When it comes to prominent Japanese filmmakers, many knowthe likes ofHayao Miyazaki,Akira Kurosawa, andperhapsYasujirō Ozu, too. Equaling those directors when it comes to the quality of his filmography (though not being quite as much of a household name) isMasaki Kobayashi. Active as a feature film director from the early 1950s to the mid-1980s, he made his best work during the late 1950sand throughout the ’60s;some of these arguably ranking among the greatest films of all time.
He’s especially beloved on Letterboxd, where numerous films of his occupy high-ranking spots within the site’sOfficial Top 250 Narrative Feature Filmslist. As a director who made great samurai movies, war epics, and crime dramas, among other genres, his filmography is a diverse and largely compelling one. When it comes to that body of work, the best of the best are ranked below, starting with the good and ending with the legendarily great.
10’I Will Buy You' (1956)
Starring: Keiji Sada, Keiko Kishi, Minoru Ôki
Before Masaki Kobayashi made the ambitious titles he’s best known for today, he made a series of grounded and oftentimes downbeat dramas throughout the 1950s,I Will Buy Youincluded. This onealso technically counts as a sports movie, but one of the more cynical and least inspiring of all time, given it centers on various people working behind the scenes in the world of baseball, with the protagonist being a talent scout.
As such,I Will Buy Youdoesn’t feature many scenes that show the game being played, and the cynicism implied by the title is in full effect throughout the story. The lives of various young men get traded, bought, and discarded by those working behind the scenes, with the film depicting the damage and emotional heartbreak such goings-on can cause. It’s not a fun film, but it’s a passionate and intensely critical one, and argues its central point well.
Watch on Criterion
9’Inn of Evil' (1971)
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Komaki Kurihara, Shintarō Katsu
A film that’s frustratingly faded into obscurity,Inn of Evilsaw Masaki Kobayashi return to the samurai genre in the early 1970s after essentially defining what such a movie could be capable of in the 1960s.It’s not his best samurai film, admittedly, but it delivers enough intrigue, atmosphere, and tension throughout to remain an engaging and easy-to-appreciate viewing experience.
Narratively, it revolves around various shady characters who all interact at the titular inn; one that’s more or less run by a group of smugglers who use the place as a headquarters of sorts. It’s got some infrequent and well-shot action, and is also notable for being one of the best non-ZatoichifilmsShintarō Katsuever starred in. For anyone who’s a fan ofthat samurai movie series, it can be somewhat jarring to see him play a character here who isn’t blind.
Inn of Evilisn’t available on streaming services in the U.S.
8’Black River' (1957)
Starring: Fumio Watanabe, Ineko Arima, Tatsuya Nakadai
The last film Kobayashi made beforea certain epic trilogyput him more in the spotlight,Black Riversaw the directortaking on the crime genreand doing a pretty good job within it, all things considered. The plot concerns a young couple having their lives uprooted by a deceitful landlord (some would argue you could just say “landlord”), particularly because said landlord uses criminals to try and evict this couple from where they’re living.
Black Riveris undoubtedly dark and grim, as far as crime/drama movies go, but it’s well-made and is another instance of Masaki Kobayashi using film to explore injustices within society. You might have to be in the right kind of mood in order to sit down and watch a film likeBlack River, but those who are open to an old movie that’ll likely have them coming away feeling miserable might well find it’s worth giving a shot.
7’The Inheritance' (1962)
Starring: Keiko Kishi, Tatsuya Nakadai, Sō Yamamura
The Inheritanceis a film all about greed, corruption, and the lengths people will go to within a world that encourages a dog-eat-dog mentality. It kicks off, as the title already implies, with various people set to inherit money from a businessman who’s as close to death as he is wealthy. His children are all considered illegitimate, however, which complicates things and leads to various lawyers and other individuals trying to screw each other over to gain the fortune for themselves.
It’s a movie with many moving parts, but stays grounded because the initial premise is at least simple. And though the various characters all have their own schemes and strategies, they do ultimately all want the same goal, and most seem destined to fail in their endeavors (it’s a Kobayashi film, after all).The Inheritancealso benefits from some great performances,particularly byTatsuya Nakadai, who collaborated numerous times with Masaki Kobayashi both before and after this 1962 film.
6’Samurai Rebellion' (1967)
Starring: Toshirō Mifune, Yōko Tsukasa, Gō Katō
Standing as one ofthe best samurai movies ever made(and the second-best Masaki Kobayashi ever directed),Samurai Rebellionis intense, emotional, and bolstered by agreat lead performance from the legendaryToshirō Mifune. It’s a dark film that criticizes aspects of samurai culture, standing out against other samurai movies that present such a time in history through a less critical lens.
The narrative ofSamurai Rebellionfollows the dilemma a husband faces when his wife is kidnapped by a powerful lord, with the husband and his samurai father considering whether they should fight this injustice, even if such a choice will have grim consequences. It’s a film that places its sympathetic lead characters in an unthinkably challenging position during a harsh time in history, and mines plenty of hard-hitting drama (and some solid action) from such a set-up.
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Kokinji Katsura
When all three parts ofThe Human Conditiontrilogy are taken as a whole, this epic World War II film isthe longest war movie ever made… though it’s emotionally draining and more than nine hours long, so it’s best watched in parts. Of those three parts, it’s perhapsThe Human Condition II: Road to Eternitythat would be the “worst,” but it’s still excellent, an essential piece of the overall story, and, even taken on its own,would remain a remarkable war film.
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternitystands out for having more war movie conventions than the other two parts, with the first being more of a drama about avoiding combat, and the third being a survival film about getting by once the fighting concludes. This second part sees Kaji, the pacifist protagonist, forced to take part in genuine military service, including a grueling training camp and eventually some horrifying front-line combat.It’s tense, moving, and truly shocking cinema for its time, still holding up well as an important chapter in this anti-war trilogy.
4’Kwaidan' (1964)
Starring: Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe, Rentaro Mikuni
As should be clear from the images shown above, Masaki Kobayashi was a director who liked shooting his films in black and white, even as late as the early 1970s. As such, it’s a bit of a shock to the system to watchKwaidanif one’s more familiar with his other films, given that not only is this film in color, but the use of color proves particularly bold and visually striking.
Additionally,Kwaidanstands out from other Kobayashi films for being a horror movie and an anthology film,telling four equally compelling stories that are based onJapanese folk tales with supernatural elements. The fact it runs for just over three hours may turn some viewers off, butKwaidanis structured in a way where each story is told one after the other, meaning it’s possible to watch it in four sittings quite easily. It’s genuinely creepy in parts and also looks/sounds amazing, certainly feeling like one of the most memorable and distinctive horror films of its decade.
Watch on Max
3’The Human Condition III: A Soldier’s Prayer' (1961)
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Tamao Nakamura
The Human Condition III: A Soldier’s PrayerbringsThe Human Conditiontrilogy to a harrowing and devastating close, following Kaji as he attempts to escape Manchuria after the Japanese forces are defeated there. It’s a film that’s intent on highlighting that the trials and tribulations that come with participating in warfare don’t necessarily endonce the fighting is officially deemed over, especially for those on the losing side.
If there’s a more modern film that could be compared toThe Human Condition III: A Soldier’s Prayer, it might beThe Revenant, given both are grueling to watch and showcase desperate attempts to survive in a harsh wilderness. This third film inThe Human Conditiontrilogy pushes its protagonist further than he’d been pushed before, and it’s tragic to see him forced to reject various ideals he once upheld for the sake of survival.Again, not an easy film to watch, but it is another essential one from Kobayashi.
2’The Human Condition I: No Greater Love' (1959)
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima
Playing out like a prisoner of war filmbut with its main character as captor (in a sense) rather than captive,The Human Condition I: No Greater Loveis the first and arguably best film in the trilogy. It’s an introduction to Kaji at his most idealistic and righteous, and the way that the early days of Japan’s involvement in World War II began to challenge him and push him close to fighting in a conflict he morally disagreed with.
The prisoner-of-war aspect of the film comes into play because Kaji works in a prison camp as a way to avoid combat while also trying to improve conditions for the prisoners, yet continually finding obstacles to the latter cause. It’s a slow-burn war film, butThe Human Condition I: No Greater Loveends up being a devastating and expertly made opening film in a trilogy that only gets darker and more harrowing.It’s brilliantly powerful stuff, and arguably the trilogy’s greatest entry.
1’Harakiri' (1962)
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita
Though the Academy Awards werepretty bad at recognizing non-English language filmsin decades past, it still feels like they should’ve made an exception forHarakiri. This is easily one of the greatest Japanese films of all time, an iconic samurai drama (that deconstructs the genre in a riveting way), and, at the time of writing, even holds the #1 spot in the aforementioned Official Top 250 Narrative Feature Films list on Letterboxd.
Harakiriis about a man who expresses a desire tocommit the titular actin front of a samurai clan, only he wishes to explain to the men before him his reasons for wanting to do such a thing. With a flashback-heavy structure and suspense constantly building in the film’s “present,“Harakiriproves riveting to watch, getting more intense and even hard to stomach with each passing scene. It’s a fascinating and searing film, and stands out as the very best thing Masaki Kobayashi ever directed.
