Beauty
2008 · 109 min · Drama
Set in a small Nagano village in the 1930s, the film follows Hanji, a young boy captivated by a local kabuki performance. Inspired by Yukio, Hanji learns kabuki with Utako. As they grow, they become skilled actors, performing in a final kabuki before World War II. After the war, Hanji returns to revive kabuki and restore the community’s spirit. In the 1980s, as he nears death, the villagers organise a final performance in his honour, where he performs “Tenryu Koishibuki” for Yukio.
Directed by Toshio Goto · Written by Ryūnosuke Ono
Your Rating
Cast
-
Takatarô Kataoka Ogura Hanji -
Ainosuke Kataoka Yukio Katsuragi -
Kumiko Aso Utako Higashiura - N Noritoshi Kashima Masao Kinoshita
-
Hidekazu Mashima -
Asae Oonishi -
Hisashi Igawa -
Satoshi Nikaido -
Makoto Akatsuka -
Kazuyoshi Kushida -
Kazuo Kitamura -
Takao Kataoka
More from Toshio GotoSee all →
Dimple of Tokyo · 1952Dimple of Tokyo
★ 10.01952
MovieComedy
Buntaro, the president of a food trading company got tired of the day-to-day routine of life. The new secretary, Nobuko, suggested her "shacho-san" (the president) run away from the job. Nobuko took Buntaro to her home and introduced him to her own family as friend, "Sachio-san"...
Hometown · 1983Hometown
★ 9.01983
Movie
Deep in the mountains of Japan a dam is scheduled to be built, thus forcing a relocation of the farmers. One of them is 78-year-old Denzo, whose son and his wife consider him senile. Left alone, he befriends a young boy, Sentaro, who has heard that the old man was once a great angler. The unlikely pair spend lots of happy time together, until Denzo has a heart attack and dies far upstream. The dam is completed and the entire area is inundated. Everyone will move away, except Denzo.
The Sacrifice of the Human Torpedoes · 1955The Sacrifice of the Human Torpedoes
★ 9.01955
MovieWar
Lord for a Night · 1946Lord for a Night
★ 8.01946
MovieDrama
In 1887, two businessmen, Echigo-ya and Kitahara, compete for railroad construction authorization from the government. The minister states that a local noble must not object, and his missing younger brother is the only one who could sway him. Meanwhile, Omitsu, a hotel employee tired of Echigo-ya’s wife’s arrogance, teams up with Kitahara to stage a scheme where a vagrant young man pretends to be the noble’s lost brother, aiming to trick and embarrass the wealthy woman.
The Life of Oharu · 1952The Life of Oharu
★ 7.71952
MovieDrama
During the Edo Period, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.
Stray Dog · 1949Stray Dog
★ 7.61949
MovieCrimeDrama
A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.
The Old Bear Hunter · 1982The Old Bear Hunter
★ 7.21982
MovieAdventureDrama
After an old man is attacked by a bear in the snowy mountains of northern Japan, he vows to hunt down the marauder.
The Munekata Sisters · 1950The Munekata Sisters
★ 7.11950
MovieDrama
Setsuko is in an unhappy marriage to Mimura, an unemployed, alcoholic engineer. She had always been in love with Hiroshi but both failed to propose when Hiroshi left for France a few years ago. But now he's back and Mariko tries to reunite them, although she too is secretly in love with Hiroshi.
Solar Eclipse · 1975Solar Eclipse
★ 6.91975
MovieDrama
When bribe money from a rigged election funnels into a dam construction project, collusion, lust, greed and even murder are on the ballot.
Love Letter · 1953Love Letter
★ 6.81953
MovieRomanceDrama
Five years after the end of the Second World War, Reikichi, a repatriated veteran, translates love letters for Japanese women to American GIs, while searching for his lost love, Michiko.
Portrait of Madame Yuki · 1950Portrait of Madame Yuki
★ 6.71950
MovieDrama
A young woman takes up her new job as the servant of a noblewoman and soon discovers that underneath her facade of luxury lies great unhappiness.
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail · 1952The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
★ 6.71952
MovieDramaHistory
A fugitive lord and his six retainers disguise themselves as monks to bluff their way through a hostile checkpoint.
Sanshiro Sugata · 1943Sanshiro Sugata
★ 6.51943
MovieDrama
A hotheaded youth in 1880s Meiji Japan apprentices to judo master Shōgorō Yano, trading brute jujutsu bravado for discipline and humility. As Sanshirō matures, he proves judo’s spirit against old-guard challengers—including a deadly duel—while falling for his vanquished opponent’s daughter. Based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita, son of Tomita Tsunejirō, the earliest disciple of judo.
Black Cat Mansion · 1958Black Cat Mansion
★ 6.51958
MovieDramaHorror
The descendant of the servant of a cruel and vicious samurai returns to the town where she was born, only to find that a cat who is possessed by the spirits of those murdered by the samurai is trying to kill her.
Jigoku · 1960Jigoku
★ 6.41960
MovieHorrorDrama
A group of sinners involved in interconnected tales of murder, revenge, deceit and adultery all meet at the Gates of Hell.
This Happy Life · 1944This Happy Life
★ 6.31944
MovieComedyDrama
A small community in wartime Japan learn how to make do with less.
More Like This
Kokuho · 2025Kokuho
★ 7.82025
MovieDramaMusic
Nagasaki, 1964: Following the death of his Yakuza father, 15-year-old Kikuo is taken under the wings of a famous Kabuki actor. Alongside Shunsuke, the actor’s only son, he decides to dedicate himself to this traditional form of theatre. For decades, the two young men grow and evolve together – and one will become the greatest Japanese master of the art of Kabuki.
An Actor's Revenge · 1963An Actor's Revenge
★ 6.61963
MovieDrama
In Edo Japan, a kabuki actor seeks revenge against the three men who drove his parents to their deaths years ago.
A Story of Floating Weeds · 1934A Story of Floating Weeds
★ 7.21934
MovieDrama
An aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and illegitimate son, a scenario that enrages his current mistress and results in heartbreak for all.
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum · 1939The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum
★ 7.81939
MovieRomanceDrama
In late 19th-century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that the praise he receives is only due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully joins him.
