give him a higher education. And, finally, the youngest of the brothers, Suekichi, is also going to enter the university after graduation. The life of the Sato family is complicated. Taro is kind, but limited, not always able to find a common language with his brothers and sister Orie. The girl cannot stand the despotism of her brother, leaves her home and goes to work at the factory. With her departure, everything in the house goes upside down. Suekichi fails her university entrance exams, Orie is forced to return to her family.

Song of Vengeance

Executive management of a major Tokyo construction company are getting bumped off one after another. It seems obvious that it is a former partner of the company with a long-standing grudge who is responsible, but he died in the first ten minutes of the movie. Or did he? This may aptly be described as a giallo-noir for the unrelenting string of murders by a mystery man and the black-and-white gritty urban setting.

Hymn to a Tired Man

Zensaku, middle-aged and deaf in one ear, learns that his son's fallen for the daughter of a war officer responsible for the maiming.

The Sword of Doom

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

Cash Calls Hell

Before leaving prison, Oida uncomfortably enters into an agreement with his cell mate: in exchange for a half-share of 30,000,000 yen, he is to assassinate three strangers given to him on a list. However, upon meeting his first potential victim, Oida has second thoughts. Yet, even as he tries to back out, the body count starts climbing. Oida must now try to alert the people on his list of their impending danger, and find out why they are being targeted in the first place.

Sword of the Beast

Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Gosha's Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of the low-level swordsman Gennosuke, who kills one of his ministers as part of a reform plot. His former comrades then turn on him, and this betrayal so shakes his sense of honor that he decides to live in the wild, like an animal. There he joins up with a motley group who are illegally mining the shogun’s gold, and, with the aid of another swordsman, gets a chance not just at survival but to recover his name and honor.

The Forest Is Alive

Film adaptation of the stage version of Samuil Marshak's "Twelve Months"

Floating Weeds Diary

A travelling theater troupe, led by Umagoro Ichikawa, comes to play in a mining town, and manages to sell every seat. Before the play begins, however, a miners' strike is announced, creating an uproar. In addition, the players find they have been cheated out of their profits by a crooked impresario.