Rinko Kikuchi

Actresses

Rinko Kikuchi (菊地 凛子, Kikuchi Rinko) (born Yuriko Kikuchi (菊地 百合子, Kikuchi Yuriko) January 6, 1981) is a Japanese actress. She was the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years, for her work in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Babel (2006), with Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Kōji Yakusho, and Adriana Barraza. For her role in the David Zellner’s Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2015), she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead.

Kikuchi’s other notable films include Rian Johnson’s The Brothers Bloom (2008), with Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Maximilian Schell, and Robbie Coltrane; Norwegian Wood (2010), with Kenichi Matsuyama and Kiko Mizuhara – which screened in competition at the 67th Venice Film Festival; and Guillermo del Toro‘s science fiction action film Pacific Rim (2013), with Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, Ron Perlman, and Mana Ashida; and 47 Ronin (2013), with Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, and Ko Shibasaki.

Films in the late 2010s include Isabel Coixet’s Endless Night (2015), with Juliette Binoche and Gabriel Byrne; Takashi Miike’s Terra Formars (2016), with Hideaki Itō, Emi Takei, Tomohisa Yamashita, Takayuki Yamada, and Shun Oguri; and Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), with John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian, Adria Arjona and Zhang Jin.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Gakkô no kaidan F (1997) – directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa & Hideo Nakata – TV movie
  • Will to Live (1999) – directed by Kaneto Shindo
  • By Player (2000) – directed by Kaneto Shindô
  • Hole in the Sky (2001) – directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri
  • Drug (2001) – directed by Hiroshi Sugawara
  • Mike Yokohama: A Forest with No Name (2002) – directed by Shinji Aoyama – TV movie
  • The Reason (2004) – directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi
  • The Taste of Tea (2004) – directed by Katsuhito Ishii
  • 69 (2004) – directed by Sang-il Lee
  • Survive Style 5+ (2004) – directed by Gen Sekiguchi
  • Tori (2004) – directed by Tadanobu Asano
  • Portrait of the Wind (2005) – directed by Tarô Hyûgaji
  • Funky Forest: The First Contact (2005) – directed by Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine, & Shunichiro Miki – anthology
  • Arch Angels (2006) – directed by Issei Oda
  • Babel (2006) – directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
  • No Sea (2006) – directed by Ellie Ohmiya
  • The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia (2007) – directed by Satoshi Miki
  • Genius Party (2007) – directed by Atsuko Fukushima, Shōji Kawamori, Shinji Kimura, Yōji Fukuyama, Hideki Nimura, Masaaki Yuasa, & Shinichirō Watanabe – anthology
  • Tokyo Serendipity (2007) – directed by Akiko Ohku
  • The Sky Crawlers (2008) – directed by Mamoru Oshii
  • Kill (2008) – directed by Kenta Fukasaku, Mamoru Oshii, Minoru Tahara, & Takanori Tsujimoto – anthology
  • The Brothers Bloom (2008) – directed by Rian Johnson
  • Map of the Sounds of Tokyo (2009) – directed by Isabel Coixet
  • Sideways (2009) – directed by Cellin Gluck
  • Assault Girls (2009) – directed by Mamoru Oshii
  • Shanghai (2010) – directed by Mikael Håfström
  • Norwegian Wood (2010) – directed by Tran Anh Hung
  • Ogawa no Hotori (2011) – directed by Tetsuo Shinohara
  • Love Strikes! (2011) – directed by Hitoshi Ône
  • The Warped Forest (2011) – directed by Shunichiro Miki
  • It’s Getting Late (2012) – directed by Massy Tadjedin – short
  • Pacific Rim (2013)* – directed by Guillermo del Toro
  • 47 Ronin (2013)* – directed by Carl Rinsch
  • Memory of an Artist (2013) – also director, writer – short
  • Last Summer (2014) – directed by Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli
  • Endless Night (2015) – directed by Isabel Coixet
  • Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2015) – directed by David Zellner
  • To Give a Dream (2015) – directed by Isshin Inudô – miniseries
  • Dear Deer (2015) – directed by Takeo Kikuchi – cameo
  • Terra Formars (2016) – directed by Takashi Miike
  • High Heels: A Fairy Tale Born of Obsession (2017) – directed by Inchul Lee
  • Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) – directed by Steven S. DeKnight
  • Weakest Beast (2018) – directed by Nobuo Mizuta – miniseries
  • We Are Little Zombies (2019) – directed by Makoto Nagahisa
  • What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? (2022) – directed by Satoshi Miki