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Feature

Published

14 December 2006

Midnight Eye's Christmas DVD Special

The holiday season is fast approaching. We decided to give you a hand in drawing up your wish lists by selecting some of the most finger-lickin' DVD box sets out there. From great directors to the most exciting genres - all 'Midnight Eye Approved', of course.

• Hideo Gosha
• Sogo Ishii
• Masaki Kobayashi
• Akira Kurosawa
• Takashi Miike
• Mikio Naruse
• Yasujiro Ozu
• Studio Ghibli
• Toshiaki Toyoda
• Tomu Uchida
• Genres (samurai / pink / yakuza etc.)

Directors

Hideo Gosha

As Alain Silver's recently re-published standard work The Samurai Film has once more pointed out, the man behind Goyokin and Hitokiri/Tenchu should be counted among the greatest of Japan's chanbara directors. So far, precious few DVD labels have followed suit, but HK Video in France makes up for the trepidation of US and UK distributors by releasing two box sets of four Gosha films each. Both contain slightly lesser-known, but therefore all the more interesting, works and should be snapped up by anyone who can read French subs.

Sogo Ishii

Speaking of underrated masters, the most important Japanese filmmaker of the past thirty years, Sogo Ishii, is only starting to get his work seen abroad. In Japan, a brand new set of his early independent punk movies just hit the shelf. Without subtitles, alas, but Ishii's films above all need to be experienced instead of read.

Masaki Kobayashi

Long out of print in the USA, Kobayashi's stunning Human Condition trilogy resurfaces in a deluxe box set in France, courtesy of Carlotta Films. Comes complete with a 32-page booklet.

Akira Kurosawa

No introduction needed for one of the undisputed of Japanese and world cinema. The BFI in England has put together an excellent cross section from his 29 films in its Classic Kurosawa collection. Each disc comes with a solid set of extras, including liner notes by Philip Kemp and video introduction by the incomparable Alex Cox.

See also our detailed reviews.

Takashi Miike

The most attention-grabbing Japanese director of the moment is inevitably very well represented in the luxury edition stakes. Artsmagic in the USA and Asian Star in France have both gathered Miike's Black Society Trilogy into single packages. This is one of the backbones of the director's work, representing some of his best and most rounded work. Unmissable. Artsmagic's discs contain interviews with Miike and his long-time collaborator and editor Yasushi Shimamura, plus audio commentaries by Tom Mes.

A similar recommendation goes for Miike's Dead or Alive trilogy, out from Kino in the USA and from Wild Side in France. The American set comes with a Takashi Miike interview and liner notes by Tom Mes, while the French one sports an entire fourth disc full of extras.

The more die hard Miike fans, or those who open to something really peculiar, should have a look at Miike's surreal and thoroughly horrific TV miniseries MPD Psycho, based on the manga by Eiji Otsuka. Six episodes in all, one more bizarre than the next.

Finally, Artsmagic packages Miike's semi-autobiographical chronicles about growing up on the mean streets of Osaka into a single set. These are personal favourites of both the director and Agitator author Tom Mes, which should be all the recommendation you need.

Mikio Naruse

The monumental importance of Japan's 'fourth master' is only starting to get recognised in the West. Eureka / Masters of Cinema in the UK and Wild Side in France, two of the most enterprising and laudable DVD labels out there, have taken the first step toward giving Mikio Naruse his due, each with a set of three films loaded with extras.

Expect more on Naruse at Midnight Eye very soon.

Yasujiro Ozu

What goes for Kurosawa, certainly goes for Ozu: no introductions necessary. Tartan in the UK has been very busy indeed in making his work available, with four boxes currently out and more on the way. Criterion meanwhile has combined the director's two versions of the story of itinerant actors The Story of Floating Weeds, while a formidable five-film set is out from Panorama in Hong Kong.

Studio Ghibli

It's hard to imagine Japanese cinema today without thinking of the global success story that is Studio Ghibli. Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata's dream factory has captured the hearts and minds of children and adults all over the world, so what better gift for Christmas than the collected works of these two geniuses of animation. There's the Miyazaki six-pack out from Disney in the USA, but those who really wish to take the plunge will want to go for one of the two gargantuan Ghibli boxes from Hong Kong.

Toshiaki Toyoda

Much appreciated for his cool and edgy tales of life on the margins of contemporary Japan, Toshiaki Toyoda's two best films Blue Spring and 9 Souls are packaged into one by Artsmagic.

Tomu Uchida

An outsider for a long time, the multi-talented Tomu Uchida was dusted off by Tokyo FILMeX with a major retrospective two years ago. Those wonderful folks at Wild Side in France have once again shown themselves extraordinarily enterprising by releasing a set of three crucial films from his oeuvre. A disc full of bonus materials (interviews, a documentary) is once again included.

Read more on Uchida, including reviews of the three films in this set.

Genres

Rebel Samurai: Sword of the Beast / Rebellion / Samurai Spy / Kill!

Four masters of the samurai film are combined into Criterion's great box set: Hideo Gosha, Masaki Kobayashi, Masahiro Shinoda and Kihachi Okamoto. See our full reviews:

http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/round-up_018.shtml

Lone Wolf & Cub

The Baby Cart saga is still the pinnacle of Japanese 'cult' cinema, not to mention one of the great chanbara classics. We will need to wait for American and English box sets of the entire series, but Rapid Eye Movies in Germany and Wild Side in France are showing the way with stunning new transfers and, in the latter case, an amazing pile of extras in the shape of documentaries, interviews and an 80-page booklet.

The Samurai Trilogy

Since we're on the topic of samurai classics, they don't get more quintessential than Hiroshi Inagaki's triptych on the life and exploits of the legendary Musashi Miyamoto, starring Toshiro Mifune. If you haven't seen these before, you have no excuse now with Criterion's three-disc set.

Angel Guts: The Complete Nikkatsu Series

On the racier end of the cinematic spectrum, the Angel Guts series represents some of the finest, and most disturbing, work done in the infamous Roman Porno arena. These aren't for all tastes, but those who know what they are getting themselves into won't be disappointed by Artsmagic's deluxe treatment of these five films: interviews with the directors, commentaries by Jasper Sharp and more.

Look here for more info.

The Pinky Violence Collection

Staying with the pink and violent, Panik House's selection of four films from the Toei vaults will satisfy even the most ravenous appetite for sexy girl boss delinquent cat fighting. Complete with audio commentaries by the likes of Chris D., an extensive booklet, and a sampling of starlet Reiko Ike's heavy-breathing singing skills on a separate CD.

Hanzo the Razor

If you like both the sordid shenanigans of roman porno / pinky violence and the sword-wielding exploits of samurai cinema, then look no further than the Hanzo the Razor trilogy. Shintaro Katsu stars as the samurai cop hell-bent on ridding the streets of old Edo of crime and corruption, whose most dangerous weapon is revealed when he interrogates his female suspects.

The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor And Humanity

This is the pinnacle of yakuza cinema, the big boss of Japanese gangster movies. Kinji Fukasaku's epoch-making, brutal, shot-wild-in-the-streets, epic saga is giving the ultimate in deluxe DVD treatment from Home Vision: interviews, documentaries, liner notes, fold-out flow charts, the works. All housed in a black metal case, and don't be surprised if it turns out to be bullet-proof too.

Happy Holidays!