Kaori Momoi

Acting

Kaori Momoi

Born 1952-04-08 · Tokyo, Japan

Kaori Momoi  (桃井 かおり, Momoi Kaori, born April 8, 1952 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese actress. Momoi was born in Tokyo, and at the young age of 12 traveled to London to study dance at the Royal Ballet Academy. After 3 years she returned to Tokyo, later graduating from Japan's Bungakuza School of Dramatic Arts. In 1971, Momoi debuted in director Kon Ichikawa's Ai Futatabi (To Love Again) beginning a career that has already spanned 35 years and over 60 films. As an actress, she has worked with some of the most notable films directors in Japan, including Akira Kurosawa (Kagemusha, 1980), Tatsumi Kumashiro (Seishun no Satetsu, 1974), Yoji Yamada (The Yellow Handkerchief, 1977 and Otoko wa Tsuraiyo, 1979), Shohei Imamura (Why Not?, 1981), Shunji Iwai (Swallowtail Butterfly, 1996), Jun Ichikawa (Tokyo Yakyoku, 1997), Mitani Koki (Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald, 1997), Yoshimitsu Morita (Like Asura, 2003) and, most recently, Takashi Miike (IZO, Sukiyaki Western Django). She has also performed in The Sun (2005) directed by Alexander Sokurov and appeared in director Rob Marshall's film Memoirs of a Geisha. For her film performances in Japan, Momoi has won many awards. She has won the Japanese Academy Awards for Best Actress twice and Best Supporting Actress once and was selected Best Actress at the 1983 New York International Film Festival for her role in Giwaku (Suspicion). Popular among Japanese of all ages and a recognized trend setter, Momoi is never idle, pursuing various projects in producing, directing, screenwriting, and design in addition to her acting. She has also released some 15 record albums as a singer and is a much sought after essayist. She won the award for best actress at the 7th Hochi Film Award for Giwaku. Her latest movie is Maris Martinson's movie "Amaya", which was released on September 17, 2010. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kaori Momoi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Acting credits

Ghost in the Shell poster
6.1

In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: a human saved from a terrible crash, then cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals.

Ghost in the Shell

2017

Memoirs of a Geisha poster
7.6

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

Memoirs of a Geisha

2005

Helter Skelter poster
6.7

Top model Lilico, having recently undergone multiple cosmetic surgeries, begins to experience troubling side effects. As she desperately tries to retain her perfect image, Lilico descends into a world of nightmares and makes those around her miserable.

Helter Skelter

2012

Kagemusha poster
7.8

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.

Kagemusha

1980

Emperor poster
6.2

As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.

Emperor

2012

Sukiyaki Western Django poster
6.2

A nameless gunfighter arrives in a town ripped apart by rival gangs and, though courted by both to join, chooses his own path.

Sukiyaki Western Django

2007

To Love Again poster
5.0

A Japanese girl and a French boy make strides in overcoming the cultural barriers that prevent them from fully expressing the love they have for one another.

To Love Again

1971

The Yellow Handkerchief poster
7.0

A convict, newly released from prison for murder, joins two strangers on a road trip through Hokkaido to visit his ex-wife, whom he hasn't seen in four years, knowing that if she puts a yellow handkerchief on the window, it would mean that she wants him back at home.

The Yellow Handkerchief

1977

Like a Rolling Stone poster
5.5

Tanaka is a yakuza who collects 'protection money' from establishments. He has just been released from jail, where he had spent eight years, and finds out that his boss wants to get rid of him. Tanaka is not an archetypal yakuza; he travels by public transport. But he does have two mistresses: Ayumi, who runs a nightclub, and Yoshie, a brothel-keeper. When Tanaka's boss ends up in hospital, second man Kurauchi exerts increasing pressure on Tanaka. Tanaka deliberately has himself wounded by a fighter to dodge several of Kurauchi's demands.

Like a Rolling Stone

1994

The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi poster
5.5

Korean-Japanese director Gu Su Yeon makes his directorial debut with the mouthwateringly delicious The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi. As the title clearly states, pride of place goes to juicy, bite-sized meat, and viewers will get a delightful eyeful of food, food, and more food in this fabulously fulfilling gourmet comedy. Reveling in Japan's love for food-themed shows, the film revolves around a culinary battle of David and Goliath proportions, cheekily parodying Japanese cooking shows with Iron Chef-like editing, excited running commentary, and comedic how-to segments. The Yakiniku Movie also shines a light on the food culture of Japan's resident Korean population, proving that tasty food transcends all boundaries.

The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi

2007

The Yellow Handkerchief poster
6.3

A road trip through Louisiana transforms three strangers who were originally brought together by their respective feelings of loneliness.

The Yellow Handkerchief

2009

Swallowtail Butterfly poster
7.5

The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.

Swallowtail Butterfly

1996

Crossfire poster
6.1

Junko was born with a type of ESP called pyrokinesis which she can use to incinerate anyone and anything at will. Junko is secretly in love with Kazuki, a young man who works with her. His sister is killed and a boy named Masaki suspected but the police don't arrest him. Junko tells Kazuki about her powers and takes revenge.

Crossfire

2000

Love and Honor poster
7.4

A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.

Love and Honor

2006

OKI - In the Middle of the Ocean poster
5.7

Psychological thriller connecting three different people in the mysterious vortex, trying to untangle the dramatic fight of border between the truth and fantasy. Rob, a former real estate broker, unemployed, starts following a strange Japanese woman, Oki, who constantly moves from house to house. He drags his roommate Wylie into the investigation during which they have to face the dark past and curse of Oki, while dealing with the history of their own.

OKI - In the Middle of the Ocean

2014

Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies poster
6.6

Director Ogata discovers a new female star in Koharu Tanaka, who works selling candy at a studio theater and she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters.

Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies

1986

Until Evening poster
7.0

Intellectual collegue professor Sasa becomes obsessed with beautiful Sugiko, a virgin. Eventually, luring her to a love hotel.

Until Evening

1980

Izo poster
6.1

Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.

Izo

2004

Heaven Sent poster
6.2

Sayoko is desperate to bear a child of her own, but her live-in boyfriend Shinsaku strenuously objects to the idea. One day, someone leaves behind a six-year-old child at their door, claiming that Shinsaku—or four other men—is the child's father! Sayoko and Shinsaku set out on a journey to find the real father.

Heaven Sent

1979

Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald poster
7.7

A love story written by an ordinary housewife is going to be broadcast as a radio drama and almost everyone among the crew insists on changing various parts of the play to their liking.

Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald

1997

Bounce Ko Gals poster
6.7

Jonko runs a group of high school girls involved in paid dating. Raku is a street dancer. Togo was brought up in the US, and after being back in Japan for one year, wants to escape to New York. Their contact with the world of talent scouts and yakuza places them in danger over the span of one day and night in the Shibuya district of Tokyo.

Bounce Ko Gals

1997

Greater Things poster
4.0

In this stunningly composed meditation on space and human relationships, an adrift Iranian architect, a disengaged Japanese couple, and a Lithuanian mixed martial arts fighter search for connection in modern Japan. From the stylishly designed shops of Tokyo to a minimalist glass suburban home to a mysterious tree house in the woods, Greater Things reveals the strange places we inhabit, and how they can both unite and divide us.

Greater Things

2015

A Giant Monster Appears in Tokyo poster
7.0

A large, dinosaur-like monster has risen from Tokyo Bay and attacked the city. As the government collapses into chaos, the people of a rural town in Fukui Prefecture, from whose perspective we see the entire movie, watch as the events unfold on TV. Some decide to run for their lives, some take it as a sign of the apocalypse, some go completely crazy, but most of the townspeople wait and watch, and wonder where the monster will head next.

A Giant Monster Appears in Tokyo

1998

Faces of a Fig Tree poster
5.0

Comedy about a woman who finds a new life after she loses her busband.

Faces of a Fig Tree

2006

Behind the camera

Faces of a Fig Tree poster
5.0

Comedy about a woman who finds a new life after she loses her busband.

Faces of a Fig Tree

2006

Faces of a Fig Tree poster
5.0

Comedy about a woman who finds a new life after she loses her busband.

Faces of a Fig Tree

2006

Hee poster
3.0

Years after she related to him the story of her parents’ death in a fire, for which – rightly or wrongly – she feels responsible, Japanese psychiatrist Dr. Sanada meets his former patient Azusa once again. Back then, she lambasted him for being wrong for the job. Back then, he let slip that she isn’t actually crazy. Now she’s a prostitute living in precarious circumstances in Los Angeles and is accused of murder, with her memories once again moving inexorably towards a fire. Sanada assesses her in the presence of an investigator who appears not to understand Japanese. Is Azusa now mentally ill for real? Was she back then? And why does the description of her tormentors upset him so?

Hee

2016

Hee poster
3.0

Years after she related to him the story of her parents’ death in a fire, for which – rightly or wrongly – she feels responsible, Japanese psychiatrist Dr. Sanada meets his former patient Azusa once again. Back then, she lambasted him for being wrong for the job. Back then, he let slip that she isn’t actually crazy. Now she’s a prostitute living in precarious circumstances in Los Angeles and is accused of murder, with her memories once again moving inexorably towards a fire. Sanada assesses her in the presence of an investigator who appears not to understand Japanese. Is Azusa now mentally ill for real? Was she back then? And why does the description of her tormentors upset him so?

Hee

2016

Goaisatsu poster
NR

An anthology exploring the meaning of the Japanese greeting goaisatsu.

Goaisatsu

1991

3.11 A Sense of Home Films poster
6.5

In memory of the Japanese earthquake on 3.11, each director presents a 3 minute and 11 second short film in tribute to those who were lost that day.

3.11 A Sense of Home Films

2011