BD 96 Youth of the Beast

Message

#1 Post by **swo17** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 2:40 pm

Right on the heels of the riotous Go to Hell, Bastards: Detective Bureau 2 3, Seijun Suzuki unleashed what would come to be seen as his true breakthrough, the film that would cement "the Suzuki sensibility": Youth of the Beast [Yajû no seishun]. A kaleidoscopic fantasia that contains "youth" and "beast" onlly insofar as 1963 pop/youth culture was that violently upstart thing, not unlike the yakuza?

And so Youth of the Beast is a yakuza tale with a premise like Akira Kurosawa's Yôjinbô, but denuded of an easy definition of which side is which. It stars Suzuki's iconic '60s regular Jô Shishido, with his dare-you-to-call-them-out artificial cheek implants like new acting blasphemy. There are drug-addled whores, gunfights in a new colour apocalypse, and at least one alien landscape — the sudden mind-searing eruption of a sulphur yellow desert like an action-figure playset with overspill of unbridled lust.

Suzuki's infectious go-for-broke energy is assisted by a telephoto lens that serves at once phallus and yoni in the masterful, Minnelli-worthy 'Scope framing. His film would go on to inspire John Woo's forthcoming remake titled Day of the Beast; Nikkatsu have in recent times deemed this one of their treasures. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Youth of the Beast in a Dual Format (Blu-ray + DVD) edition based on their new HD master.

DUAL FORMAT RELEASE INCLUDING BLU-RAY AND DVD VERSIONS OF THE FILM

• New high-definition 1080p presentation of the film on the Blu-ray, and progressive encode on the DVD.
• New and improved optional English subtitles
• New video interview with critic and scholar Tony Rayns
• Original theatrical trailer
• 36-PAGE BOOKLET featuring a new essay by Frederick Veith, and rare archival imagery

The Elegant Dandy Fop · Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:00 pm

This is what I'm talking about! I feel Masters of Cinema has been in a bit of a dry spell in the last year, but this is going to be great. One of the most manic of Suzuki's 60s features with an amazingly loud, almost Naked City-ish soundtrack.

L.A. · #3 Post by **L.A.** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 7:02 pm

Like Arrow's Branded to Kill, would love to see a second film included in the same package as well.

tenia · #4 Post by **tenia** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:12 pm

Like Detective Bureau 2-3

manicsounds · #5 Post by **manicsounds** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 2:01 am

DVDBeaver compares it to the Criterion DVD.

kristophers · #6 Post by **kristophers** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:52 pm

The pace of this film is intoxicating, I think I blinked twice during the whole thing.

Orlac · #7 Post by **Orlac** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:36 pm

Are the black levels correct on this?

EddieLarkin · #8 Post by **EddieLarkin** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 10:44 pm

Orlac · #9 Post by **Orlac** » Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:14 pm

Thanks!

Orlac · #10 Post by **Orlac** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 12:58 pm

What's Eureka/MOC's track record on correct black levels for their Japanese BDs?

EddieLarkin · #11 Post by **EddieLarkin** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:20 pm

Consistently good today, not so much in the past. Profound Desires of the Gods, Vengeance is Mine and Burmese Harp are all wrong, whilst I'm undecided on The Insect Woman/Nishi Ginza Station, Ugetsu monogatari/Oyu-sama and Sansho Dayu/Gion bayashi. Worth experimenting. The rest are all fine.

tenia · #12 Post by **tenia** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:35 pm

Gion Bayashi is fine. It's a little bright perhaps, but nothing like an improper black levels. I think it's the same for Oyu sama & Ugetsu (weirdly, it seems I haven't saved the screen caps I've done at the time).
As for The Burmese Harp, I think the real issue is on the Criterion DVD which is contrast boosted as hell. I prefer the look of the MoC BD which certainly lacks so time of black depth but I recall the Criterion DVD being more often oddly-timed (due to the boost) than the MoC BD.

Orlac · #13 Post by **Orlac** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:47 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:Consistently good today, not so much in the past. Profound Desires of the Gods, Vengeance is Mine and Burmese Harp are all wrong, whilst I'm undecided on The Insect Woman/Nishi Ginza Station, Ugetsu monogatari/Oyu-sama and Sansho Dayu/Gion bayashi. Worth experimenting. The rest are all fine.

thanks!

EddieLarkin · #14 Post by **EddieLarkin** » Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:47 pm

I double checked The Burmese Harp because you mentioned this before. It is definitely wrong. Even if you change the levels it doesn't come out as contrasty as the Criterion, if that's what you're worried about. The MoC disc is one of the worst I've seen and it looks infinitely better with the levels changed.

As for the Mizoguchi films I'm really not sure. With Ugestu, I will say during the scene with Genjuro at the mansion there is some really really funky compression noise all over the dark spaces, that of course disappears when the levels are changed. But the rest looks fine and I wouldn't bother making a change myself.

jivyivy · #15 Post by **jivyivy** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 4:34 pm

I'm going to be in Tokyo next week and I would really like to order this disc from Amazon.co.jp (region B import) to watch in our hotel room... does anyone know whether the HD content (i.e. 1080p feature) would be compatible on what I can only assume would be a region A-locked Blu-Ray player made for the Japanese market?

#16 Post by **mfunk9786** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:18 pm

No, a Region B locked disc would not play on a Region A locked player.

#17 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:45 pm

I thought Japan was Region A though?

#18 Post by **cdnchris** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:54 pm

They are but he's talking about the MOC disc (i think) and it's region B.

#19 Post by **swo17** » Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:01 pm

Yeah, he's asking if the Region B MoC disc will play in a Region A Japan player. The answer is no.

Pepsi · #20 Post by **Pepsi** » Tue Mar 13, 2018 6:47 pm

.... but the DVD that comes with the Blu-ray should be in region 2 (Isn't R2 the Japanese standard in DVD). So if the DVD image is enough, it should play.

htdm · #21 Post by **htdm** » Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:39 pm

But the DVD would be R2 PAL, Japan is R2 NTSC.

MichaelB · #22 Post by **MichaelB** » Thu Mar 15, 2018 3:16 pm

htdm wrote:But the DVD would be R2 PAL, Japan is R2 NTSC.

MoC’s DVD will be R2 NTSC. Unless the film originated at PAL speed (for instance, ‘Colossal Youth’), their policy for many years (certainly well before ‘Youth of the Beast’) is to encode as NTSC - it’s just as compatible with European systems, and doesn’t run into pitch-shift issues.

Site Menu