Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Known for Directing
Born
July 19, 1955 (age 71)
Birthplace
Kobe, Japan
Filmography
168 films, 9 shows
Known for Directing
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (黒沢 清, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, born July 19, 1955; Kobe) is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic, actor, and professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Noted for his psychological films that often focus on ambiguous narratives and on their characters' inner turmoils and quests for meaning and connections, he is best known for his contributions to psychological horror and Japanese horror, notably his acclaimed 1997 film Cure, although he has also worked in a variety of other genres.
Born
July 19, 1955 (age 71)
Birthplace
Kobe, Japan
Filmography
168 films, 9 shows

The Samurai and the Prisoner
2026 · 2h 27m
country: Japan
When Lord Murashige rises up against the tyrannical Oda, he finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle. Isolated, he is confronted with a series of mysterious crimes that shatter the fragile order of his court, plunging the fortress into fear and suspicion. With Oda's army closing in and a traitor hiding among his ranks, Murashige is forced into an uneasy alliance with Kanbei, a brilliant and dangerous strategist held prisoner in the dungeon, as he must outwit his enemies and uncover the truth before time runs out.

Cloud
2024 · 2h 4m
country: Japan
Ryōsuke Yoshii, an ordinary reseller, carelessly earns grudges by people and becomes entangled in a life-threatening struggle.

Chime
2024 · 45m
country: Japan
A chef's life is disrupted by a chime that brings with it an increasing sense of dread.

Serpent's Path
2024 · 1h 52m
country: France
A mysterious woman teams up with a man whose daughter was killed and who is now seeking revenge. Together they kidnap members of an organization and torture them to find out what really happened.

Actually...
2022 · 24m
country: Japan
Aruno Nakanishi is disliked and bullied by the other Nogizaka46 members because she's different from them. After one of them locks Aruno and tells her to not come back, she decides to definitely come back.

Wife of a Spy
2020 · 1h 54m
country: Japan
It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a game in which she enigmatically conceals her intentions.

To the Ends of the Earth
2019 · 2h
country: Japan
A young Japanese woman named Yoko finds her cautious and insular nature tested when she travels to Uzbekistan to shoot the latest episode of her travel variety show.

Foreboding
2017 · 2h 20m
country: Japan
Miyuki Asakawa tells her colleague Etsuko Yamagiwa that she has a ghost in her home. When Etsuko goes to Miyuki's home, there is only Miyuki's father there. Etsuko becomes worried about Miyuki's state of mind, and she takes Miyuki to the psychiatric hospital where her husband, Tatsuo, works. There, Miyuki receives a diagnosis that she lacks the concept of "family." Later, Etsuko tells Tatsuo that she is not comfortable with Dr. Jirō Makabe. Tatsuo introduced her to Dr. Makabe earlier at the hospital. Etsuko has a feeling of unease about her husband working with Dr. Makabe. One day, Etsuko hears Dr. Makabe state "I came to Earth to invade."

Before We Vanish
2017 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
Narumi is on bad terms with her husband, Shinji, when, one day, Shinji goes missing. He comes back a couple of days later, but he seems like a totally different person, and he is now gentle and tender. He goes for a walk every day. Meanwhile, journalist Sakurai covers the story of a family that was brutally murdered, when an unexplained phenomenon takes place.

Daguerrotype
2016 · 2h 11m
country: Belgium
An aging photographer's obsession with an early form of photography draws his assistant and daughter into a work of mystery.

Creepy
2016 · 2h 10m
country: Japan
After having narrowly escaped an attempt on his life at the hands of a psychopath, detective inspector Takakura quits active service in the police force and takes up a position as a university lecturer in criminal psychology. But his desire to get to the bottom of criminals’ motives remains, and he does not hesitate long when former colleague Nogami asks him to reopen an old case.

Journey to the Shore
2015 · 2h 8m
country: Japan
Mizuki's husband Yusuke has been missing for three years. He suddenly comes back home as a ghost and asks Mizuki to go on a trip with him. Their trip consists of visiting the people that helped Yusuke on his previous travel.

Henri Langlois vu par...
2014 · 31m
country: France
Thirteen filmmakers share personal reflections on Henri Langlois—the visionary founder of the Cinémathèque Française—recounting his influence on their lives, his role in preserving film history, and his enduring impact on world cinema.

Seventh Code
2014 · 1h
country: Japan
Akiko, a young woman, comes to Vladivostok to meet Matsunaga, a young businessman she has met in Tokyo only once. Akiko finally finds Matsunaga. However, he leaves her again, warning her not to trust strangers in a foreign country. She tries to follow him, but she is attacked by thugs and dumped on the outskirts of town.

Real
2013 · 2h 7m
country: Japan
Neurosurgeon Koichi uses an experimental technique to enter the brain of his beloved Atsumi, who is in a coma after attempting suicide. In his quest, Koichi drifts steadily further into the sweltering marshes of the spirit. It is soon no longer clear what is real and what is not.

Penance
2013 · 4h 30m
country: Japan
The murder of a young girl leaves the inhabitants of a small Japanese village in shock. The body of Emili is found by four classmates with whom she was playing. The murder is never solved. Emili's mother, Asako, is torn by grief and puts a curse on the four girls when they claim not to remember the killer's face. Each of the girls, in their own way, will do penance for their silence.

Beautiful New Bay Area Project
2013 · 29m
country: Japan
While inspecting a wharf, young Amano, president of an urban planning company, meets beautiful laborer Takako and falls in love at first sight. However, she does not return his affections, so he steals her ID card and goes on the run from the infuriated Takako.

Beautiful 2013
2013 · 1h 40m
country: Hong Kong
Beauty in the eyes of 4 filmmakers. Kurosawa Kiyoshi's Beautiful New Bay Area Project finds it in a kung-fu fighting young woman with a particular sense of honor. From China, Lu Yue's 1 Dimension reinvents a childlike Buddhist fable about good and evil. For Taiwan's Wu Nien-Jen and Hong Kong's Mabel Cheung, beauty resides in reconciliation and new hope. Wu's A New Year, the Same Days happens over New Year when a retired old man leaves home, while Cheung's Indigo takes place during Christmas, with Elaine Jin playing an aging dance teacher with two troublesome children.

Wordholic Prisoner
2012 · 55m
country: Japan
A wordholic man, acting as the chief editor by a certain publishing company, is confined by the writer who wishes to publish.

Tokyo Sonata
2008 · 2h
country: Japan
The winds of change blow as a family grapples with unemployment, alienation, mistrust and a lack of communication. When a Japanese salaryman loses his job to outsourcing to China, it's simply the beginning of a series of shattering incidents, leading to the implosion of the family unit.

Retribution
2007 · 1h 44m
country: Japan
A detective investigates a series of murders. A possible serial killer might be on a rampage, since the crimes are in the same vicinity, by the same method. However, as evidence points towards the detective, a ghost in red follows him, and he begins questioning his identity. His realization of what seems to be reality results in something far larger and more sinister.

Loft
2006 · 1h 55m
country: Japan
A writer retreats to a secluded suburban house to work on her new novel. But her attention is instead occupied by her archaeologist neighbor's newly discovered mummy and a ghostly presence in her house.

Time Slip
2005 · 9m
country: Japan
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's segment from 'A Story of Love, Wonder and Horror.'

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs
2005 · 51m
country: Japan
A husband and wife each believe that the other is cheating on them. The upstairs room in their house becomes a point of bizarre physical transformations.
Ghost Cop
Ghost Cop
2004 · 10m
country: Unknown
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s contribution to the omnibus film Cop Festival / Deka Matsuri, also presented independently as a standalone short.

Séance
2004 · 1h 37m
country: Japan
A psychic housewife and her husband accidentally find a kidnapped girl. Instead of informing the police, they hatch a scheme to get famous by working with the police as a psychic consultant to 'find' the girl. Just when it all seems to go right, everything goes horribly wrong.

Soul Dancing
2004 · 23m
country: Japan
Soul Dancing is an order placed to Kiyoshi Kurosawa by a Japanese alcoholic beverage brand named Shôchu. The director then uses this cine-commercial as an excuse to film a weird fable on the arrival of a stranger in a bloodless human community.

Doppelgänger
2003 · 1h 47m
country: Japan
Shortly after hearing from a colleague about a woman whose brother committed suicide after seeing his doppelgänger, a Japanese engineer on the verge of a breakthrough in medical technology is confronted by his own.

Bright Future
2003 · 1h 55m
country: Japan
Buddies working at an oshibori factory bond over an uncontrollable rage neither can control, as well as a strange jellyfish they keep as a pet.

Deka Matsuri
2003 · 1h 37m
country: Japan
12-part omnibus made under the rules: "the main character is a detective" "at least one gag per minute" "the length must not exceed 10 minutes"

Recitation Travelogue - Masterpieces of Japan: Matasaburo the Wind Imp
2003 · 49m
country: Japan
Each year, at the start of the fall school year in September, Japan suffers from typhoons. That same month, in a small elementary school in a mountainous region, Saburô, a new red-haired pupil has just arrived with the wind. The children of the village thought they recognized in this strange boy who came from the city the spirit that they called “Matasaburô, the wind”. During two weeks of autumn, Matasaburô and the other children will do various experiments in nature.

School Ghost Story: Mononoke Special
2001 · 1h 40m
country: Japan
"Kaibyo Densetsu" - Maki (Chizuru Ikewaki), who finds it strange that her best friend appears as a living spirit, goes to check on her. "Nanika ga Tsuite iru" - (Atsushi Itô) performs at a live concert under the direction of a female teacher who appears in front of him, and learns the truth behind the mysterious incident. "Hanako-san" - In order to escape from the curse of Sakurako, who committed suicide because of them, a former member of the newspaper club and his friends begin the Hanako-san ritual.

Pulse
2001 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
In the immense city of Tokyo, the darkness of the afterlife lures some of its inhabitants desperately trying to escape the sadness and isolation of the modern world.

Hanako San
2001 · 25m
country: Japan
Short film directed by Kurosawa Kiyoshi as part of the 学校の怪談物の怪スペシャル series centered around the legend of Hanako san.

Barren Illusion
1999 · 1h 33m
country: Japan
In a near future where allergies have become an epidemic, music producer Haru half-heartedly dates post office clerk and mail thief Michi. He searches for violent ways to reactivate his life, she dreams of escaping abroad; both volunteer to test a new drug which may provide a cure.

Charisma
1999 · 1h 44m
country: Japan
A seasoned detective is called in to rescue a politician held hostage by a lunatic. In a brief moment of uncertainty, he misses the chance for action. Leaving his job and family without explanation, he makes his way to a mountain forest, encountering a peculiar tree called Charisma.

License to Live
1999 · 1h 50m
country: Japan
Having fallen into a coma following a car accident at 14, Yutaka wakes ten years later and realizes that his family is no longer intact: father, mother and sister live at different places, so he decides to reopen the farm that his family once ran.

School Ghost Story G
1998 · 1h 11m
country: Japan
A quartet of ghost stories taking place at school: a girl who drowned in the pool begins terrorizing the students by eating their food; two girls are attacked by a mysterious woman; a boy answers a mysterious ringing phone he finds in the street; when Kazumi and her friends experiment on psychic abilities, something malevolent attacks.

Eyes of the Spider
1998 · 1h 23m
country: Japan
After killing the man he believes murdered his daughter, a white-collar worker returns to his mundane life, until he's approached by a man offering a mysterious job opportunity.

Serpent's Path
1998 · 1h 25m
country: Japan
With the help of a mysterious acquaintance, a former low-level yakuza tracks down and kidnaps the man he believes kidnapped and murdered his daughter, but others are soon implicated in the death.

Kodama
1998 · 25m
country: Japan
Japanese horror movie from 1998. (Kiyoshi Kurosawa's segment for School Ghost Story G).

Cure
1997 · 1h 51m
country: Japan
A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.

School Ghost Story F
1997 · 1h 12m
country: Japan
A made-for-TV anthology horror film composed of three stories : Rei Video & Hoken-shitsu by Hideo Nakata and Haiko Kidan by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

The Revenge: A Scar That Never Disappears
1997 · 1h 23m
country: Japan
Second half of the violent tale of revenge from actor Sho Aikawa and director Kiyoshi Kurosawa! It's been five years since he left the force, lost his wife, and waged all out revenge, and now our hero is idling his time with a failing yakuza group. When he discovers the secret of one of his superiors, he takes up the gun of vengeance and realizes that his life has only been to serve that purpose.

The Revenge: A Visit from Fate
1997 · 1h 23m
country: Japan
Sho Aikawa plays a police detective whose dark personal history makes it impossible for him to stay within the limits of the legal system. But he is not just a detective; he is also a husband who has to explain to his wife how he got blood on his sleeve. And the criminals he pursues turn out to be as imperfect and oddly human as he is-and just as determined to protect their own families.

Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Hero
1996 · 1h 23m
country: Japan
Yuji and Kosaku become involved with a brother and sister who want to drive a local yakuza gang member out of their neighborhood.

Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Nouveau Riche
1996 · 1h 21m
country: Japan
A duo get mixed up with a girl who finds a trunk load full of heroin.

Door III
1996 · 1h 29m
country: Japan
Ambitious insurance saleswoman Miyako is stalked by by the strange and supernatural after meeting the mysterious Mitsuru.

Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Gamble
1996 · 1h 20m
country: Japan
Having lost everything to horse racing, Yûji accidentally gets 10 million yen. But this sum belongs to a Yakuza.

Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Loot
1996 · 1h 20m
country: Japan
Yûji and Kosaku are hired to track down an old man. But when he suddenly dies, his granddaughter surfaces with a map to his buried fortune, which the yakuza and a dirty cop are determined to find.

Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Escape
1995 · 1h 20m
country: Japan
Hapless gangsters are hired by the yakuza to tail his daughter. Once the identity of the boy she's dating has been unveiled, the boss offers a reward for his capture.

Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Heist
1995 · 1h 21m
country: Japan
Two petty gangsters get ransomed by a group of Yakuza members, fortunately they are rescued by a kindly Kindergarten teacher.

Men of Rage
1994 · 1h 20m
country: Japan
The second installment of a V-Cinema sports drama, directed by Kurosawa in 1994, following "打鐘" (Dakan) from 1993, which was based on Yamamoto's manga and directed by Komatsu Takashi. While there is no direct narrative connection between the two films, they share thematic similarities. The protagonist, Wataru Tachibana, a self-destructive yet genius keirin cyclist, is once again passionately portrayed by Nishimura. This time, Wataru fiercely competes against a rival known as the "Prince of Keirin," who is also the heir of a powerful conglomerate. Kurosawa directs with intense and dramatic storytelling, capturing the protagonist’s burning determination.

Yakuza Taxi
1994 · 1h 19m
country: Japan
Yakuza clan Inoshika decides to help a small family business, Taxi Tanaka, lured by the clan Jinryûkaï and deeply in debt.

The Guard from Underground
1992 · 1h 36m
country: Japan
An ex sumo wrestler turned corporate security guard goes on a murderous rampage at his place of employment.

Whirlpool of Joy
1992 · 24m
country: Japan
The second TV series by Kiyoshi Kurosawa made just after the pop of the economic bubble in Japan. His comical (and melodic...) analysis of Japanese society corresponds to Godard's films about French society in the 60s.
Dangerous Stories
Dangerous Stories
1989 · 1h 45m
country: Japan
Three stories with horror and science fiction elements. 1st episode: "The Curse of Tutankhamen" (Tsutankâmen no noroï) by Kazuyuki Izutsu. With Naoto Takenaka. Two clans of Yakuza clash in a bar. 2nd episode: "They came back, tonight too" (Yatsura wa konya mo yattekita) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. With Renji Ishibashi. A polar writer is pursued by two mysterious mountebanks. 3rd episode: "I want to come back to this day" (Ano hi ni kaeritai) by Banmei Takahashi. With Toshiyuki Nagashima. A couple who robbed a bank decides to separate to escape the police.

Sweet Home
1989 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
Working on a documentary about infamous painter Mamiya Ichiro, a TV crew filming at his old home come under attack from the ghost of the painter's wife.

Bumpkin Soup
1985 · 1h 23m
country: Japan
Country girl Akiko visits a Tokyo college in search of her hometown sweetheart. In the course of finding him, she runs into various odd inhabitants of the college campus–blasé intellectuals, horny co-eds, a psych professor in search of the theory of shame, and of course her beloved Yoshioka, who has become an elusive campus nobody.
Yatsura wa konya mo yattekita
Yatsura wa konya mo yattekita
1985
country: Unknown

Kandagawa Pervert Wars
1983 · 1h
country: Japan
Two sexually energized young women who live in a high-rise apartment building happen one day to spy from their window a mother and son making love in the apartment across from theirs. They decide to stage a rescue attempt to free him and in the process one of the young women ends up falling in love with the son despite having a boyfriend and enjoying sex with her female companion. Of course, the mother they are warring against has her own plans when she feels her privacy invaded.

The New Seven Lines Between Things
1983 · 23m
country: Unknown
An anthology film by eight members of Parodious Unity.

The Night Before the Escape
1982 · 8m
country: Japan

Vertigo College
1980 · 1h 3m
country: Japan
At the beginning of the film, we are presented with an ordinary story. It is the story of a student organization's internal struggle. The story begins with the protagonist taking a briefcase and the organization taking it back, along with his woman. The man who brings back the bag faces the woman. The room is somehow symmetrical. The room is somehow left-right symmetrical, with a low angle and fixed screen as in the Ozu style.

School Days
1978 · 30m
country: Japan
Fangs Crazy for White Skin
Fangs Crazy for White Skin
1977 · 33m
country: Japan
The Flashing Signal
The Flashing Signal
1976 · 13m
country: Japan
Record of Indefinite Travel
Record of Indefinite Travel
1976 · 25m
country: Japan
Teacher of Violence: Massacre in Broad Daylight
Teacher of Violence: Massacre in Broad Daylight
1975 · 20m
country: Japan

Rokkô
1973 · 12m
country: Japan