Movies Like Pigs and Battleships (1961)

Pigs and Battleships is a 1961 crime, drama film from Shōhei Imamura with a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Sun's Burial and Cruel Story of Youth.

Crime Drama

The Sun's Burial

1960

In Osaka's slum, capricious folks without futures engage in pilfering, assault and robbery, prostitution, and the trading of ID cards and blood.

6.5

MagicScore

Cruel Story of Youth

1960

A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitchhiking to rob middle-class men.

6.5

MagicScore

Gate of Flesh

1964

In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos. But when a renegade ex-soldier stumbles into their midst, lusts and loyalties clash, with tragic results. With Gate of Flesh, visionary director Seijun Suzuki delivers a whirlwind of social critique and pulp drama, shot through with brilliant colors and raw emotions.

6.5

MagicScore

The Insect Woman

1963

A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.

7.2

MagicScore

Tattooed Life

1965

After his own gang sets him up to kill a rival mobster, a hit man is forced to flee with his younger brother.

7.0

MagicScore

Battles Without Honor and Humanity

1973

In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.

7.3

MagicScore

Pale Flower

1964

A gangster gets released from prison and has to cope with the recent shifts of power between the gangs, while taking care of a thrill-seeking young woman, who got in bad company while gambling.

7.3

MagicScore

Tokyo Drifter

1966

After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.

7.1

MagicScore

Street of Shame

1956

The lives of five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation is debating the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

7.7

MagicScore

#10

One Wonderful Sunday

1947

Two broke sweethearts wander war-scarred Tokyo on a single Sunday, stretching 35 yen as they chase housing, small pleasures, and a little hope.

7.2

MagicScore

#11

Shadow of Fire

2023

In the black market, a war orphan is confronted with the struggles of people living in the immediate aftermath of WWII.

7.2

MagicScore

#12

Women of the Night

1948

In early post-war Osaka, three women, war widow Fusako, her sister Natsuko, an expatriate from Korea, and Kumiko, Fusako's sister-in-law, descend into prostitution, all for their individual reasons.

7.1

MagicScore

#13

Gate of Flesh

1988

Prostitutes in burnt out Tokyo ghetto of post-WWII Japan peddle their flesh and save one-third of their money for a proposed dancehall to be named Paradise. The hookers live in a bombed-out building, but they accept the precarious situation with typical resolve.

6.0

MagicScore

#14

The Naked Island

1960

A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.

8.0

MagicScore

#15

The Face of Another

1966

A businessman with a disfigured face obtains a lifelike mask from his doctor, but the mask starts altering his personality.

7.8

MagicScore

#16

House of Bamboo

1955

Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.

6.1

MagicScore

#17

Tokyo Joe

1949

An American veteran returns to Tokyo to try to pick up the threads of his pre-World War II life there, but finds himself squeezed between criminals and the authorities.

6.1

MagicScore

#18

Assassination

1964

Assassination begins with the events of 1853 when "four black ships" anchored at Edo Bay, sparking civil unrest and the major political manoeuvring that saw the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. At a time when assassination had become a disturbing political tool, Shinoda's film follows Hachiro Kiyokawa, an ambitious, masterless samurai whose allegiances drift dangerously between the Shogunate and the Emperor.

7.1

MagicScore

#19

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

2025

The world is a perplexing, peaceful mystery to Amélie until a miraculous encounter with chocolate ignites her wild sense of curiosity. As she develops a deep attachment to her family's housekeeper, Nishio-san, Amélie discovers the wonders of nature as well as the emotional truths hidden beneath the surface of her family's idyllic life as foreigners in post-war Japan.

7.9

MagicScore

#20

Good Morning

1959

A lighthearted take on director Yasujiro Ozu’s perennial theme of the challenges of intergenerational relationships, Good Morning tells the story of two young boys who stop speaking in protest after their parents refuse to buy a television set. Ozu weaves a wealth of subtle gags through a family portrait as rich as those of his dramatic films, mocking the foibles of the adult world through the eyes of his child protagonists. Shot in stunning color and set in a suburb of Tokyo where housewives gossip about the neighbors’ new washing machine and unemployed husbands look for work as door-to-door salesmen, this charming comedy refashions Ozu’s own silent classic I Was Born, But . . . to gently satirize consumerism in postwar Japan.

7.7

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Pigs and Battleships?

The top films similar to Pigs and Battleships by MovieMagicScore are The Sun's Burial (6.5), Cruel Story of Youth (6.5), Gate of Flesh (6.5). Each shares crime/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Pigs and Battleships worth watching?

Pigs and Battleships holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10 from 61 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Pigs and Battleships?

Pigs and Battleships (1961) is a crime, drama film directed by Shōhei Imamura, starring Hiroyuki Nagato, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Masao Mishima.

Where can I find more recommendations like Pigs and Battleships?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more crime recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like The Sun's Burial Movies like Cruel Story of Youth Movies like Gate of Flesh Movies like The Insect Woman Movies like Tattooed Life Movies like Battles Without Honor and Humanity

About movies like Pigs and Battleships

This ranked list pairs Pigs and Battleships (1961), a crime and drama film from Shōhei Imamura, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Hiroyuki Nagato take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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