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Vengeance Is Mine



A thief, murderer, and charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu (Ken Ogata) is on the run from the police. Director Shohei Imamura turns this fact-based story, of the seventy-three-day killing spree of a remorseless man from a devoutly Catholic family, into a cold, perverse, and at times diabolically funny tale of the primitive coexisting with the modern. More than just a true-crime case, Vengeance Is Mine bares mankind's snarling id.

Special Features

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer
• Excerpts from a video interview with Shohei Imamura, produced by the Directors Guild of Japan
• Theatrical trailer and teaser
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Atkinson, a 1994 interview with Imamura by writer Toichi Nakata, and writings from Imamura on Vengeance Is Mine and his approach to filmmaking

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tavernier wrote:It should be coming soon...

BAM Cinematek press release: SHOHEI IMAMURA RETROSPECTIVE, MARCH 2007

Including a week run of VENGEANCE IS MINE (1979) (new print courtesy of Janus Films); PIGS AND BATTLESHIPS (1961); THE INSECT WOMAN (1963); THE PORNOGRAPHERS (1966); THE BALLAD OF NAYARAMA (1983); and BLACK RAIN (1989)

Great to see more Imamura in the pipeline, but why oh why is it one already available in an excellent DVD edition? (Cue plug for Japanese New Wave's excellent 60s releases)

I think a subbed DVD of "Pig and Battleships" would be a more valuable release. The MOC "Vengeance Is Mine" will be hard for Criterion to beat.

Don't forget the humorously odd Warm Water Under a Red Bridge from the Home Vision arm a few years back. I'd welcome Vengeance, but it would have to be proven better than the MoC edition to warrant any real excitement.

Just watched Profound Desire of the Gods. A seriously weird, visually stunning film.

Michael Kerpan wrote:Just watched Profound Desire of the Gods. A seriously weird, visually stunning film.

Agreed. All of those sixties films (at least the ones I've seen) are superb, but they build to fever pitch with this one. A stunning orchestration of Imamura's various obsessions, and yet another demonstration of his mastery of widescreen composition (was this really Tochizawa's first film?)

In Japan Imamura's work is pretty well represented on DVD, including a series of 3 DVD's with his documentary works. I would love to see those with English subtitles, but that's not really Criterion work.

What about BLACK RAIN? Am I the only person who feels that was one of the most profound films of the 80s? I mean if we could fit more recent features into the collection, why not that masterwork by Imamura?

stroszeck wrote:What about BLACK RAIN? Am I the only person who feels that was one of the most profound films of the 80s? I mean if we could fit more recent features into the collection, why not that masterwork by Imamura?

And they can even get an interview with Michael Douglas, to find out how it was working with the great director!

stroszeck wrote:What about BLACK RAIN? Am I the only person who feels that was one of the most profound films of the 80s? I mean if we could fit more recent features into the collection, why not that masterwork by imamura?

Absolutely. Also, that would be one special edition where I would really want them to include the book with the DVDs. I had a copy of it but it pretty much fell apart.

tavernier wrote:

stroszeck wrote:What about BLACK RAIN? Am I the only person who feels that was one of the most profound films of the 80s? I mean if we could fit more recent features into the collection, why not that masterwork by Imamura?

And they can even get an interview with Michael Douglas, to find out how it was working with the great director!

I'm guessing it was a joke, but wrong movie. Very confusing that there were 2 films titles "Black Rain" set in Japan in 1989

For those who don't want to wait for a Criterion release of Black Rain that may never materialize, the French DVD (which has English subtitles) is quite adequate.

Michael Kerpan wrote:For those who don't want to wait for a Criterion release of Black Rain that may never materialize, the French DVD (which has English subtitles) is quite adequate.

The OOP Image disc is also selling on Amazon Marketplace for $240+, for those who want a needlessly expensive Christmas gift!

I still want to recommend the MOC version. The criterion special features do not seem as promising as the good content on the MOC plus you don't have to wait 3 months to get it.

Yea, I can't imagine Criterion topping the excellent MOC on this one. I'll just wait for the eventual Eclipse Imamura box, it's a shame that Criterion didn't see fit to give the full treatment to a previously unavailable film, though.

sevenarts wrote:Yea, I can't imagine Criterion topping the excellent MOC on this one.

Agreed. A shame that a couple of MoC and Criterion releases seem to be overlapping each other

Agreed. Boring and boring that MoC and CC are overlapping. BoBoringring.

Alright, we GET IT! Can you guys quit handjobbing MoC now? Or at least take it here or here.

Matt wrote:Alright, we GET IT! Can you guys quit handjobbing MoC now? Or at least take it here or here.

We`re just giving opinions, dude. That`s mainly what forums are for

TheGodfather throws down before the Godfather. Through the ensuing hail of molten lead and acrid gunpowder fog, I hope to catch a glimpse of an exploding eye.

Tony Rayns' commentary is enough to win for MoC, and then there's the cover. Ok, I'll shut up now.

BAM update: Pimps, Prostitutes and Pigs: Shohei Imamura's Japan

Folks in Brooklyn sure are lucky dogs. There's a few there I haven't seen yet.

MEK

Michael Kerpan wrote:Folks in Brooklyn sure are lucky dogs. There's a few there I haven't seen yet.

More than a few for me. Makes me wish I'd never left Brooklyn.

Anybody have the old Criterion Laserdisc release of this film? I remember this was one of Criterion's very early LD, transfered full-frame from a print with burnt-in subtitles (rather than electronically generated subtitles by Criterion). It also had fluctuating color hues, had zero supplements, but nevertheless was priced something like $90 as a three-disc CAV release. It did have a bold cover with a naked female body--didn't know they were allowed to have actual nudity in non-porn covers.

The extras in this new DVD release is quite disappointing, as if Criterion this time has no intention of bettering the MoC disc with the Raynes commentary. A video introduction by Park Chan-wook would have been a possibility, who's a great admirer of Imamura--the Korean title of SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE is literally VENGEANCE IS MINE.