BD 24 The Ballad of Narayama

[Finch]

Did anyone else notice transparent vertical stripes in many of the night scenes? I suspect this may be inherent in the source as the image was fine otherwise.

[zedz]

Looked at the excellent Rayns piece last night, which was as brisk and authoritative as ever, and thought I had to add some consumer information.

The very long, colour, modern-day closing sequence of Black Rain that Rayns discusses as having been cut before release, and seems to know only through a report from Takashi Miike (AD on the film), has actually surfaced as an extra on the recent R1 edition of the film (Animeigo, I believe). So, contrary to the video piece, that original ending has indeed "seen the light of day" - or the dinge of home theatre, at any rate. If you're at all interested in Imamura (and that film in particular) it's a major find. As Rayns indicates, it provides a perfect illustration of a recurrent idea of his cinema, and also brings Black Rain more in line with the mainstream of his filmmaking in a very interesting way.

If Nick's reading this, I hope he can let Tony Rayns know that the original ending is indeed available to view, as I'm sure he'd love to see it.

[manicsounds]

Yes, definitely worth seeing the extended color ending, but you can easily see why it was cut. Speaking of that, I wonder what the chances are of Masters Of Cinema releasing "Black Rain".... or is that too much Imamura?

[zedz]

too much Imamura?

I don't understand how those three words work together.

[Zot!]

too much Imamura?

I don't understand how those three words work together.

I'm going to pile on and ask for Black Rain as well.

[willoneill]

too much Imamura?

I don't understand how those three words work together.

I'm going to pile on and ask for Black Rain as well.

I would also like a black-ray of Blu Rain .... wait, that's not right ....

[o z o n e]

Did anyone else notice transparent vertical stripes in many of the night scenes? I suspect this may be inherent in the source as the image was fine otherwise.

I watched this great movie tonight, no transparent vertical stripes was visible in my setup.

Is your display properly calibrated?

If these stripes are in the source material, I guess they would show up quickly on some systems due to the colouring scheme used in the movie (if the brightness was set to high etc).

[antnield]

The Digital Fix

[49CHOMPS]

About the ending:

Spoiler

At the final dinner scene a girl enters and is claimed she'll be eating with a Nako family from now on. Is this meant to be Matsuyan and the close-up is of her pregnancy, not the clothing print?

[AK]

Rewatched this today, and I continue to be amazed by its raw beauty. It's unnerving, funny, visually gorgeous and heart-rending cinema all packed into one. The last thirty minutes are so perfect. The memory of the feeling I had when I first saw the film still lingered with me before this viewing, and I wondered whether I'd be able to relive that sensation again (highly doubting it), but it still does send shivers down my spine. Awesome filmmaking, among the most inspired I've ever seen.

Although the transfer does have areas for improvement, it's still a solid one and one of the great gifts from the MoC team I've had the pleasure to have.