Late Autumn

Wataru Hirayama's outwardly liberal views on marriage are severely tested when his daughter declares that she is in love with a coworker and is adamant to live life her own way, instead of agreeing to an arranged marriage. Outwitted by his female relatives, Hirayama stubbornly refuses to admit defeat.

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet and rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.

A young Tokyo salary man and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he has an extramarital affair.

While sorting through a mess of books in the staff room, Ohana happens upon one of Denroku's log books from long ago. Within it, it recounts a story of Ohana's mom when she was the same age as her.

The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.

Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people.

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

12-year-old Oriko Seki, who lost her parents in a car accident, ended up living in her grandmother's Onsen Ryokan "Haru no Ya." With the ghost "Uribou" cohabitating with her and all the other odds, she ended up training to be a young female innkeeper. At first, she didn't like the training, but gradually felt her admiration for her title and began to train seriously. Thus, the growth of the young warrior Oriko begins.

In 1983 Owl, North Dakota, the lives of three residents – elderly Horace, who spends his afternoons reminiscing in the local coffee shop; teenage Mitch, depressed backup quarterback star player-power-horse; and newly appointed high school English teacher Julia – along with those of the town's other residents, are upended by a historic whiteout blizzard.

Eugenie, a beautiful but shy young girl, lives with her stepfather, a famous writer specializing in stories of erotica. One day she happens to read one of his "erotic" books and its power so affects her that begins to find herself sexually attracted to her stepfather. He notices this, and eventually brings her into his dark world of sexual perversion and murder.

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

Mitsuko Kuroda is 31 years old and single. She enjoys her life as a single woman. A big reason why she enjoys her single life is that she has counsellor "A" in her mind, which is her other self. Whenever she does not know what to do, "A" gives her the right answers. She believes her happy and peaceful single life with "A" will continue, but she falls in love with Tada-kun. He is a salesperson and younger than her.

Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.