Bullets 'n' Babes

Takashi Ishii' neo noir A Night in Nude - Salvation comes to home video in Japan in not one, not two, but three editions.

Theatrical Version DVD
- 127 minute theatrical version

Director's Cut DVD 2 Disc Edition
- 146 minute director's cut
- Bonus DVD with making of, interviews etc.

Director's Cut Blu-Ray 2 Disc Edition
- 146 minute director's cut
- Bonus DVD with making of, interviews etc.

No subs of course. The release date seems unsure, amazon claims January 14th, Forest Plus states February 25th. The latter is probably right as January would be terribly soon.


(From left to right, TC DVD, DC DVD, DC BD)

- http://forest.kinokuniya.co.jp/FreeList ... eField.y=0
- http://www.amazon.co.jp/s?ie=UTF8&searc ... A%E3%81%86

I wasn't entirely convinced by the film's trailer, but I'm looking forward to seeing this.

Toronto J-Film's Chris MaGee's review, praising it as one of the best films of the year.
http://jfilmpowwow.blogspot.com/2010/11 ... ation.html

Official Site:
http://www.nude-ai.com/

Blu Ray


I have this honey on order

Honey

HK DVD coming February 16. Strangely, it notes it will be PAL. No mention which version it will be.
- http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_deta ... ctID=12668

My JP BD caps are here:
- viewtopic.php?f=19&t=5915

And film review here:
- http://sketchesofcinema.wordpress.com/2 ... vation-dc/

Well, I just got the DVD today, and it's 112 minutes long - shorter than either the theatrical version or the director's cut!
Incidentally, I've just been watching it on my Mac using VLC, and I see interlacing lines everywhere. Don't know if I can change the settings or something? Anyhow, I just wanted to know what they're saying, then I can go back to enjoying the excellent Japanese blu ray...

Correction: the box says 112 min., but the player says 151 min...

151? That's 6 minutes longer than the Director's cut...

HungFist wrote:151? That's 6 minutes longer than the Director's cut...

I only watched a few minutes so far, the picture looks disgracefully bad on my computer... I'll have to pop it into my Oppo player this evening and see how the picture looks... The Brutal Hopelessness of Love HK DVD looked pretty awesome, so this one is a real disappointment... Let ya know if it fares better at home...

But yeah, I just went ahead and scrolled the play bar, and from the beginning to the closing credits, it's 151 minutes...

(?)

Well, I played a few minutes of both the HK DVD and the Japanese Blu ray at home, to realize that the Blu ray wasn't all that pristine to begin with - some artifacting or shimmering is apparent on the blood stained walls of the bathroom, for example, and there is a ton of grain, which I imagine is also in the original.... But the Blu ray image is far more detailed and sharp. And it doesn't suffer from the interlacing problems that seem to plague the HK DVD-5. Another thing I really appreciate about Blu ray is that the credits are actually readable rather than the bunch of scrolling gibberish they become in most DVDs.

That's too bad. Brutal Hopelessness HK transfer was terrific indeed.

I wish someone would release the original theatrical cut on BD. I've only seen the Director's Cut (at Nippon Connection, but I have the Japanese BD, too), but from what I can gather from the booklet, the original theatrical version might be better. Ishii's cut over-explains it a bit... not a good thing in a neo noir film.

On the positive side, we get more Hiroko Sato full frontal

I also ordered the Hong Kong dvd, really looking forward to this one. It's been a while since I saw something new from Ishii.
I like a lot of his films like the Flower and Snake ones, Freezer, Gonin and Angel Guts: Red Vertigo, but found The Brutal Hopelessness of Love a bit boring.

I found the first half of Brutal Hopelessness a bit boring, but the rest was quite good. Very nice digi cinematography in that one, too.

My favorite Ishii would be Black Angel Vol. 2 (a really well written yakuza film). I also really like Freeze Me. A Night in Nude, Gonin, Gonin 2, Red Vertigo, Alone in the Night and Black Angel Vol. 1 (more or less in that order) are also good. Didn't care much for Flower & Snake, but I dislike the originals too (except for the last one of the 80's films, which had a kick ass soundtrack).

I've got Original Sin on dvd, but haven't watched it yet.

Agreed on the cinematography in Brutal Hopelessness. I did like the original Flower and Snake by Konuma, but not the eighties ones, I think I thought they were a bit too crude while Konuma kept it a bit more arty, it's been a long time since I watched them though.
I have Black Angel Vol. 1 and 2 at home on dvd, gonna give them a try soon. Would really like to see the original A Night in Nude too.

Black Angel Vol. 1 is a bit mediocre, but Vol. 2 fantastic. Although not as visually stylish as some of Ishii's earlier films, it looks very nice and the screenplay is amazingly good. The storyline is interesting and the characters are terrific. Probably Ishii's best work as screenwriter since Love Hotel.

I also recommend the neo noir films from the early 90's, especially A Night in Nude. Naoto Takenaka stars as " private entrepreneur" Muraki who promises to do anything for his customers as long as it's legal. Usually this means taking someone's dog for a walk, or attending a memorial for someone. Then, a yakuza boss's lover named Nami comes to him claiming she's a tourist who needs a Tokyo guide... The first half an hour is brilliant. Later it becomes a bit more conventional, but it's still rather great, has some ingenius scenes, and looks damn gorgeous. Naoto Takenaka probably gives his best performance in the lead role.

R2J screencaps













(the caps are from the Geneon release. There's also an older R2J, which may be non-anamorphic and worse quality)

Poster

A Night in Nude really looks fantastic. Thanks for the caps.

Started watching the HK A Night in Nude: Salvation dvd, my player says it's 1 hour, 51 minutes and 20 seconds long. So 112 minutes, same as the box says.

mirkoraba wrote:Started watching the HK A Night in Nude: Salvation dvd, my player says it's 1 hour, 51 minutes and 20 seconds long. So 112 minutes, same as the box says.

My mistake! Sorry... I read it as 151 minutes, not 1 hour 51 minutes... apologies! I just finished watching the HK DVD, it's kind of like watching the original through gauze, which is a shame, because half the enjoyment of watching an Ishii film is the extraordinary cinematography... Also realized again how wonderful the soundtrack is...

As for my favorite Ishii as a director, I guess I like Freeze Me and the original Night in Nude the best, but the photography on Brutal Hopelessness of Love is amazing...

I was checking bit and pieces of the theatrical cut on JP Hulu, and it was optically censored! I know Ishii had to cut some scenes for R-15, but was the theatrical cut really optically censored, too? Or just the Hulu stream? The uncensored Director's Cut BD is full bush

And yes, 126 minutes. So did anyone find out what's the thing with the HK DVD? Is it really 112 minutes, or is there a time code error (I've encountered such dvds before where the dvd "timer" simply stops at certain point even though the film keep running after that point).

you might want I ask don brown (ryuganji) as he did the subtitles for the Japanese company,
so will know the film very well...

Saw Ishii's latest, Hello My Dolly Girlfriend, which is in cinemas right now. When I have time to put my thoughts on paper, I will try to explain just how bad it is.


Site + trailer:
http://www.figua-anata.jp/index.html

And Ishii's next, Sweet Whip, will be in cinemas in September.


Site + trailer:
http://www.amai-muchi.jp/index.html

HungFist wrote:Saw Ishii's latest, Hello My Dolly Girlfriend, which is in cinemas right now. When I have time to put my thoughts on paper, I will try to explain just how bad it is.

Here we go:

"Takashi Ishii officially joins the dirty old men club."
- http://sketchesofcinema.wordpress.com/2 ... irlfriend/



edit: below is a mini-review for those who don't have patience to read full reviews

Hello My Dolly Girlfriend (Japan, 2013) [Cinema] – 2/5
Takashi Ishii officially joins the dirty old men club. Though know for having a thing for sex and violence – and sexual violence – his latest is a shameless otaku epic like no other. The doll-come-alive love story goes straight for the rapes and fan service: the girl spends half of the time bottomless, including when kicking ass with roundhouse kicks, and the hero has sex with her for the first time before she even comes alive. What is missing from Ishii is that brilliant direction and screenwriting that produced a number of gems in the 80’s and 90’s (Love Hotel, 1985 ; Original Sin, 1992 ; Black Angel Vol. 2, 1999). Instead the pic runs out of steam before halfway, and becomes a never-ending series clumsy fantasies, ridiculous “satire”, and boobs. Digital mosaic courtesy of Japan’s film censorship accompanies most of the film.

Ishii's filmography in a nutshell

Masterclass
Original Sin (1992)
Black Angel - Vol. 2 (1999)
Love Hotel (1985) (screenplay)

Strong Efforts
A Night in Nude (1993)
A Night in Nude: Salvation (2010)
Alone in the Night (1994)
Freeze Me (2000)
Gonin (1995)
Gonin 2 (1996)
Angel Guts: Red Vertigo (1988)

One Time View
Brutal Hopelessness of Love (2007)
Black Angel - Vol. 1 (1997)

Skip
Flower and Snake (2000)
Hello My Dolly Girlfriend (2013)

Not Seen
- Flower and Snake 2 (2005)
- Gekka no ran (1991)
- Angel Guts 6 (1994)
- Sweet Whip (2013)

HungFist wrote:Here we go:

"Takashi Ishii officially joins the dirty old men club."
- http://sketchesofcinema.wordpress.com/2 ... irlfriend/

That's unfortunate but not very surprising. Unlike you I didn't like A NIGHT IN NUDE: SALVATION, which started strong but disintegrated for me before the first act was over. The last film of his I liked was FREEZE ME some 13 years ago. It seems like he just lost what made him great since then. I wonder if it may have something to do with the death of his wife in 2000, while he was making FREEZE ME. He talks about how hard that was for him on the commentary that can be found on the German DVD from I-ON.

Oh, and for the record, my personal Takashi Ishii masterclass looks like this:

Gonin
A Night in Nude
Black Angel - Vol. 2

I didn't know about his wife's death.

And I agree, Freeze Me was the last really good Ishii film. I ended up buying it twice - first the Korean dvd which turned out to be a port of the US dvd - then the R2J just because the English language credits (OP and ED) on the KR/US pissed me off to no end. Picture quality is about the same in both.

Fantastic Ishii tribute (NSFW):
http://vimeo.com/74333931

(via logboy and jason gray)

anyone know what happened to the dvd releases of ishii's films in HK? 'night in nude' came out 18 months ago and is already OOP. i'd quite like to go back and pick up the more recent 'flower and snake' trilogy, which i believe came out in a set of 3 discs (as well as the individual ones) but i can't find that either. any more obscure places to pick up HK discs?

logboy wrote:i'd quite like to go back and pick up the more recent 'flower and snake' trilogy, which i believe came out in a set of 3 discs (as well as the individual ones) but i can't find that either. any more obscure places to pick up HK discs?

Are you sure they released the whole trilogy in HK? The first two (the Ishii films) yes, but also the third (by Yusuke Narita)?

The Ishii ones are still available:
http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_deta ... uctID=5910
http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_deta ... uctID=6885

Perhaps you are mixing with this box set, which has the '74 one + the 80's films:
http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_deta ... uctID=8740