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Gregory wrote:I agree completely with Herr Schreck. Harakiri could have been one of the most outstanding releases of last year, and of course it's still an essential purchase solely on the strength of the film even at the higher price. I can only hope that this problem will be remedied with future Kobayashi releases. Much as I'd like to see a re-release of Kwaidan with the full cut, I think it's even more urgent that they release any they can from the following list (in no particular order).

Human Condition Trilogy: This was a highly personal project for Kobayashi, who in addition to directing helped write the screenplay from Gomikawa's novels about the ways people and their values and ideals are transformed and destroyed within inhuman systems. It's striking the way Kobayashi's wartime experiences seem to have brought this project to life in a special and perhaps more complex way than an autobiographical text.
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Absolutely. Some directors give out strong iconoclastic vibes through style, some give it out through the material they choose to work with... some give it out through both and originate the vast bulk of the source material which usually earns them the appellation 'auteur'. Kobayashi for me and only me (maybe many of you too) is a curious variant because I see him as pure auteur (though I could easily be "proven wrong" via my blatant bastardization of the term) in that the style is so fiercely & relentlessly distinct, so completely and explosively original, and the films cannot help but present Kobayashi himself in all his glorious style as well as the eternally vigilant & faithful nature of his heart and soul as exposed through the subject matter despite his not having penned the bulk. But they Become Him via this consistent thrust towards personalized themes, the process that usually define & identify auteurs in a more offhand, less "scholarly", yet often more personally compelling way... auters being thus beause they in some sense ARE the material, that it all flows from them. For Kobayashi, of course, the issues are those of purity; exposing hypocracy & pulling away the false public veneer of wisdom & special strength cultivated by Official Authority; yet, again, the majority of his films came from existing novels or were penned by screenwriters. Now, I'm one of those people who sometimes gets annoyed by how little the public gives a damn about screenwriters, how much actors & directors bathe in riches & public adulation & worship for "creating memorable stories" and "creating memorable chatacters", whereas the man who has in many many cases supplied the vast bulk of the creating-- the imagining & originality, actually created the whole thing, words & world & all-- is usually unknown & underpaid gets short shrift in the Free Pussy dept.

Then you get a guy like Kobayashi whose identity completely soaks a film thru & thru despite his not having penned it. You can feel so much of the essence of Kobayashi's character regardless of the authorship of the source material. This goes from the mechanics of the style itself-- aside from the oft-celebrated geometry of his compartmentalized widescreen designs, you have the completely cinematic use of stage (miraculously un-self-conscious & non-distracting) conventions such as dimming all fill lights on the set to reduce the lighting down to a single spot picking out a character or object... as well as the blatant, before-your-eyes color-shifts in set-lighting to expressionistically adjust for mood or room-temperature-- and it goes just as much for the story as well as the way the story is presented. Deliberate, quiet (on the audio track only, but rumbling everywhere else) stretches of screen time to portray the processes of mindlessness turning into seeting rage, using closeups and lighting and composition and those utter Kobayashi-quietnesses, making you shift in your seat due to discomfort... when a character becomes furious, registers betrayal or breaks out in grief in a Kobayashi film, it spills out of the screen and registers in the viewer's room with a flood of clenched guts, nobody dares crunch a chip--

this utter Kobayashi-ness of Kobayashi films is why I see Masaki as a true auteur, the true author of his films with the genuine fullness of unique personal construction of his finished product that constitutes the use of the term so bandied about these days. Of course Hashimoto is in the same rarified class, and should be regarded with the same reverence, and suffers from the same lack of appreciation (beyond industry & cineastes) that most of the best screenwriters do (who talks enough about Carl Mayer? Can someone buy me a single book in english-- or more than 1 in German-- about Carl Mayer, perhaps the key figure in the German silent cinema?)

Gregory wrote:Black River: There is a good description in this thread. This is apparently a Janus title.

I saw this at the NYFF last fall, and don't remember a Janus logo before it started. Of course I ran into the screening right after seeing CACHE at the fest, so I was a little disoriented.

But it is a very interesting film, and I suggested a Kobayashi retro to NYFF head honcho Richard Pena, who nodded and said that he would think about it.

It's been said elsewhere, but the human condition is probably the biggest Gem Criterion can easily get a hold off. Image released the older version, so the rights are check. Problem could be the sourcematerial, but the unremastered version seems to have a decent base alowoing for a clean-up. It's with Nakadai, as they call him the eight samurai, who has been gotten a tremendous amount of attention by CC lately (5 releases in one year!), gving his 10 CC releases a nice position somewhere between those two other CC babies Léaud (6) and Mifune (15). Every Japanese filmexpert probably wants to do a commentary for it and it all combines into a beautiful boxset with great artwork potential. WTF is Criterion waiting for?

AZAI wrote:It's been said elsewhere, but the human condition is probably the biggest Gem Criterion can easily get a hold off. Image released the older version, so the rights are check. Problem could be the sourcematerial, but the unremastered version seems to have a decent base alowoing for a clean-up. It's with Nakadai, as they call him the eight samurai, who has been gotten a tremendous amount of attention by CC lately (5 releases in one year!), gving his 10 CC releases a nice position somewhere between those two other CC babies Léaud (6) and Mifune (15). Every Japanese filmexpert probably wants to do a commentary for it and it all combines into a beautiful boxset with great artwork potential. WTF is Criterion waiting for?

It's sitting with GREED & NAPOLEON in the Place Where the Great Films Go & Be AntiSocial.

AZAI wrote:It's been said elsewhere, but the human condition is probably the biggest Gem Criterion can easily get a hold off. Image released the older version, so the rights are check. Problem could be the sourcematerial

The Trilogy is already out on DVD in Japan for quite some time. No english subs, of course but from what I understand, they're from restored prints.

AZAI wrote:Image released the older version, so the rights are check.

More importantly perhaps, the Human Condition films are Janus collection.

Annie Mall wrote: The Trilogy is already out on DVD in Japan for quite some time. No english subs, of course but from what I understand, they're from restored prints.

that is really great news..

tavernier wrote:

Gregory wrote:Black River: There is a good description in this thread. This is apparently a Janus title.

I saw this at the NYFF last fall, and don't remember a Janus logo before it started. Of course I ran into the screening right after seeing CACHE at the fest, so I was a little disoriented.

But it is a very interesting film, and I suggested a Kobayashi retro to NYFF head honcho Richard Pena, who nodded and said that he would think about it.

Janus has the rights. Just caught this over on another thread... scroll down to BLACK RIVER.

I just got a reply from Criterion,finally,four days later, about my inquiry if they are planning a re-release of Kwaidan in the full,akin to the MoC disc.It was a standard JM type reply,i.e. no plans at this time.But feel free to subscribe to the Criterion Newsletter,where you will be informed of re-releases.And the new rep. who answered the e-mail is Matt Lipson,not Jon Mulvaney.

That was just mentioned over on another thread down towards the bottom of the page w/today's date.

Tetsuro Tanba, who was in the Hoichi the Earless segment died today in Tokyo. Can't find any English news about it, but if you are a fan of classic Japanese cinema, you will surely know of him.

Quite a resume, being in Harakiri, Samurai Spy, Assassination, Yakuza Papers, Blackmail Is My Life, Goyokin, Under The Flag Of The Red Rising Sun, Blind Beast VS Killer Dwarf, and most famously in the west, the 007 film You Only Live Twice.

Sad news. He, as the famous Kochiyama Soshun, and Nakadai are what make Shinoda's Buraikan one of my favorite Japanese films.

I'm still waiting for Criterion to re-release Kwaidan.

Is Criterion EVER going to release the complete version of Kwaidan?

Why on Earth did they release a cut version anyways? It goes against everything they stand for. When Criterion releases a DVD, people assume it's the "uncut" version. Unfortunately, this was not the case with Kwaidan.

I sent an e-mail to Criterion, but I got no response.

Again, is Criterion ever going to release the complete, 183-minute version of Kwaidan?

Metropolisforever wrote:Why on Earth did they release a cut version anyways? It goes against everything they stand for. When Criterion releases a DVD, people assume it's the "uncut" version. Unfortunately, this was not the case with Kwaidan.

Ok, seriously, the first page of this very thread talks about this. Did you read it first? Because you should read things first before posting, like I said earlier.

davidhare wrote:To those who already know, is it time to burst the bubble for the uninformed about Jon Mulvaney?

There is a purely theoretical, extremely remote chance--just as with the newly constructed Large Hadron Collider--that if you divulge that particular secret, the resulting burst of energy will generate a tiny black hole that will eventually consume the Earth.

However, that's not stopping the Large Hadron Collider from powering up this summer, nor should it necessarily stop you. It's your call.

Metropolisforever wrote:I'm still waiting for Criterion to re-release Kwaidan.

With the advent of Blu-ray, we might see an upgrade on this.

Not unless there's a breakthrough. Japanese companies won't allow foreign licencees to release their films on Blu-ray unless Japan have already released them on that format, and there's been a 6-month window.

I thought that was only with Region A releases?

WOW. I just got done watching this, and I'm kind of stunned. This may be blasphemy, but although I try to appreciate Asian cinema, I find it very hard to purely enjoy movies from the Far East. Such formality, in acting, staging, cinematography, etc... (of the ones I've seen, at least) is admirable, but always distancing and not altogether rewarding. Kwaidan was unlike anything I've seen, though. I was riveted by these segments: the gliding camerawork and the bewitchingly austere soundtrack (that biwa music..!) and the beautiful sets...whew. The fourth segment didn't grab me as much as the others, but as a whole this film towers above any other Japanese film I've seen in terms of style and content. I really think the Hoichi segment ranks among the most magnificent things I've ever seen onscreen. I loved the start of that segment, with the brilliant juxtaposition of the artwork and staged battle sequence, and it just got more entrancing from there. That image of Hoichi, covered in sacred text, will be etched into my brain forever. I'll be immediately picking up any other Kobayashi films I can.

LQ wrote:I find it very hard to purely enjoy movies from the far east. Such formality, in acting, staging, cinematography, etc... (of the ones I've seen, at least) is admirable, but always distancing and not altogether rewarding.

First, wasn't this originally posted by Mfunk? Do we have members sockpuppeting / padding their memberships?

Secondly, that aside, what "far eastern" films have you been watching, with such "formality"?

HerrSchreck wrote:

LQ wrote:,I find it very hard to purely enjoy movies from the far east. Such formality, in acting, staging, cinematography, etc...(of the ones I've seen, at least) is admirable, but always distancing and not altogether rewarding.

First, wasn't this originally posted by Mfunk? Do we have members sockpuppeting / padding their memberships?

Secondly, that aside, what "far eastern" films have you been watching, with such "formality"?

eh, we share the same computer...mistakes happen sometimes

yikes, I knew I was opening a can of worms leaving that there. I didn't mean it to be negative, necessarily. AND I shouldn't generalize, seeing as how I haven't seen many to speak of at all. Its just a matter of taste I guess, and I just happen to like more pliable camerawork and less stagey-feeling films than the ones I've seen from Japan. I just meant to say that I haven't been "entertained" by a classical asian movie until Kwaidan, I didn't mean to dismiss all other asian films by calling them "formal".

But do you not agree that there is a certain "formalism" in say, Kurosawa epics? Or in Tokyo Story? There just seemed to be a lot more expressive and inventive style in Kwaidan than in films like Ran. But you (and others here) are certainly more well-versed in this area than I.

LQ: may I humbly suggest that you make Onibaba and Harakiri among the next Japanese films that you view? If you're not floored or at least struck by them, not to mention entertained, I'll be surprised. The first time I saw Harakiri I could barely take my eyes from the screen.

Gregory wrote:LQ: may I humbly suggest that you make Onibaba and Harakiri among the next Japanese films that you view? If you're not floored or at least struck by them, not to mention entertained, I'll be surprised. The first time I saw Harakiri I could barely take my eyes from the screen.

Thanks Gregory, I appreciate the recommendations. I'm excited to watch them.

LQ wrote:Its just a matter of taste I guess, and I just happen to like more pliable camerawork and less stagey-feeling films than the ones I've seen from Japan.

LQ, glad to hear you liked "Kwaidan", it's certainly one of my absolute favourite films. I'm just a little surprised that you don't find it 'stagey', because I do (though I don't find that distracting from the experience). But apart from the banal fact that this was shot indeed entirely on a vast studio stage, I can't think of many Japanese films that are more carefully and also somewhat theatrically constructed. Think of the extremely precise set-ups in the third episode and the almost architectonic beauty in the mise en scene in general. Sure, there are quite a few camera movements, but all in all this film is very far removed from any sort of 'realism'. Perhaps the 'formalism' here is not quite as immediately evident or 'intrusive' as in Ozu or some Kurosawa (the first half of "High and Low" comes to mind), but it's still there, and for me that is quite an asset.

Oh, and I heartily second Gregory's suggestions! But give good'ole Kurosawa another chance. Perhaps try some of his early work, like "Stray Dog", which has quite a 'natural' feeling to it and, well, is an incredibly engaging film.

Darth Lavender wrote:I thought that was only with Region A releases?

Nope - the same stipulations are made in contracts with British distributors. (I've seen an actual example).