Upcoming R2 Japan

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Steven H
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Upcoming R2 Japan

#1 Post by Steven H » Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:57 am

I decided to start this thread thinking that there might be a number of people interested in upcoming R2 Japanese titles that don't fit in any of the boutique threads or established co. sub forums. Also, it seems that the announcement of such titles usually generates very little discussion, but is still often enthusiastic.

Yamada Yoji's Bushi no Ichibun (AKA Love and Honor), becomes available with english subs on June 1st. It's third in a trilogy of samurai films (the first two being The Hidden Blade and Twilight Samurai) made late in the acclaimed director's life.

Also, Give It All director Isomura Itsumichi's Gege gets a priced down edition (from 6000 yen to 2800) on April 20th.

cdjapan.co.jp has a listing up now for Kuroki Kazuo's last film/swan song The Youth of Kamiya Etsuko. I think a number of people here enjoyed The Face of Jizo, and Mark Schilling's review (Japan Times, free reg required) of the film sounds more than interesting to me (some excerpts):
Mark Schilling wrote:Film directors are often "in production" to the last, even when they're breathing on a respirator (John Huston) or recovering from a stroke (Nagisa Oshima). There's something valiant about this, even if the late films are a falling off from the best work.

Sometimes, though, they are a precious final statement about saying farewell to the passion of your life.

Kazuo Kuroki, who died of a stroke at age 75 last April, summed up an era for his entire generation in his last four films, starting with "Tomorrow" (1988), about the Nagasaki atomic bombing, and concluding with "Kamiya E-tsuko no Seishun (The Youth of Etsuko Kamiya)," which became a posthumous film -- and a fitting coda to Kuroki's four-decade career.

...But "Kamiya Etsuko" is also austere -- hardly any music, mostly long takes and only straight cuts -- in a way identifiably Kuroki. It is as though, knowing the end was approaching, he concentrated his remaining energies to make a strong-but-simple drama, with maximum efficiency and minimum distractions.

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#2 Post by fred » Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:14 pm

Yazaki Hitoshi's Strawberry Shortcakes is due April 25th, reportedly with English subs. I saw this in Rotterdam and thought it was very strong. Variety liked it as well.

Maybe one day we'll even see English-subbed editions of his other films.

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#3 Post by yoshimori » Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:09 pm

Lee sang-il's Hula Girls, with English subs - 3/16
Sono Shion's Hazard, no subs reported - 4/25
Sono Shion's Kikyu Club, sono go, no subs reported - 5/18

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Steven H
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#4 Post by Steven H » Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:48 pm

One of Japan's less known "classic" filmmakers who I'm anxious to be more familiar with, Yoshimura Kozaburo, is finally seeing some action (unsubtitled action, however). His films A Night To Remember (1962), Clothes of Deception (1951), and River of the Night (1956) are all due next week, followed by three more releases in April, Leaves of Night (1957), Chijo (1957) (doesn't "Chijo" basically mean "Nymphomaniac Woman" or something similar?), and The Age of Marriage (1961). Kouzaboro is probably best known as the director of Ball at the Anjo House (which I've seen and definitely enjoyed) and Osaka Monogatari, which was supposed to be Mizoguchi's last film.

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#5 Post by putney » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:47 pm

fred wrote:Yazaki Hitoshi's Strawberry Shortcakes is due April 25th, reportedly with English subs.
Hitoshi's last feature film "march comes out like a lion" is already on dvd with English subs, on uplink. personally, i still think it's his best...

putney

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#6 Post by fred » Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:26 am

putney wrote:Hitoshi's last feature film "march comes out like a lion" is already on dvd with English subs, on uplink. personally, i still think it's his best...
I'm dying to see this. Any chance you can provide a link? I'm having trouble tracking it down. (Incidentally, it's not his last film. His film The Girl Who Picks Flowers and the Girl Who Kills Insects came out in 2000.)

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#7 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:59 am

Uchida's 1958 "Mori to mizumi no matsuri" (called "The Outsiders" in the west) is due out soon.

This is set in Ainu territory on Hokkaido -- and stars Ken Takakura, Rentaro MIkumi, Kyoko Kagawa and Ineko Arima.

Moving to more contemporary fare -- Yosuke Nakagawa's 2005 "Mahiru no hoshizora" is also due out next week.

Alas -- I don't think either will have English subtitles.

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Steven H
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#8 Post by Steven H » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:22 am

Michael Kerpan wrote:Uchida's 1958 "Mori to mizumi no matsuri" (called "The Outsiders" in the west) is due out soon.
I saw this listing the other day, and it sounds really interesting (particularly after reading Jasper Sharp's review at midnighteye.com). I believe it's also known as Festival of Lakes and Forests (a more literal translation?) I'm also interested in his Twiligh Saloon (reviewed here, and I believe it's been out for a few months in Japan (cdjapan link.) Anyone who's seen the latter DVD, I'd love to hear about the quality.

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#9 Post by fred » Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:45 am

putney wrote:Hitoshi's last feature film "march comes out like a lion" is already on dvd with English subs, on uplink. personally, i still think it's his best...
The Uplink disk is available here, it says without subs (could be wrong). There also appears to be another, older edition of this on another label. Perhaps this is the one with English subs?

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#10 Post by putney » Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:04 pm

yes, the uplink dvd has english subs.....

putney

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Steven H
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#11 Post by Steven H » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:23 am

Waiting in the Dark (2006), is coming out on May 25th with english subtitles. Directed by Tengan Daisuke, Imamura's son and cowriter of his last three films, and starring the adorable Tanaka Rena.
cdjapan.co.jp wrote:A blind witness, a lurking fugitive. When a boy with a dark past sneaks into the room of a blind woman, the two begin an odd form of mutual living where the woman can sense the boy and yet he refuses to show himself.
Also out in May is Gosha Hideo's Fireflies of the North (Kita no hitaru, 1984). No subs, but it says it's remastered from a new print, and a friend of mine claims this is one of Gosha's best films. Can't go wrong with Nakadai AND Iwashita.

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#12 Post by feckless boy » Wed Apr 11, 2007 10:12 am

Kinokuniya will release Light Snowfall aka Sasameyuki (Yutaka Abe, 1950) June 30. Starring Hideko Takamine. Has anyone seen this or anything else by this director?

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Steven H
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#13 Post by Steven H » Wed Apr 11, 2007 10:59 am

I haven't, but I'd like to, and thanks for the great find. I coincidentally just started reading Tanizaki's Makioka Sisters (or, I suppose, Fine Snow.) Actually, Ichikawa Kon had a some great things to say about him (translated in Quandt's Ichikawa book). He worked under him as an assistant director (apparently getting the job because he "liked the way [Ichikawa] played mah-jong") and called his filmmaking style "unique", saying his directing "excluded anything unnecessary, not only in composition, but in action". Ichikawa also remade Abe's 1926 film The Woman Who Touched The Legs (which won the Kinema Jumpo award for "best one" that year) in 1952, and it's a film I've been trying to track down for a while. Maybe Abe's version of the Tanizaki novel was an inspiritation for Ichikawa's own attempt.

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#14 Post by ab-514 » Sat Apr 14, 2007 7:18 pm

Maybe Abe's version of the Tanizaki novel was an inspiritation for Ichikawa's own attempt.
Not according to Ichikawa. In that same Quandt book you cite, actually, there is an interview with Ichikawa conducted by Mark Schilling, in which Ichikawa had this to say about The Makioka Sisters:

"I was interested in the material for a long time. From the time I was an assistant director, I wanted to make the book into a movie. One of my seniors told me that Sasameyuki had already been made into a movie, but I wanted to do it my way. That was a dream of mine for many years. Then I was finally able to make that dream a reality." [p. 412]

And Ichikawa's film is one of his greatest achievements, even if it does condense Tanizaki's wonderful novel considerably.

I've never seen Abe's version, but I suspect Hideko Takamine would make a very good Taeko, as it's the kind of rebellious role she played so well for Naruse.

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Steven H
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#15 Post by Steven H » Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:02 pm

Thanks for pointing out the quote.
ab-514 wrote:I've never seen Abe's version, but I suspect Hideko Takamine would make a very good Taeko, as it's the kind of rebellious role she played so well for Naruse.
Definitely. This version sounds very interesting.

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Steven H
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#16 Post by Steven H » Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:27 am

Yesasia is listing Iwai's documentary Kon Ichikawa Story (with english subtitles) as having a release date of June 29th. More information about the film can be found here, at ryuganji.net:
"Ichikawa Kon Monogatari" (The Ichikawa Kon Story) will take a somewhat unorthodox approach, mixing text, rare photographs, and interviews on the set of the director's self-remake "Murder of the Inugami Clan" (Inugami-ke no Ichizoku) to tell the story of his life from infancy to the present day. He also talks about his days as an animator before becoming a film director. Directed, scripted and edited by Iwai, it'll no doubt bear his distinct sensibility.
edit: Ichikawa Kon's Alone on the Pacific/My Enemy The Sea (1963) comes out this July, without subs.

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Steven H
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#17 Post by Steven H » Wed May 23, 2007 7:02 pm

On July 25, yesasia has a listing for Okuda Eiiji's The Long Walk (with english subtitles), starring Ogata Ken (Eiiji directed the very well done Shoujo: An Adolescent) . Also, one of Mark Schilling's favorite recent films, Sakuran, is coming with english subs August 3rd.

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feckless boy
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#18 Post by feckless boy » Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:32 am

Shochiku is re-releasing a lot of Kinoshita Keisuke titles in June and July. Prices are reasonably low (compared to other Japanese dvds).

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#19 Post by BrightEyes23 » Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:25 pm

these aren't very likely to have english subtitles are they?
R2 Japanese discs drive me crazy, they're expensive as hell and usually don't have english subs. When they do happen to have them (Masahiro Shinoda's films for example) its great (for everthing except my wallet).

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#20 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:36 pm

BrightEyes23 wrote:these aren't very likely to have english subtitles are they?
R2 Japanese discs drive me crazy, they're expensive as hell and usually don't have english subs. When they do happen to have them (Masahiro Shinoda's films for example) its great (for everthing except my wallet).
No -- these will NOT have English subtitles. But they will be cheaper than the prior releases, especially if you pre-order from Amazon Japan.

Also I note a bunch of re-priced re-issues of Yoshitaro Nomura films are coming out -- and are under $20 @ when pre-ordered from AJ.

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Steven H
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#21 Post by Steven H » Sun Jun 17, 2007 11:17 pm

Not technically "R2 Japan", but there's an upcoming R2 France (PAL) version of Kobayashi Masaki's Black River (1957), starring Nakadai (amazon.fr listing). French subtitles only, far as I can tell, but there isn't a Japanese release of this (I have an unsubtitled copy from VHS, and I can say without a doubt it's one of Kobayashi's best). After Wild Side, MK2, and a few other companies got the ball rolling, it looks like France is the new place to find great Japanese titles (until Eclipse starts bringing home the bacon, that is).

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#22 Post by feckless boy » Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:21 am

According to HMV Japan Shochiku will re-release (July 27) Tokyo Story and An autumn afternoon.
Seems like An autumn afternoon will be bundled with Harakiri (both 1962) and Tokyo Story with the first part of a Hideo Oba trilogy from 1953-54 featuring Keiji Sada, Keiko Kishi and Chikage Awashima. From cinemasie:
Le plus célèbre drame amoureux de l'époque est Quel est ton nom? (1953-1954) d'Oba Hideo, film en trois parties sur deux amants se rencontrant pendant le grand bombardement de Tokyo. Kishi Keiko joue la jeune femme et Sada Keiiji joue un nimaime (jeune homme faible, souffrant, incapable de conquérir une femme).
Can't really see what An autumn afternoon and Harakiri have in common (besides being Shochiku films from 1962)? Odd marketing decision.

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#23 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:43 am

Shochiku is issuing a lot of these double-headers currently -- and what is strange is that they aren't really budget-priced reissues (they are doing reissues of some films individually, at a cheaper per-film price).. I don't understand the strategy either.

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#24 Post by artfilmfan » Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:39 pm

I'm thinking of getting some of the priced-down Kinoshita Keisuke re-issues, particularly Onna no sono, Yorokobi no kanashimi mo iku toshitsuki, and Ojosan Kanpai. Are these films worth buying the DVDs ?

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#25 Post by manicsounds » Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:55 pm

If you are fine without subtitles.
Also, like most old Japanese films, pretty much zero extras.

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