218 Punishment Room
Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2026 11:06 am
A bored university student takes teenage rebellion to extremes, as he bullies classmates, scams his father out of his savings and rapes a college girl after spiking her drink. But as the number of targets grows, his victims band together and devise a plan for revenge, to be carried out in the titular punishment room. One of his darkest and most controversial films, Punishment Room saw director Kon Ichikawa (Ten Women in Black, Fires on the Plain) courting scandal with his unflinching depiction of abuse and rape among amoral post-war Japanese youth. Based on the story by future Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, this film was highly divisive upon its initial release, but perhaps more pertinent today than ever.
BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES
High-Definition digital transfer
Original uncompressed mono audio
Newly filmed interview with film historian Tatsuya Masuto (2026, 21 mins)
The Complex Legacy of Shintaro Ishihara - a visual essay by Steve Corbeil on author Shintaro Ishihara and the original novel (2026, 17 mins)
Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Booklet featuring new writing by Hayley Scanlon and an archival discussion with Kon Ichikawa
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings