SABU
Biography: Sabu (サブ, Sabu, born November 18, 1964) is the pseudonym of Japanese actor and director Hiroyuki Tanaka. Born in Wakayama Prefecture, Sabu studied at an Osaka fashion school before deciding to go to Tokyo to become a professional musician. It was suggested he try acting and in 1986 he made his film debut in Sorobanzuku. He earned his first starring role in the 1991 World Apartment Horror, a live-action film directed by Katsuhiro Ōtomo of Akira fame. Working from a script he wrote himself, he made his directorial debut with the 1996 Dangan Runner, a film that set his early style of "quirky action-comedies propelled by characters who hurtle headlong though squirming narratives steered more by the forces of incidence and coincidence than the actions of the protagonists themselves." Shin'ichi Tsutsumi played the lead in Sabu's first five films. Blessing Bell, starring Susumu Terajima (who has played minor roles in nearly all of Sabu's films), was a turn away from his kinetic, parodic, and black comedy narratives, and earned the NETPAC Award at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. Later films featured the J-pop band V6. In 2009, he directed The Crab Cannery Ship, a modern adaptation of a classic of Japanese proletarian literature written by Takiji Kobayashi. He has continued to work as an actor, such as in Takashi Miike's Ichi the Killer (2001). His film Chasuke's Journey was selected to be screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: November 18, 1964
Deathday: N/A
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Known For
Ichi the Killer
2001-12-22
Ichi the Killer
Overview: As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.
Genres: Action Crime Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2001-12-22
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Zëiram 2
1994-12-17
Zëiram 2
Overview: Intergalactic bounty hunters Iria and Bob return to track down an ancient mystical relic. When a second Zeiram unit shows up and goes berserk, it takes all of Iria's resources to survive a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the fearsome space creature.
Genres: Action Science Fiction
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1994-12-17
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World Apartment Horror
1991-04-05
World Apartment Horror
Overview: A Yakuza underling is given the assignment to rid an apartment of its tenants within a week. He tries a variety of desperate tactics to no avail. Soon his problems get worse as an evil spirit makes its presence known.
Genres: Comedy Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1991-04-05
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Dangan Runner
1996-11-09
Dangan Runner
Overview: A would-be bank robber forgets his mask on his first big heist, and then botches an attempt to shoplift a replacement mask from a nearby convenience store. The store's clerk, a washed-up rock star, chases the thief and literally runs into a Yakuza to whom he owes money. Thus begins an all-night, three-way pursuit through the streets of Tokyo.
Genres: Crime Comedy Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1996-11-09
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Kuma-chan
1993-04-24
Kuma-chan
Overview: Kuma-chan, an alien who looks just like a stuffed bear, helps a middle-aged sculptor fall in love with a young actress from a theater company.
Genres: Fantasy Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1993-04-24
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800 Two Lap Runners
1994-07-09
800 Two Lap Runners
Overview: This coming-of-age story revolves around two young long distance runners, Kenji Hirose and Ryuji Nakazawa. Kenji, haunted by memories of his dead friend Aihara with whom he had a brief homosexual affair, is now dating Aihara's former girlfriend Kyoko, but Kyoko is more interested in Kenji than he is in her. Ryuji, Kenji's friend and track rival, is pursuing hurdler Shoko but she in turn is after Kenji. Ryuji does have his own admirer, Nao, Kenji's younger sister, but when they do get together, Nao resembles her brother too much for Ryuji to go through with the lovemaking.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1994-07-09
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Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Heist
1995-04-22
Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Heist
Overview: Two petty gangsters get ransomed by a group of Yakuza members, fortunately they are rescued by a kindly Kindergarten teacher.
Genres: Crime Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1995-04-22
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Postman Blues
1997-08-16
Postman Blues
Overview: Sawaki is a postman who's not quite thrilled about his boring way of life. But his life is about to change when he delivers mail to his old schoolmate Noguchi, who's now a member of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia, and just finished cutting his little finger off.
Genres: Crime Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1997-08-16
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Kiriko
1994-09-23
Kiriko
Overview: 1994 sequel to Satoru Kobayashi's "The Blind Cat". Yakuza drug dealers lure the blind Kiriko into town to take revenge on her. However, Kiriko is a master swordswoman and has plans of her own.
Genres: Action
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1994-09-23
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Silence
2016-12-23
Silence
Overview: Two Jesuit priests travel to seventeenth century Japan which has, under the Tokugawa shogunate, banned Catholicism and almost all foreign contact.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2016-12-23
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Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
2003-12-13
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
Overview: Tsuneo is a university student working part-time in a mah-jong parlour. Lately the customers have been talking about an old lady who pushes a baby carriage through the streets. They say she is carrying something for a crime syndicate, and they wonder what it is she has in the carriage Money? Drugs? One day, the owner of the mah-jong parlour sends Tsuneo out to walk his dog. A baby carriage comes rolling down a hill and crashes into a guard rail. The old lady asks him to look into the carriage, where he finds a young woman clutching a knife. This is how Tsuneo first meets the girl who calls herself Josee.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2003-12-13
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Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Escape
1995-08-12
Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Escape
Overview: 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.
Genres: Crime Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1995-08-12
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Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself: The Gamble
1996-03-01
Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself: The Gamble
Overview: Having lost everything to horse racing, Yûji accidentally gets 10 million yen. But this sum belongs to a Yakuza.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1996-03-01
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Shinjuku Triad Society
1995-08-26
Shinjuku Triad Society
Overview: Tatsuhito, a cop, pursues Chinese warlord Wang through the underworld of Shinjuku and over to Taiwan.
Genres: Action Thriller Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1995-08-26
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Sakuran
2006-12-07
Sakuran
Overview: Anna Tsuchiya blasts back in time playing an oiran, a top-notched geisha of the Edo period’s Yoshiwara District, navigating brothel politics while trying to cling to the man she loves.
Genres: History Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2006-12-07
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Savage City: Angel Whisper
1991-04-26
Savage City: Angel Whisper
Overview: A corrupt cop teams up with an unlikely partner to protect the city from a gang of ruthless drug addicts.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1991-04-26
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Unlucky Monkey
1998-07-18
Unlucky Monkey
Overview: A dark and strange comedy about a bank robber with bad luck. Bungling a bank robbery turns out to be a profitable mistake for Yamazaki, an amateur crook who ends up with 80 million yen after a string of improbable accidents. But having so much cash doesn't make his life is any easier. In fact, it gets much more complicated when Yamazaki stabs a hairdresser by mistake and instantly becomes a hunted fugitive. He's just one unlucky monkey but can he turn his luck around?
Genres: Comedy Crime Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1998-07-18
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Don't Look Up
1996-03-22
Don't Look Up
Overview: On the set of a dark war time drama at an old movie studio, a young director, Toshio Murai, is trying to complete his debut film. The two starring actresses, Hitomi Kurokawa and Saori Murakami, play sisters in his film. Murai has a crush on Hitomi, the seasoned leading actress, and keeps a photo of her by his bed. The younger and less experienced actress, Saori, is annoying and likes to have recess on the set. The production of the movie is consistently interrupted by strange occurrences and the cast and crew begin to get spooked.
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1996-03-22
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A Legend of Turmoil
1992-01-15
A Legend of Turmoil
Overview: A story about the development of a bright and strong yakuza. Otaki is an old-fashioned respectful yakuza who tries to protect his small yakuza family. When his boss gets shot, he decides to go after the plotters.
Genres: Crime Action Drama Thriller
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1992-01-15
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Warrior's Justice 2: Full Battle
1994-01-01
Warrior's Justice 2: Full Battle
Overview: Takeshi Kojima, who once killed a corrupt economic yakuza boss, has been hiding out in the doya district to escape the gang and the police. Then he is approached by the local yakuza, the Kamata clan. However, the residents don't like the Kamata gang's outrageous tactics, and he refuses their offer...
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1994-01-01
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