JAPANESE FILMS ON U.S. VIDEO

[Randy Man]

Hello Mark Schilling,

Thanks for your message. Ken Crane is at kencranes.com.

Just for my own edification I printed out a list of Facets' Japanese titles
and checked it against Amazon.com to check on sources. By far the largest
number of Japanese films are available on VHS from Home Vision, followed by
New Yorker, and a handful from Fox Lorber, Kino, World Artists, and
Milestone. DVDs at present are almost exclusively from Fox Lorber and
Criterion, with a handful starting to appear from Image ("The Human
Condition" trilogy). As you no doubt know, the 1980s and 1990s are woefully
under-represented, though, and most of the films available from the above
sources have been available from one company or another for years, and new
titles are not being added. It would seem that, anime aside, the home video
industry in the U.S. could not care less about Japanese cinema

Facets lists a number of titles which are apparently exclusives. While
Facets exclusives are not invariably awful, they so frequently are that I
would strongly advise Mr. Richie not to list them unless he can confirm
their quality from someone's actually having screened them. Kurosawa's
"Drunken Angel" and "Record of a Living Being" are still listed and both are
horrible. What's more, Facets will often buy a cheap tape from Foothills
Home Video for $19.95 and turn around and sell it for $45.00 (that's the
case with "Drunken Angel").

Another issue is the vexing one of titles in the public domain which are
available only in low quality tapes made from cheap 16mm prints (often poor
dupes). "Woman in the Dunes", for example, has been available on VHS from
any number of shady sources, but until Milestone released theirs on VHS and,
through Image, on DVD, a good copy was impossible to find. That's still the
case with many titles and, in turn, with many directors. It is not presently
possible, for instance, to find any film by Susumu Hani on a quality tape.

In a nutshell we're worse off now than we were about 10 years ago, when
there were more video companies with significant Japanese titles in business
than there are now. I think anybody reading Mr. Richie's book (and I'll be
one) will want to know what's available but are going to be mightily
disheartened to find out just how little is. Obviously any video list
included in the book is going to be out of date fairly quickly, but at least
readers would be able to discover whether, say, "Stray Dog" is available on
a quality tape (it is).

Randy
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Schilling <schill at gol.com>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Monday, March 06, 2000 1:53 AM
Subject: Re: English-subbed films


> Dear Randolph Man,
>
> Thanks for your kind offer to proof the list -- I'll forward it to Donald.
> I'll also tell him your suggestions -- he was just thinking of making a
> list of films available in video, whereas you idea of listing sources,
> together with notes on their reliability and quality, might be more
> valuable.
>
> Just two questions:
>
> 1) Do you have Ken Crane's URL?
>
> 2) Do you have a list handy of video sources for Japanese films? If it
> means transcribing fifty names, please don't bother -- but if you can
point
> me in the right direction I would much appreciate it.
>
> Thank you again for taking trouble to reply -- I'm sure Donald will
> appreciate it.
>
> Regards,
> Mark Schilling
>
> ----------
> > From: Randy Man <ranman at csf.edu>
> > To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> > Subject: Re: English-subbed films
> > Date: Friday, March 03, 2000 2:37 AM
> >
> > A follow-up to Dennis Doros' reply back on Feb. 14th.:
> >
> > I agree entirely that it would be pointless to include any
> Japanese-language
> > laserdiscs. In fact the last time I searched the Ken Crane's website
> there
> > weren't any listed.
> > I would strongly caution, however, against using the Facets website as a
> > sole source without first checking their titles against Amazon.com.
> Facets
> > has a bad habit of (1) not listing their sources, and (2) buying from
> > purveyors of extremely poor quality tapes like Foothills video and New
> York
> > Video Annex. Amazon.com can give you the source. Many of the video
> companies
> > that have Japanese films , like New Yorker, don't have online
catalogues.
> > For that matter, neither does Movies Unlimited (which also doesn't list
> the
> > source in their print catalog, which is one reason I don't buy from them
> > anymore).
> > Another thing to include is Japanese titles that are forthcoming on both
> VHS
> > and DVD.
> > I would be quite willing to proof the video list since I deal with video
> > orders and sources constantly. Let me know if I can help.
> >
> > Randolph Man
> > College of Santa Fe
> > Moving Image Arts Dept.
> > ranman at csf.edu
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <MileFilms at aol.com>
> > To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> > Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 8:53 PM
> > Subject: Re: English-subbed films
> >
> >
> > >
> > > In a message dated 2/14/00 9:47:29 PM, schill at gol.com writes:
> > >
> > > << Donald Richie has a query that he asked me post -- for his new book
> on
> > >
> > > Japanese film he wants to include a list of all English-subtitled
> Japanese
> > >
> > > films available on VHS, laser disk and DVD. Is such a list out there?
I
> > >
> > > know the chances of one existing are slim. Any ideas for how I can
help
> > him
> > >
> > > put one together?
> > >
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Mark Schilling (schill at gol.com) >>
> > >
> > > Dear Mark,
> > >
> > > For the US, the best starting spot would be Facets Video in Chicago
> (they
> > > have a website). They basically list everything in print in all these
> > formats
> > > (though laserdisc is fairly dead, now a "used" collectors market, and
> > should
> > > be ignored for space and practical reasons) and do separate it by
> country.
> > > The only other distributor of such comprehensiveness would be Movies
> > > Unlimited. I would suspect both would be more than willing to help in
> > > supplying info if asked.
> > >
> > > Beyond that, once Donald compiles the list and would like someone to
> proof
> > > the American availability, I'd be glad to give it a shot. (I try to
> keep
> > up
> > > with what our competitors/friends are up to.)
> > >
> > > Dennis
> >