criterionforum.org

Yume Pictures

Out:
Blind Beast (Masumura)
Branded to Kill (Suzuki)
Fighting Elegy (Suzuki)
Pistol Opera (Suzuki)
Princess Raccoon (Suzuki)
Red Angel (Masumura)
Tokyo Drifter (Suzuki)

Coming:
Fighting Delinquents (Suzuki) 26/3
The Flower and the Angry Waves (Suzuki) 26/3
Tattoo (Masumura) mid-2007
Kisses (Masumura) mid-2007

"But feel the width!" as Mr Humphries would say.

Recently saw Yume's Princess Raccoon and I thought the disc looked nice, anamorphic with 5.1 and 2.0 audio options.
There were a number of extras on the disc but didn't view them.

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:Tattoo (Masumura) mid-2007
Kisses (Masumura) mid-2007

Very exciting news, but I'm a little worried that the only reference I can find is on imdb? It's probably legitimate, and the first time on english subbed DVD for those films. Kisses was the first film in Japan to show an onscreen kiss (it's a less angry "sun tribe" style film), and tattoo is nearly pink eiga (of the Blind Beast level, that is.) Again, great news.

A slew of Masumura discs came out in Japan last year, so Yume has a lot of work to pick from. Hopefully some of his home dramas will be out soon (and where is Suzuki's Carmen From Kawachi?)

First onscreen kiss -- I'm pretty sure this distinction went to Imai's Aoi Sanmyaku (Blue Mountains) from 1949. Though Naruse's 1947 Haru no mezame came very close to beating it -- the (unwanted) teen kiss is virually there -- even if not literally shown. A much more daring and original film than Imai's.

I haven't seen the Imai film yet, Michael (eventually). I thought I had read that the Masumura film had been the first kiss in Anderson and Richie's The Japanese Film, but when I went back to look, I found this passage instead, on pg. 176:

Daiei planned "the first kiss scene in any Japanese film," to be included in Yasuki Chiba's A Certain Night's Kiss (Aru Yo no Seppun), but, though Chiba was chosen for this possibly dangerous assignment, he lost his nerve at the last minute andshot the scene so that the kiss was obscured by an open umbrella. At the same time Shochiku was rushing to complete Yasushi Sasaki's Twenty-Year-Old Youth (Hatachi no Seishun). Its kiss was considerably more visible and since both films opened on the same day, May 23, 1946, the two companies had to share the honors.

No telling how "visible" the kiss actually was (or if there was tongue...)

i don't often post unlessi have a question, i'm a lurker...but this is a GREAT announcement...i love this kinda japanese cinema! Fuck yeah! Thanks for the info! Where does one buy these? Amazon.co.uk?

Steven H wrote: Very exciting news, but I'm a little worried that the only reference I can find is on imdb? It's probably legitimate, and the first time on english subbed DVD for those films.

You obviouslydidn't look hard enough.

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:You obviouslydidn't look hard enough.

Thanks for the link. I would imagine at least a few people would be interested in where you'd gotten your information.

Steven H wrote:Thanks for the link. I would imagine at least a few people would be interested in where you'd gotten your information.

That wasn't where I got it. But if you go to Google and type in "yume" and "kisses" it's the first match on the list. Anyone can do it.

Just a quick warning: I had Yume's release of Red Angel for review and the company is not exactly known for providing top-transfers. Their disc was NTSC-PAL poorly converted print with plenty of ghosting.

Their PAL-PAL releases on the other hand are spectacular as they simply borrow existing prints and add English subs (After Midnight comes to mind).

Pro-B

Tattoo / Irezumi has been at the very top of my most wanted list for years, so this is wonderful news. I've never seen it, but it's based on a great 10-page short story that Tanizaki published in 1910 (available in translation in the short story collection entitled Seven Japanese Tales). Despite the short length, it's one of Tanizaki's most evocative tales, and a perfect story for the likes of Masumura to adapt, due to their mutual interest in people dominated by their obsessions. The sensuous Ayako Wakao is a perfect cast. Anyone who enjoys films like Blind Beast and Manji would like this.

From what I gather, the film itself elaborates upon the short story, which it uses as a starting point, not unlike what Hellinger did with Hemingway's The Killers.

I remember BBC Radio 4 did a radio reading of Tattoo a few years ago for its 'Book at Bedtime' strand. I made a tape recording of it, and wonder if this might be licensed from the BBC to turn up as an extra?

It is a shame about the reported quality of the Yume discs. I haven't seen one of their discs yet but I think I might try the Seijun Suzuki releases in March anyway. After all, I decided to get the Kino Taisho Trilogy set despite it having many problems (I was very glad to have the quality issues reported though so I could factor that into my decision of whether to get the set, which I did just so I could check out the films!)

Along with the Masumura films, what I'm most interested is their upcoming re-releases of Tokyo Drifter and Branded To Kill. I've been holding off on the Criterions for better looking releases. Anyone know of any sites the regularly review Yume releases.

DVD Times reviews of Fighting Delinquents and The Flowers and the Angry Waves. I'm quite happy with Flowers.

HMV are confirming Yume are releasing Kurosawa's Madadayo. Their website is still appalling unfortunately. Hopefully they will update soon enough.

Did anyone pick up the Yume Branded to Kill? Did Suzuki have anything interesting to say in the interview?

pro-bassoonist wrote:Just a quick warning: I had Yume's release of Red Angel for review and the company is not exactly known for providing top-transfers. Their disc was NTSC-PAL poorly converted print with plenty of ghosting.

Their PAL-PAL releases on the other hand are spectacular as they simply borrow existing prints and add English subs (After Midnight comes to mind).

I reviewed Tattoo and Santo in the Wax Museum for Sight & Sound, but ended up ditching the latter as the transfer was so dreadful (one of the worst NTSC-PAL jobs that I've ever seen) that I wasn't comfortable about reviewing it unless I was certain that the check disc reflected the final release. And as I wasn't able to get my hands on the final release, I ended up dropping it altogether.

Tattoo, on the other hand, looked terrific - the colours are a little faded in parts (though the dominant reds still stand out), but otherwise it's anamorphic and sourced from a well-preserved print.

According to the catalogue (in their Kisses DVD), they will release three more Bunuel titles (Daughter Of Deceit, Illusion Travels By Streetcar and River And Death).. Also they will release five titles by Nagisa Oshima (Violence At High Noon, Pleasures of the Flesh, Naked Youth, Night and Fog in Tokyo and The Sun's Burial)!

stephan73 wrote:they will release three more Bunuel titles (Daughter Of Deceit, Illusion Travels By Streetcar and River And Death)

Good news, since Daughter of Deceit and River and Death are the other two titles that Alter released in Mexico without English subs.

Unfortunately, it's worth mentioning that, as far as I can tell, their previous Bunuel releases were NTSC->PAL ports. Not bad of their kind, but still exhibiting some ghosting. (I'm basing this mainly on Great Madcap, which also didn't get English subs in Mexico.) At any rate, it's just good to finally have these in English-friendly versions.

stephan73 wrote:According to the catalogue (in their Kisses DVD), they will release three more Bunuel titles (Daughter Of Deceit, Illusion Travels By Streetcar and River And Death).. Also they will release five titles by Nagisa Oshima (Violence At High Noon, Pleasures of the Flesh, Naked Youth, Night and Fog in Tokyo and The Sun's Burial)!

Even if these are indifferent transfers, this is very exciting news. Thanks for the heads up!

FSimeoni wrote:HMV are confirming Yume are releasing Kurosawa's Madadayo.

Also The Quiet/Silent Duel.

A quick recommendation for Yume's DVD of Yasuzo Masumura's debut Kisses - both the film and the DVD, sourced from a print in virtually flawless condition. Subtitles are optional.

MichaelB wrote:A quick recommendation for Yume's DVD of Yasuzo Masumura's debut Kisses - both the film and the DVD, sourced from a print in virtually flawless condition. Subtitles are optional.

What about the customary botchy NTSC->PAL practice? Still in use at Yume? Jeez, the Buñuel discs still give me shivers... paid £14 a piece for such transfers

Naked Youth (AKA Cruel Story of Youth) (2/25/08) and The Sun's Burial (3/24/08) are up for preorder on Amazon.co.uk. In an email, a Yume representative told me that the Sun's Burial release is going to be in April, the other three films are still planned for "spring" without a specific release date, and it depends on how the first five sell whether they pursue more Oshima "fall or next year".

Ante up Oshima fans!