Eclipses's Nikkatsu Noir set in August

[Rob Smith]

Can't wait to finally see a good copy of A Colt Is My Passport, and also the
Human Condition trilogy which comes out soon too. Criterion is adding some
great Japanese cinema to the collection lately.

On Sat, May 16, 2009 at 6:53 PM, <wlt4 at mindspring.com> wrote:

> ECLIPSE SERIES 17: NIKKATSU NOIR
>
> >From the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, wild, idiosyncratic crime movies
> were the brutal and boisterous business of Nikkatsu, the oldest film studio
> in Japan. In an effort to attract youthful audiences growing increasingly
> accustomed to American and French big-screen imports, Nikkatsu began
> producing action potboilers (mukokuseki akushun, or “borderless action”)
> modeled on the western, comedy, gangster, and teen-rebel genres. This
> bruised and bloody collection represents a standout cross section of the
> nimble nasties Nikkatsu had to offer, from such prominent, stylistically
> daring directors as Seijun Suzuki, Toshio Masuda, and Takashi Nomura.
>
> FIVE-DISC BOX SET INCLUDES:
>
> I Am Waiting (1957)
> In Koreyoshi Kurahara’s directorial debut, rebel matinee idol Yujiro
> Ishihara (fresh off the sensational Crazed Fruit) stars as a restaurant
> manager and former boxer who saves a beautiful, suicidal club hostess (Mie
> Kitahara) trying to escape the clutches of her gangster employer. Featuring
> expressionist lighting and bold camera work, this was one of Nikkatsu’s
> early successes.
>
> 91 minutes € Black & White € Monaural € In Japanese with English subtitles
> € 1.33:1 aspect ratio
>
> Rusty Knife (1958)
> Rusty Knife was the first smash for director Toshio Masuda, who would go on
> to become one of Japanese cinema’s major hit makers. In the film, Yujiro
> Ishihara and fellow top Nikkatsu star Akira Kobayashi play former hoodlums
> trying to leave behind a life of crime, but their past comes back to haunt
> them when the authorities seek them out as murder witnesses.
>
> 90 minutes € Black & White € Monaural € In Japanese with English subtitles
> € 2.35:1 aspect ratio
>
> Take Aim at the Police Van (1960)
> At the beginning of Seijun Suzuki’s taut and twisty whodunit, a prison
> truck is attacked and a convict inside is murdered. The penitentiary warden
> on duty, Daijiro (Michitaro Mizushima), is accused of negligence and
> suspended, only to take it upon himself to track down the killers.
>
> 79 minutes € Black & White € Monaural € In Japanese with English subtitles
> € 2.45:1 aspect ratio
>
> Cruel Gun Story (1964)
> Fresh out of the slammer, Togawa (Branded to Kill’s Joe Shishido) has no
> chance to go straight because he is immediately coerced by a wealthy mob
> boss into organizing the heist of an armored car carrying racetrack
> receipts. After gathering together a ragtag bunch to carry out the robbery,
> Togawa learns that all is not what it seems in Takumi Furukawa’s thriller.
> Cue the double (and triple) crosses!
>
> 91 minutes € Black & White € Monaural € In Japanese with English subtitles
> € 2.45:1 aspect ratio
>
> A Colt Is My Passport (1967)
> One of Japanese cinema’s supreme emulations of American noir, Takashi
> Nomura’s A Colt Is My Passport is a down-and-dirty but gorgeously
> photographed yakuza film starring Joe Shishido as a hard-boiled hit man
> caught between rival gangs. Featuring an incredible, spaghetti-western-style
> soundtrack and brimming with formal experimentation, this is Nikkatsu at its
> finest.
>
> 84 minutes € Black & White € Monaural € In Japanese with English subtitles
> € 2.45:1 aspect ratio
>
> Title: Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir
> CAT: ECL075
> UPC: 7-15515-04971-9
> ISBN: 978-1-60465-194-2
> SRP: $69.95
> Prebook: 7/28/09
> Street date: 8/25/09
>



-- 
-rob
http://www.robixsmash.com/
http://www.orlandoweekly.com/film/
http://www.insulinfunk.net/
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