Kazuo Kuroki's Kirishima 1945 has been named the best Japanese film of 2003 by the Kinema Jumpo magazine's critics poll.

The film, an autobiographical drama set in rural Japan in the closing days of World War II, is currently on domestic release.

Compiled annually by leading critics and scholars, the Kinema Jumpo Best Ten list has long been considered the most prestigious of its kind in the Japanese film industry.

This year the list includes, in order after Kirishima 1945, Attempted Love Suicide At Akame Shijuha-Taki Falls; Vibrator; Josee, The Tiger And The Fish; Like Asura; Women Of The Mirror; Zatoichi; Warabinoko; Doppelganger, and Bokunchi.

The best foreign film was Roman Polanski's The Pianist, while Shinobu Terajima (Attempted Love Suicide At Akame Shijuha-Taki Falls, Vibrator) was named Best Actress and Satoshi Tsumabuchi (Josee, The Tiger And The Fish), Best Actor.

The awards ceremony will be held on February 1 in Tokyo.