Yoji Yamada

[Michael McCaskey]

Here are three Yamada Yoji films on DVD, available from
Five Star Corp. in Hong Kong. All three have English 
subtitles. Some also have Chinese subtitles.

I checked some sources in Japan, and some "classic" films have
subtitles in Japanese (because of poor sound quality, or for the
hearing-impaired, etc.), but I saw none apart from Tasogare Seibei
with English subtitles, but Tasogare Seibei requires a Region 2 DVD
player, or one that is genuinely completely code-free.

At Georgetown Univ. on the first try we got a DVD player that was
supposedly code-free, but it actually showed Chinese and Korean DVD's,
not Japanese ones.

You may perhaps be able to find these three titles at a source nearer
to you. The description for title 1) is straight from Five Star, which
gives no description for the other two.

Five Star's URL is:

http://store.fivestarlaser.com/cgi-bin/ecommerce/search.html?id=Aob8Vv9Y

These are the three Five Star has:

1) Learning Circle , The (Encoded) (Gakko 2)
學校 2 
The learning Circle a film by Yamada Yoji and a follow up to his 1993 hit
A Class To Remembered, is a moving story about the daily life of teacher 
and students at a high school for mentally-handicapped children. In this
film, Yamada has depicted vividly and with genuine emotion the dreams and expectations he has for all schools and teacher: Education is much more
than merely minting students who are easy for schools and teachers to handle.

2) Tora San's Good Samaritan (Encoded) 
男人之苦之奮鬥篇
(no description) 

3) Tora San, Our Lovable Tramp (Encoded) 
男人之苦之男人真命苦 
(no description)

These are all encoded for Region 3, so you'd best consult with a specialist
for technical advice on what equipment you'd need to show them, especially if
you'd like to show them in a large-screen situation. You can reset computers
to play Region 3 DVD's, but you can only reset them two or three times before
they permanently play only the region you last set them for.

Five Star may also have Tasogare Seibei, but it will be for Region 3.

Hopefully some other member of this list can guide you to some more
US-friendly versions, and/or more titles.

Sorry this was all I could find. Hopefully someone else may be able to be
more helpful.

M. McCaskey


----- Original Message -----
From: "bernst_m at bellsouth.net" <mbernst at emory.edu>
Date: Friday, July 9, 2004 12:59 pm
Subject: Yoji Yamada

> Dear All,
> 
> I'm wondering if anyone has any info on the availability in the 
> U.S. of
> english subtitled, 35mm prints of Yoji Yamada's films.
> 
> I'm hoping to put together a three film series this fall to build 
> upon the
> attention he received for TWILIGHT SAMURAI.  I'm hoping to show 
> one TORA-SAN
> (perhaps the very first), one GAKKO, and A DISTANT CRY FROM SPRING.
> 
> I will very much appreciate any guidance or information.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Matthew Bernstein
> 
>