Hideo Kojima

“[Translated] I love High and Low the most. I was shocked when I first saw it, so I definitely want you to see it. I'm told I can take these home, so I'll take this one first.”

“[Translated] Speaking of Akira Kurosawa, there's also Yasujiro Ozu. There's Tokyo Story and others, but I like Late Spring the best. Setsuko Hara is captured most beautifully in this one. The bicycle scene is great. Today is Setsuko Hara's birthday, so it's a coincidence, but I love this work.”

“[Translated] Next is Ugetsu by Kenji Mizoguchi. Martin Scorsese restored this, so there's a Blu-ray in Japan too, but Criterion has it here. I saw this as a child and it was scary. It's a bit of a ghost movie. It's in black and white, but it's a beautiful film, so I'd like you to see it.”

“[Translated], here it is. My favorite, Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan. Another ghost story. I saw this as a child and it was very scary. It's an omnibus film with sets, a very artistic film.”

“[Translated] And another one, Harakiri. In Japan, the title is Seppuku. This is very interesting, please watch it. The latter half became the basis for things like Spaghetti Westerns. I like it very much.”

“[Translated] Yes, Nobuo Nakagawa's Jigoku. There's a movie called Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan, an Oiwa-san movie. I saw it as a child and it traumatized me. When I saw it as an adult, it was a very artistic film. I became a fan of Nakagawa and Jigoku is about hell. The imagery is quite surreal, so I'd like you to see it.”

“[Translated] And Kaneto Shindo's Onibaba. I saw this at night as a child and was surprised. Kaneto Shindo's wife, Nobuko Otowa, plays Onibaba. When I first met Guillermo del Toro, we talked about Onibaba. He loves it too. The Kaiju named Onibaba in Pacific Rim comes from this Onibaba. It's very rare, and not on Blu-ray in Japan, so please watch it.”

“[Translated] Next is Hiroshi Teshigahara's Woman in the Dunes. I'm a fan of Kobo Abe and saw the movie after reading the novel. Teshigahara also filmed The Face of Another. This is a very interesting movie, please watch it. Kyoko Kishida is in it. This is also hard to find in Japan, so please watch the Criterion version.”

“[Translated] I like many of Ozu's films, but there's another one that's not well known, Tokyo Twilight. I recommend this too. Ozu's films are usually bright, but this one is very dark, which I particularly like. I recommend this too.”