47 Ronin (Japan, 1994)

This is a classic tale from Japan of a group of samurai whose leader is forced to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide. His followers believe that the sentence was unjust, so they return to the castle to kill everyone involved. Afterwards, they perform their own seppuku, & enter into enternal legend.

I am not familiar with the legend, so I was a bit confused during this movie. Luckily this particular DVD had footnotes! During the movie, when there was a scene that could be confusing for a Westerner, they explained why the scene was important. They also included translations for weights & measures. Pretty cool!

47 Ronin on IMDb

Ley Lines (Japan, 1999)

***SPOILER ALERT***

I haven't seen the other two films in this trilogy, but I'm not sure if I want to.

This story featured the escapades of three young, stupid, reckless Chinese men & a prostitute that left all of them mangled & eventually dead.

According to my brother, another of this director's films, Ichi the Killer, was the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.

Ley Lines on IMDb

The Burmese Harp (Japan, 1956)

This movie is a snapshot of the Japanese reaction to the end of World War II. It's always interesting to see how other cultures perceive world events. It reminds me how subjective the tale of history really is.

The Burmese Harp on IMDb