Japan Synopsis
Two brothers cannot overcome their opposite perceptions of life. One brother sees and feels bad in everyone and everything, subsequently he is violent, antisocial and unable to appreciate or enjoy the good things which his brother desperately tries to point out to him.
Other Titles From NHK
The 1990–1992 Japan Window
The Indian Runner holds position #59 of 107 Japan films in the 1990–1992 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 1990s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1990s in Japan, 447 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Indian Runner premiered alongside 36 others.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 2h 7m runtime, production spent $55K per minute on screen and earned $2K per minute back.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 36 other Japan films in 1991.
The 862nd Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
126 audience reviews — more than 80% of Japan films in our index.
Review volume (80th percentile) outruns trending popularity (64th) — a durable title with sustained audience attention.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on The Indian Runner, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- vietnam veteran · 3
- nebraska · 1
- 1960s · 20
- brother brother relationship · 12
- sibling relationship · 38
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #3,087 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (33rd percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is -0.4 points below the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Drama productions specifically: #1,358 of 1,933 (top 70%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | Japan, United States of America |
| Original Language | En |
| Production Companies | NHK, Mico, Mount Film Group, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Runtime | 2h 7m |
| Release Date | September 20, 1991 |
| IMDb | tt0102116 |