Oshima's Gohatto - reissue

[lady wakasa]

Hi - I have a question, and didn't find a discussion of this in the search.

I found out about a week ago that Oshima'a Gohatto was reissued in Japan last December in a limited release, which added another 50 minutes to what was already out. This limited release is out of print (and I've been looking on Yahoo's Japanese auctions, but it's not easy going through translation tools!).

I originally saw the movie at the NY Film Festival years ago, and when I watched the DVD I remember a somewhat key scene that was missing - so I'm wondering what else was edited out of the DVD.

My question is: does anyone have any knowledge of this expanded version, what might have driven its release, and whether it's a notable / better change over what's already been released?

Oh, and if there are any plans to do a similar limited release in the US, that'd be good to know. %^}

[kinjitsu]

Hi - I have a question, and didn't find a discussion of this in the search.

I found out about a week ago that Oshima'a Gohatto was reissued in Japan last December in a limited release, which added another 50 minutes to what was already out.

Ongoing Oshima discussion can be found here.

Fifty minutes is substantial! I'd like to know more about this as well.

From CDJapan:

DVD Details:
Running Time: 150 mins.
Data Format: DVD Video
NTSC Format
Layers: single-sided/dual-layered
Aspect Ratio(s): 16:9 LB Vista
Regional Encoding: 2
Color
Encoding: MPEG-2
Subtitles: English
Audio Track: Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

[Steven H]

It looks like the cdjapan listing is "out of print", though you can find the DVD (150 minute version) for about the same price at amazon.co.jp.

[kinjitsu]

It looks like the cdjapan listing is "out of print", though you can find the DVD (150 minute version) for about the same price at amazon.co.jp.

Unfortunately, that listing is for Amazon Marketplace sellers since it obviously is OOP and no longer available from Amazon. In which case, it would be a good idea to contact the individual sellers and ask them if they are selling the 150-minute version.

[Don Lope de Aguirre]

I'd be interested to hear what the Japanese retailers have to say. I am a big fan of this film and an extra 50 mins would be bliss.

I am a little confused, however. Since reading these posts I have begun my quest for the grail...

Certainly, kinjitsu's cdjapan post/link suggests that the newer DVD has an extra 50 minutes but I have been looking on http://www.sazuma.com and they suggest that both DVDs have a running time of 100 + 50 mins whatever that is. It seems as if the reissue is a budget release, not a 'Special Edition' of any sorts...

[htdm]

The Shochiku website states that the 50 minutes consist of special features. Look at the back cover on the CDJapan link listed above, you can see the running time for the film is still listed at 100min hence the 100 + 50 minute breakdown.

[lady wakasa]

Man, I cannot believe that this is just 50 mins of extras. And I came *this* close to actually getting it through the Amazon Marketplace sellers.

Well, I'm checking now and it looks like that's what's going on. I suppose that's why asking before ordering is good, but I cannot tell you how disappointing this is. I might try the sellers, but language is likely to be an issue...

But I do remember a scene in the brothel that isn't on my DVD, so I'm slightly confused about how it was edited.

Eh, maybe I'll go for the fade-to-b&w version of Sympathy for Lady Vengeance instead. Although if there are english subtitles on the Gohatto extras, well...