[KineJapan] Asiapol Secret Service

Wed Apr 24 08:32:38 EDT 2019

Hi Earl,

You are right, there are two versions of Asiapol, though only one is / was officially available on DVD as far as I know, which is the one Jasper pointed out (contact me offline and we can talk more about how to get your hands on it). Akinori’s films are very interesting for the way they use the widescreen format – Jasper can probably tell us a lot about that aspect (Jasper, when is your book on widescreen finally coming out? I can’t wait!).

Venus Tear Diamond is terrifically interesting – the Expo scenes are amazing by themselves. The expo visit by the characters ends up focusing on the Korean pavilion (built to look like a giant turtleship (!), oars and all – talk about sticking it to Japan) because of another fascinating aspect of the film. It was partially a project initiated by Shin Sang-ok, who was heavily involved with Shaw Brothers at the time and thinking of a Korean release; this was another reason Inoue needed to use a Chinese film for the directing credits.

Best,
Alex

From: KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Jasper Sharp via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
Reply-To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 04:31
To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
Cc: Jasper Sharp <jasper_sharp at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Asiapol Secret Service

As far as I was aware, the film was a Nikkatsu-Shaw co-production and so not two different versions.
Nikkatsu have basic details on their own website, but the film is not on any home viewing format in Japan: http://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/20962.html<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nikkatsu.com_movie_20962.html&d=DwMFAg&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=__ROkypPMfBMMPVia3CjGrxSJryXbwjGyfBDGhCKd68&m=8dyBkyO4roa90Q4phaATVq-qwqFevxj_EJ1E34LZy9g&s=p8MqXQa5EhH-TH7-2m01Gpy7IekAnqfeTbjQ5zMVAFg&e=>

However, a lot of the Shaw Bros films were released on DVD about 15 years ago, including this one, although it might be hard to find at the moment: https://www.badpandashop.com/products/asia-pol-1967-region-3-dvd-english-subtitled-shaw-brothers<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.badpandashop.com_products_asia-2Dpol-2D1967-2Dregion-2D3-2Ddvd-2Denglish-2Dsubtitled-2Dshaw-2Dbrothers&d=DwMFAg&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=__ROkypPMfBMMPVia3CjGrxSJryXbwjGyfBDGhCKd68&m=8dyBkyO4roa90Q4phaATVq-qwqFevxj_EJ1E34LZy9g&s=q7Sf5SuGIBBFpR25m33uLDdTa1TMeFvi4iEmi1iyVTw&e=>

Akinori made quite a few films in Hong Kong. In fact, I don't think his Japanese work is particularly well known or available at the moment - I don't think I've ever seen any of it, but I do have his Shaw Bros production Lady Professional, from 1971, which features Lily Ho as an assassin running around Hong Kong and Japan disguised in a nun's outfit. Actually, these Shaw Bros films from Japanese directors do tend to look awfully like Nikkatsu films, Umetsugu Inoue's Venus Tears Diamond being a case in point - a great comic heist movie that even features a scene at the Osaka Expo. Would love to research these further myself had I time time and resources.

The Creeping Garden<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.creepinggarden.com_&d=DwMFAg&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=__ROkypPMfBMMPVia3CjGrxSJryXbwjGyfBDGhCKd68&m=8dyBkyO4roa90Q4phaATVq-qwqFevxj_EJ1E34LZy9g&s=Vb2Vyt6AqulyUiGjYBrWh4oqTISvWm7j4jzdlgmH1Pc&e=> - A Real-Life Science-Fiction Story about Slime Moulds and the People Who Work With them, directed by Tim Grabham and Jasper Sharp.
Available now on Dual-Format Blu-ray/DVD from Arrow Films<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__arrowfilms.com_product-2Ddetail_the-2Dcreeping-2Dgarden-2Ddual-2Dformat_FCD1435&d=DwMFAg&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=__ROkypPMfBMMPVia3CjGrxSJryXbwjGyfBDGhCKd68&m=8dyBkyO4roa90Q4phaATVq-qwqFevxj_EJ1E34LZy9g&s=mIrsuOJbRIiGFaCj1nT81imyrgaiVdRVc8uu4LOfsJ0&e=>.
The book, The Creeping Garden: Irrational Encounters with Plasmodial Slime Moulds is out now from Alchimia Publishing<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.alchimiapublishing.com_creeping-2Dgarden_&d=DwMFAg&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=__ROkypPMfBMMPVia3CjGrxSJryXbwjGyfBDGhCKd68&m=8dyBkyO4roa90Q4phaATVq-qwqFevxj_EJ1E34LZy9g&s=3U_sUzHhHqABnhn2IdqyR58RjCJH9oSTlF3bpvfHHWQ&e=>.
"A surprising investigation of perception, thought and life itself", Nicolas Rapold, The New York Times<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nytimes.com_2015_09_30_movies_review-2Dthe-2Dcreeping-2Dgarden-2Don-2Dthe-2Dwonders-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dslime-2Dmold.html&d=DwMFAg&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=__ROkypPMfBMMPVia3CjGrxSJryXbwjGyfBDGhCKd68&m=8dyBkyO4roa90Q4phaATVq-qwqFevxj_EJ1E34LZy9g&s=kSciqvAx61OlS280pQBCppLbcQWwEQDUavz_NMv0Hnc&e=>.
"An out-of-left-field nerdy delight", John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.hollywoodreporter.com_review_creeping-2Dgarden-2Dfantasia-2Dreview-2D724416&d=DwMFAg&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=__ROkypPMfBMMPVia3CjGrxSJryXbwjGyfBDGhCKd68&m=8dyBkyO4roa90Q4phaATVq-qwqFevxj_EJ1E34LZy9g&s=4adg_A0rhckKVTOlTlpCL1mZd4aij3Qi4LdWk9btrGQ&e=>.
"Strange, eccentric, diverting", Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.theguardian.com_film_2017_mar_09_creeping-2Dgarden-2Dreview-2Dslime-2Dmould-2Dfilm&d=DwMFAg&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=__ROkypPMfBMMPVia3CjGrxSJryXbwjGyfBDGhCKd68&m=8dyBkyO4roa90Q4phaATVq-qwqFevxj_EJ1E34LZy9g&s=GVGf2A8T8uiGXImuUQ0BnfKMW0S_6sb0ecHMmCH9ay4&e=>.

________________________________
From: KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Earl Jackson via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
Sent: 24 April 2019 04:56
To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum
Cc: Earl Jackson
Subject: [KineJapan] Asiapol Secret Service

Dear Everyone
Apparently Matsuo Akinori directed a film in Chinese in Hong Kong called Asiapol Secret Service but also made a Japanese version concurently, starring Shichido Joe, Asaoka Ruriko, and Nitani Hideaki in 1966. Does anyone know if this has ever become available in any medium at all?
Thank you
earl
Earl Jackson
Professor
Chair, Foreign Languages and Literatures
National Chiao Tung University
Associate Professor, Emeritus
University of California, Santa Cruz
Co-Director
Trans-Asia Screen Cultures Institute
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