Note: For the month of October, there are no new programs on NGN (Digital Ch. 677)
NGN 3 MOVIE CHANNEL (Digital Ch. 679)
Premiere titles air on Friday. Movies are shown at various times. Check your digital on-screen guide for movie schedules, using either the GUIDE or INFO buttons (up to one week ahead). Or call NGN, Mon.-Fri. from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 538-1966 for inquiries or to request an e-mail of NGN 3 programming information. All movies are in Japanese language with full English subtitles.
PREMIERE TITLES OF THE MONTH
Oct. 3: “Bokyo Komoriuta (Lullaby for a Tough Guy),” 1972 action,
1 hour and 38 minutes.
Directed by Shigehiro Ozawa. Starring Ken Takakura and Ryo Ikebe.
A ruffian joins the ranks of the emperor’s guards.
Oct. 10: “Abare Kaido (Turbulent Highways),” 1959 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Directed by Shigehiro Ozawa. Starring Utaemon Ichikawa and Kotaro Satomi.
Danjuro, a popular kabuki actor from a yakuza family beats the evil.
Oct. 17: “Mamushi to Aodaisho (The Viper and General),” 1975 action film, 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Directed by Sadao Nakajima. Starring Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi.
The viper brothers fight against a big yakuza family.
Oct. 25: “Kaidan Hebionna (Snake Woman’s Curse),” 1968 horror film, 1 hour and 24 minutes.
Directed by Nobuo Nakagawa. Starring Seizaburo Kawazu and Shingo Yamashiro.
Chobei, the wealthy landlord of a countryside village in the early Meiji period, incurs a ghostly wrath after he causes a poor farmer to die. After Chobei enslaves the farmer’s wife and daughter in his household, he kills a snake and finds himself slowly going mad, glimpsing rotting corpses and deathly spirits all around him. Even his son Takeo cannot escape and begins to notice that his new bride has certain characteristics like scales and green skin! Can Chobei fulfill the promise of the Snake Woman’s curse before the spirits of the dead come to claim him?
Oct. 31: “Heitai Gokudo (Enlisted Yakuza),” 1968 action film, 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Directed by Kiyoshi Saeki. Starring Tomisaburo Wakayama and Shingo Yamashiro.
A gang leader Shimamura is forced to join the army in 1937 and fight in China.
NGN3 MOVIE OF THE MONTH
“Milocrorze (Milocrorze – A Love Story),” 2012 drama, 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Directed by Yoshimasa Ishibashi. Starring Takayuki Yamada.
A mish-mash of past and present. Tamon, a childish man, meets and falls in love with his ideal woman, only to see her die soon after. His attempt to rediscover his short-lived happiness leads him on an adventure across multiple dimensions, becoming a one-eyed ronin, a sexist love counselor, and a blond-haired foreigner along the way. “Milocrorze – A Love Story” is a head-spinning jumble of zany skits and quasi-philosophical musings, united by the theme of obsessive love.
NGN3 COMMUNITY FAVORITE
“Otoko wa Tsuraiyo Bokyo-hen (Tora-san’s Runaway),” 1970 drama,
1 hour and 28 minutes.
Directed by Yoji Yamada. Starring Kiyoshi Atsumi and Chieko Baisho.
Tora-san, an eccentric and resourceful tramp, is always cheerful. He believes he has a serious disease and returns to Hokkaido, his family’s origin. He lives in the home of his uncle and sister, causing chaos and trouble as usual. Tora-san agrees to go with her to an interview with the family of one of her suitors. But that is without counting Tora-san’s terrible clumsiness. His cheeky humor, for instance, is not fully appreciated by the family. The wedding is canceled and Tora-san takes to the road again.
NGN3 Movies (in alphabetical order)
“Fukuzawa Yukichi (The Passage to Japan),” 1991 historical drama,
2 hours and 3 minutes.
Directed by Shinichiro Sawai. Starring Kyohei Shibata, Toru Nakamura and Yoko Minamino.
Portraying the extraordinary life of Yukichi Fukuzawa, founder of Keio University and a great visionary of his time.
“Gokudo no Onnatachi Saigo no Tatakai (Gangster Ladies: The Final Battle),” 1990 drama, 1 hour and 56 minutes.
Directed by Kosaku Yamashita. Starring Shima Iwashita and Rino
Katase.
Two wives of gangsters come together to avenge the deaths of their men.
“Gonin no Abaremono (Five Ronin),” 1963 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 27 minutes.
Directed by Shigehiro Ozawa. Starring Chiezo Kataoka and Kotaro
Satomi.
Story of five easygoing Yakuza who come together to save the lives of young innocent girl Oichi from an evil vassal.
“Jigokudo Reikai Tsushin (Jigokudo Spiritual Press),” 1996 horror film, 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Directed by Hiroyuki Nasu. Starring Suzunosuke Tanaka and Ryuta Otake.
Upon rescuing a friend who is being held captive by a wicked classmate and his gang of bullies, 11-year-olds Tetsushi, Yuusuke, and Ryoji unexpectedly find themselves entwined in a supernatural battle against the forces of hell. Armed with courage, wit, and three magical charms given to them by a mysterious hermit, they set out to thwart the evil in a quest, which takes them to the depths of hell and brings them to a final battle with the god of death himself.
“Kaidan Bancho Sarayashiki (The Ghost in the Well),” 1957 drama, 45 minutes.
Directed by Toshikaze Kono. Starring Hibari Misora and Chiyonosuke Azuma.
Hibari Misora stars as Okiku, who returns from the grave to seek vengeance against the lover that murdered her.
“Kimi no Na wa (Always in My Heart, Part 3),” 1953 drama, 2 hours and 5 minutes.
Directed by Hideo Oba. Starring Keiko Kishi and Keiji Sada.
Machiko and Haruki’s drama continues. Machiko is not allowed to see Haruki. They finally meet again, but Haruki departs to Europe. Third and final part.
“Mottomo Kiken na Yugi (The Most Dangerous Game),” 1978 action film, 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Directed by Toru Murakawa. Starring Yusaku Matsuda and Renji Ishibashi.
Shohei Narumi is an assassin. He is hired to recover a kidnap victim who is an influential figure of the financial world. After a gun battle he recovers the kidnap victim, only for the victim to be killed. He challenges a plot of the business world alone and fights a valiant battle.
“Nihon no Don Kanketsu-hen (Japan’s Don Emerges),” 1978 action film, 2 hours and 11 minutes.
Directed by Sadao Nakajima. Starring Toshiro Mifune and Chiezo Kataoka.
Double-crosses and back stabbings while the biggest yakuza bosses battle for the title of “Godfather of Japan” between eastern and western families. Violent story and an all-star cast, a must see!
“Ninja Hicho Fukuro no Shiro (Samurai Spies),” 1963 samurai/action film, 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Directed by Eiichi Kudo. Starring Ryutaro Otomo and Minoru Oki.
After surviving an attack that nearly destroyed his entire clan, Juzo, one of the most skilled Iga ninja, sets out on a quest for vengeance. Convinced that the assassination of the current Shogun, Hideyoshi, will avenge his clan, his mission becomes complicated when a rival Koga ninja, Gohei, is dispatched to stop him.
“Oedo Shichininshu (Seven from Edo),” 1958 samurai film, 1 hour and 32 minutes.
Directed by Sadatsugu Matsuda. Starring Utaemon Ichikawa, Chiyonosuke Azuma, Hashizo Okawa, Sentaro Fushimi.
When Katsukawa, a low ranking vassal, learns his superior, Tatewaki, has hatched a plan to greedily expand his territory, he and his comrades decide to take matters into their own hands.
“Oshidori Dochu (Happily Tied to the Road),” 1959 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 28 minutes.
Directed by Yasushi Sasaki. Starring Hashizo Okawa and Kyoko Aoyama.
Hanjiro, a wandering gambler, saves sisters with no one to depend on.
“Quartet!” 2012 drama, 1 hour and 58 minutes.
Directed by Junichi Mimura. Starring Ayame Goriki and Shigeki Hosokawa.
A junior high school boy, who wants to become a violinist, forms a family quartet to try to connect the family back together. Shot during the Great East Japan Earthquake, local volunteers supported the completion of the film.
“Railways ~Ai wo Tsutaerarenai Otonatachi e~ (Crossroads),” 2011 drama, 2 hours and 3 minutes.
Directed by Masatoshi Kurakata. Starring Tomokazu Miura and Kimiko Yo.
Railway driver Toru Takishima has devoted to his work every day, but now he is 59 years old and has only a month to go till retirement. One day, his wife Sawako, who has always supported him as a faithful housewife, declares that she will work again as a nurse. Toru doesn’t understand her desire to go back to work. They argue over the matter and Sawako leaves their home and later asks for a divorce. This emotionally inspiring film is for all those standing at that crossroads of life.
“Roppongi Banana Boys,” 1989 comedy, 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Starring Nakamura Toru and Shimizu Kojiro.
A stylish light comedy about the “Banana boys”— two boys who were born and raised in Roppongi who are still growing up.
“Shin Abashiri Bangaichi Daishinrin no Ketto (New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri),” 1970 action film, 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Directed by Yasuo Furuhata. Starring Ken Takakura and Jo Shishido.
Prisoner Katsuji must fend for himself and his prison mates in the fierce battle involving a family feud.
“Shinobi no Manji (Ninja’s Mark),” 1968 jidaigeki, 1 hour and 29 minutes.
Directed by Norihumi Suzuki. Starring Isao Natsuyagi and Hiroko Sakuramachi.
An erotic Jidaigeki about the struggles that break out among ninjas in Edo castle.
“Smuggler – Omae no Mirai o Hakobe (Smuggler),” 2011 action film, 1 hour and 55 minutes.
Starring Satoshi Tsumabuki and Masatoshi Nagase.
Ryosuke is a failed actor who falls into debt to the mob and must now work for them. His job is to smuggle or dispose of bodies. When Ryosuke takes part in transporting an assassin, he soon finds himself having to use all of his acting skills to stay alive.
“Truck Yaro Bakuso Ichibanboshi (The Wild Trucker),” 1975 action drama, 1 hour and 37 minutes.
Directed by Noribumi Suzuki. Starring Bunta Sugawara, Kinya Abe Shingo Yamashiro, Naoko Ken and Kunie Tanaka.
The comical adventures of two long-distance truck drivers, Momojiro and Kinzo, continue. Momojiro and Eizo help bring home the father of two young children in time to celebrate New Year’s together.
“Wakasama Zamurai Torimonocho Jigoku no Sarayashiki (Case of A Young Lord),” 1956 jidaigeki, 57 minutes.
Directed by Kinnosuke Fukada. Starring Hashizo Okawa, Yumiko Hasegawa and Michiko Hoshi.
A master swordsman guards a mercer’s heirloom, a precious plate given by the Shogun, against bandits.
