In 1952, Minoru Shibuya made two films. The first was Doctor's Day Off, which uses a comedic premise - a physician who can't close his clinic for the day because of the endless stream of patients - to reveal the tragic circumstances the Japanese had to confront in the years immediately after the second world war.

Combining entertainment with large doses of social pathos, the film - an adaptation of Masuji Ibuse's novel - was a hit with the public and is regarded as one of the best films of Shibuya's 30-year directorial career. Seven months later, Shibuya delivered a variation on Doctor's Day Off with the laughter and optimism stripped away. What's left is Modern People, a film that reveals Japanese society as steeped in corruption. Young Odagiri (Ryo Ikebe, left) begins life as a junior official in the lands ministry and is quickly drawn into the circle of graft. Everybody's in somebody's pay, including Odagiri's boss, who struggles with his conscience while doing deals and having affairs that go against the ideals he held at his underling's age. Acclaimed at Cannes, it's a damning indictment of how the system aids moral decay. Doctor's Day Off: Apr 8, 7.30pm; Apr 15, 9.45pm. Modern People: Apr 8, 9.30pm; Apr 15, 7.30pm, Space Museum.