Pico Banerjee
Morristown NJ
Hi there, welcome to my page! Here you'll find a mix of experimental horror, action, and drama movies with the rare addition of a good rom-com in between. I'm way too enthusiastic about my favorites and too generous about the films I don't quite enjoy. Hope you have fun exploring this labyrinth of weird!
Postwar Japan--Akira Kurosawa and the New Wave
Death by Hanging
(絞死刑)
A Korean man is sentenced to death by hanging, but he survives the execution.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1968
- Director Nagisa Ōshima
- Cast Kei Satō, Fumio Watanabe, Toshirô Ishidô, Masao Adachi, Rokkō Toura, Hōsei Komatsu
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Seven Samurai
(七人の侍)
Seven samurai answer a village's request for protection after they lose their masters and fall on hard times.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1954
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Toshirō Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi, Minoru Chiaki, Daisuke Katô
- Genre Action, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, TCM, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Rashomon
(羅生門)
A singular crime from four different perspectives.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1950
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Toshirō Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Takashi Shimura, Masayuki Mori, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijirô Ueda
- Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
Ikiru
(生きる)
Mr. Watanabe tries to find a meaningful human connection after he is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1952
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Takashi Shimura, Haruo Tanaka, Nobuo Kaneko, Bokuzen Hidari, Miki Odagiri, Shinichi Himori
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Throne of Blood
(蜘蛛巣城)
Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan ranks among his most acclaimed films.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1957
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Toshirō Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Akira Kubo, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Hiroshi Tachikawa
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Plex, Plex Channel
Drunken Angel
(酔いどれ天使)
A doctor and a gangster make the most unlikely of friendships.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1948
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Takashi Shimura, Toshirō Mifune, Reizaburô Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure, Chieko Nakakita, Noriko Sengoku
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Plex, Plex Channel
Stray Dog
(野良犬)
During a sweltering summer, a rookie detective searches Tokyo’s streets for his stolen Colt pistol.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1949
- Director Akira Kurosawa
- Cast Toshirō Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Eiko Miyoshi, Noriko Sengoku, Noriko Honma
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on fuboTV, Criterion Channel, Crackle, Tubi TV, Plex, Plex Channel
Branded to Kill
(殺しの烙印)
A rice-obsessed hit-man botches an assignment and is forced to play a cruel game of kill or be killed.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1967
- Director Seijun Suzuki
- Cast Jō Shishido, Kôji Nanbara, Isao Tamagawa, Annu Mari, Mariko Ogawa, Hiroshi Minami
- Genre Action, Crime
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video
Harakiri
(切腹)
The world has never understood why the Japanese prefer death to dishonor. This winner of Prix Special du Jury at Cannes 1963 provides the answer!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1962
- Director Masaki Kobayashi
- Cast Tatsuya Nakadai, Rentarou Mikuni, Shima Iwashita, Akira Ishihama, Yoshio Inaba
- Genre Action, Drama, History
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Double Suicide
(心中天網島)
Jihei's schemes to buy a courtesan's freedom yield ruinous consequences for his business, family life, and reputation.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1969
- Director Masahiro Shinoda
- Cast Kichiemon Nakamura, Shima Iwashita, Hōsei Komatsu, Yûsuke Takita, Kamatari Fujiwara, Yoshi Katō
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel
The Insect Woman
(にっぽん昆虫記)
She lives by instinct with no sense of right or wrong.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1963
- Director Shōhei Imamura
- Cast Emiko Aizawa, Masumi Harukawa, Sachiko Hidari, Emiko Higashi, Daizaburo Hirata, Seizaburō Kawazu
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
Woman in the Dunes
(砂の女)
An entomologist suffers extreme psychological and sexual torture after being taken captive by the residents of a poor seaside village.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1964
- Director Hiroshi Teshigahara
- Cast Eiji Okada, Kyôko Kishida, Ginzô Sekiguchi, Kôji Mitsui, Sen Yano
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Pioneers and Stalwarts of Indian Cinema
Pather Panchali
(পথের পাঁচালী)
Together, Apu and his sister, Durga, make do with what they have and enjoy the simple joys of childhood.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1955
- Director Satyajit Ray
- Cast Subir Banerjee, Uma Das Gupta, Karuna Banerjee, Kanu Bannerjee, Chunibala Devi, Runki Banerjee
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
The Hero
(নায়ক)
A matinee idol is going by train to collect an acting award and is suddenly interviewed by a reluctant journalist.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1966
- Director Satyajit Ray
- Cast Uttam Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, Bireswar Sen, Somen Bose, Nirmal Ghosh, Premangshu Bose
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Amazon Video
The Chess Players
(शतरंज के खिलाड़ी)
Pressure is mounting amidst intrigue and political maneuvers as the Nawab whiles away his time in pursuit of pleasure and religious practice.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1977
- Director Satyajit Ray
- Cast Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey, Shabana Azmi, Farida Jalal, Veena, David Abraham Cheulkar
- Genre Drama
- Available on Tubi TV, Hoopla
A River Called Titas
(তিতাস একটি নদীর নাম)
The story of the tumultuous lives of people in fishing villages along the banks of the Titas River in pre-Partition East Bengal.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India, Bangladesh • 1973
- Director Ritwik Ghatak
- Cast Fakrul Hasan Bairagi , Narain Chakraborty , Kabari Choudhury , Rawshan Zamil, Sirajul Islam, Shafikul Islam
- Genre Drama, Family
- Available on Criterion Channel
Subarnarekha
(সুবর্ণরেখা)
To keep two children from poverty, Ishwar leaves his home to take an administrative job at an iron mill. Years pass.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1965
- Director Ritwik Ghatak
- Cast Madhabi Mukherjee, Satindra Bhattacharya, Abhi Bhattacharya, Gita Dey
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Ankur
(अंकुर)
The son of a wealthy landlord, forced to oversee his father’s property in a village, falls in love with his housekeeper.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1974
- Director Shyam Benegal
- Cast Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag, Sadhu Meher, Priya Tendulkar, Aga Mohamed Hussain, Mirza Qadirali Baig
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Madhumati
(मधुमती)
Two men take shelter in a derelict mansion situated in the countryside during a storm and recall their past lives.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1958
- Director Bimal Roy
- Cast Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Johnny Walker, Pran, Jayant, Ramayan Tiwari
- Genre Music, Mystery, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Two Acres of Land
(दो बीघा ज़मीन)
An impoverished man and his young son travel to Bombay and look for work to raise money to save their ancestral land.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1953
- Director Bimal Roy
- Cast Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Nana Palsikar, Rattan Kumar, Meena Kumari, Mehmood
- Genre Drama, Music
- Available on Amazon Video
Awaara
(आवारा)
The lives of poverty-stricken Raj and privileged Rita intertwine when friendship, romance, and revenge collide in this Bollywood smash hit.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1951
- Director Raj Kapoor
- Cast Prithviraj Kapoor, Leela Chitnis, Nargis, Raj Kapoor, Helen, Shashi Kapoor
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Video
Ghawre Bairey Aaj
A contemporary retelling of love triangle involving Rabindranath Tagore's characters Nikhilesh, Sandip, and Bimala.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 2019
- Director Aparna Sen
- Cast Anirban Bhattacharya, Jisshu Sengupta, Tuhina Das, Anjan Dutt, Rwitobroto Mukherjee, Sreenanda Shankar
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Charulata
(চারুলতা)
After several months, Charu and Amal's feelings for each other move beyond literary friendship.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1964
- Director Satyajit Ray
- Cast Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Shailen Mukherjee, Shyamal Ghoshal, Gitali Roy, Bholanath Koyal
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Nishant
(निशांत)
A man whose wife is abducted seeks to have the culprits prosecuted for their crime, but no one will help him.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1975
- Director Shyam Benegal
- Cast Amrish Puri, Girish Karnad, Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag, Satyadev Dubey, Smita Patil
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Hoopla