Dirty Maria

Dirty Maria

1998 · 79 min · ★ 3.3 · Drama, Crime

Fumiko, a married bookkeeper at a hair salon, is having an affair with one of the stylists, Sawai. Suspecting that her co-worker Mayumi is also involved with him, Fumiko murders her in a fit of jealousy, dismembers the body, and disposes of the remains around the city. When Mayumi’s husband, taxi driver Yukio, comes looking for his missing wife, Fumiko approaches him and claims that Mayumi had wanted to visit a hot-spring resort in the snowy mountains. The two set out together in search of her, each carrying motives and resentments of their own, as their strange journey gradually develops into an uneasy and increasingly dangerous intimacy.

Directed by Takahisa Zeze · Written by Kishū Izuchi

Your Rating

Cast

Akira Yoshino Fumiko Jojima
Tarō Suwa Yukio Murakami (a taxi driver)
Takeshi Itō Fumiko's husband
Kazuhiro Sano Akio Watanabe (salon owner)
Syoko Kudo Mayumi Murakami (a hairdresser)
Yohta Kawase Shuji Sawai (a hairdresser)
Setsuhiko Kobayashi Drunk passenger
Yukiko Izumi Woman who watches Fumiko

Make it a double feature

3h 18m together

Dirty Maria

The 8-Year Engagement

Both from Takahisa Zeze.

More from Takahisa ZezeSee all →

Hysteric

Hysteric · 2000

MovieActionDrama

In this startling psychological thriller from Japan, Mami (Hijiri Kojima) is a teacher who meets Tomo (Koji Chihara), a psychotic criminal with a short temper and no visible means of support. Amour fou blooms between them, and a year later they're living together, with Mami taking part as Tomo abducts, tortures, and kills one of their neighbors. Eventually the cycle of crime goes too far for Mami and she leaves Tomo, but several years later, he arrives at her home to disrupt her life with her new husband. Hysteric was directed by Takahisa Zeze, who previously received critical acclaim for the film Kokkuri. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Kamiki Ryunosuke's Filming Break

Kamiki Ryunosuke's Filming Break · 2022

Kamiki Ryunosuke's Filming Break

SeriesComedyDrama

Depicts how Ryunosuke Kamiki spends his days off during breaks in shooting dramas and movies.

A Sinner's Lie

A Sinner's Lie · 2014

SeriesCrimeDrama

Serious legal thriller starring Hideaki Ito which depicts the glory and the darkness of an infamous and highly paid lawyer.

Cold Case ~Shinjitsu no Tobira~

Cold Case ~Shinjitsu no Tobira~ · 2016

Cold Case ~Shinjitsu no Tobira~

SeriesCrimeDrama

Yuri Ishikawa and her team try to crack unresolved cold cases in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Villain: Perpetrator Chase Investigation

Villain: Perpetrator Chase Investigation · 2019

Villain: Perpetrator Chase Investigation

SeriesDramaMystery

Saeki Shuichi was a detective, but he quit his job. He now works at a detective agency. One day, a couple asks the detective agency to find a man named Sakagami. The man killed the couple's son and served at a youth detention center. Kogure Masato is the director of the detective agency. He tells Shuichi to work on the case. Shuichi is also part of a victim's family. When he was a child, his older sister was murdered. While Shuichi watches Sakagami, the couple asks him to find some materials which will allow them to forgive Sakagami or not.

Fragments of the Last Will

Fragments of the Last Will · 2022

Fragments of the Last Will

MovieHistoryDrama

Based on a true story - a true love story of a man and his wife who are at the mercy of fate, but wish to be reunited for 11 years. With thoughts of his wife and his fellows, Yamamoto Hatao never gave up hoping that he'd return home despite hopeless circumstances.

The 8-Year Engagement

The 8-Year Engagement · 2017

The 8-Year Engagement

MovieDramaRomance

Hisashi and Mai are a happy couple in their 20s who are engaged to be married. But three months before their wedding, Mai becomes seriously ill. Her heart stops momentarily, and she falls into a deep coma. Hisashi visits Mai at the hospital every day before work. With no idea if or when she will ever awake, Mai’s parents encourage Hisashi to find someone else, but he refuses to give up and continues to pray for her recovery. As if his prayers are answered, Mai begins to regain consciousness several years later, and even utters a few words. But tragically, she has suffered brain damage and has no memory of Hisashi.

The Boy and the Dog

The Boy and the Dog · 2025

The Boy and the Dog

6 months after the earthquake disaster in Sendai City, Nakagaki Kazumasa is a young man who has lost his job. He encounters a dog named Tamon on its dog tag, who lost its owner in the earthquake disaster. Kazumasa decides to take Tamon in, and the dog becomes attached to him and his family, but Tamon always seems concerned about something in the south direction. One day, while Kazumasa is involved in a dangerous incident, Tamon disappears. Later, in Shiga, Tamon is with Sugai Miwa, who has a sad secret. Kazumasa reunites with Tamon, and they start a new life together. Nevertheless, Tamon heads south because Tamon has a promise it wants to keep to a boy.

Threads - Our Tapestry of Love

Threads - Our Tapestry of Love · 2020

Threads - Our Tapestry of Love

Ren Takahashi and Aoi Sonoda were both born in 1989. They met for the first time at the age of 13 and became each other's first love, but they separated. At the age of 21, they met again. They were unable to undo their past. Now, they are 31 years old.

Suddenly Arriving

Suddenly Arriving · 1995

Suddenly Arriving

The tale follows the intentional non-adventures of quiet Tachibana (Takeshi Ito), a Tokyo drifter who has worked in a suburban sausage shop for several years without forging any real friendships.

64: Part 2

64: Part 2 · 2016

1989: 64th and last year of the Showa era. A girl is kidnapped and killed. The unsolved case is called Case 64 ('rokuyon'). 2002: Yoshinobu Mikami, who was the detective in charge of the Case 64, moves as a Public Relations Officer in the Police Affairs Department. His relation with the reporters is conflicted and his own daughter is missing. The statute of limitations for the Case 64 will expire in one year. Then a kidnapping case, similar to the Case 64, takes place. The rift between the criminal investigation department and police administration department deepens. Mikami challenges the case as a public relations secretary.

The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine

The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine · 2018

The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine

MovieDramaHistory

In the wake of the social unrest caused by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, two female sumo athletes, Kiku and Tokachi, and an anarchist group called the Guillotine Society, spark an unlikely connection.

Love Letter in the Sand

Love Letter in the Sand · 1988

Love Letter in the Sand

MovieMysteryDrama

During a month of unusually heavy rain in Tokyo, a mystery assailant has been brutally assaulting and killing people with a metal bat. When a handsome young man with amnesia is found outside an area hospital, the nurse who discovered him begins to suspect that he may in fact be the assailant. But her own strange erotic fixations with him, and the questionable involvement of the doctor tasked with the amnesia victim, lead them all down an increasingly twisted path of deeply-rooted trauma and violence.

The Lowlife

The Lowlife · 2017

Based on a 2016 novel by Mana Sakura, “The Lowlife” shows the stories of three women who work in Japan’s adult video industry.

Tokyo X Erotica

Tokyo X Erotica · 2001

Tokyo X Erotica

What lasts longer, the time before birth or the time after death? In the 1990's, Kenjo dies in a terrorist gas attack. His girlfriend Haruka is killed by a man she meets as a street prostitute. In 2002, Kenji and Haruka who should already be dead, meet again and a new story begins.

Subway Serial Rape: Lover Hunting

Subway Serial Rape: Lover Hunting · 1988

Subway Serial Rape: Lover Hunting

A woman is raped on a crowded subway but no one reports it to the police. A TV studio exploits the incident to boost ratings. Even the reporter sent to interview the gang members who committed the crime is victimized.

More Like This

Walk the Line

Walk the Line · 2005

MovieDramaMusic

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

Three Colors: White

Three Colors: White · 1994

Three Colors: White

MovieComedyDrama

Polish immigrant Karol Karol finds himself out of a marriage, a job and a country when his French wife, Dominique, divorces him after six months due to his impotence. Forced to leave France after losing the business they jointly owned, Karol enlists fellow Polish expatriate Mikołaj to smuggle him back to their homeland.

Italian for Beginners

Italian for Beginners · 2000

Italian for Beginners

MovieComedyDrama

Several lonely hearts in a semi-provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their lives. The film, which unspools the connections and family drama shared between the students, complies with several aesthetic principles of Dogme 95 movement.

12 Mighty Orphans

12 Mighty Orphans · 2021

12 Mighty Orphans

MovieHistoryDrama

Haunted by his mysterious past, a devoted high school football coach leads a scrawny team of orphans to the state championship during the Great Depression and inspires a broken nation along the way.

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot · 2018

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot

MovieComedyDrama

On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.

Cantinflas

Cantinflas · 2014

Mike Todd is a Broadway producer struggling to produce the film. Around the World in 80 Days. In Mexico, Mario Moreno, a young entertainer is struggling to get some respect, and he manages to become a star. A twist of faith makes them partners. Together they won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Spare Parts

Spare Parts · 2015

With the help of their high school's newest teacher, four Hispanic students form a robotics club. Although they have no experience, the youths set their sights on a national robotics contest. With $800 and parts scavenged from old cars, they build a robot and compete against reigning champion MIT. Along the way, the students learn not only how to build a robot but something far more important: how to forge bonds that will last a lifetime.

Valkyrie

Valkyrie · 2008

MovieDramaThriller

Wounded in Africa during World War II, Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg returns to his native Germany and joins the Resistance in a daring plan to create a shadow government and assassinate Adolf Hitler. When events unfold so that he becomes a central player, he finds himself tasked with both leading the coup and personally killing the Führer.

The Aviator

The Aviator · 2004

A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Born on the Fourth of July

Born on the Fourth of July · 1989

Born on the Fourth of July

Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.

The Banker

The Banker · 2020

In the 1960s, two entrepreneurs hatch an ingenious business plan to fight for housing integration—and equal access to the American Dream.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter