Love for 35mm (or 16mm / 8mm) prints

[HungFist]

You notice a bunch of great 70's genre films, most of which you have already seen, are playing in a theatre on 35mm within a few hours flight distance. You immediately try to clear your schedule and gather the money for cheap flights. And you’re pretty fucking stoked about it!

Anyone recognize the feeling?

Then you notice that one of the five films you wanted to see will actually screen from a new digital print instead 35mm. You think aloud "fuck those motherfucking assholes, I'll never come to your piece of shit theatre".

Anyone recognize the feeling?

Yours truly
Hung Fist


The films screening in Tokyo next weekend:

Aesthetics of a Bullet (1973) (35mm) (not seen)
Female Delinquent: A Docu-Drama (1977) (35mm) (seen before)
Path of the Beast (1980) (35mm) (seen before)
Oh Women! A Dirty Song (1981) (35mm) (seen before)



Flights reserved!!!

[Shingster]

When did you become a hardcore videophile Hung? Have you seen Taifu Club theatrically already? If not I'd be there in a heartbeat! If the scan was 4k or higher and not been remastered by idiots then I'd expect the digital quality to be something of a revelation if you've only caught the old r2j DVD in the past! Last year I caught a 4k screening of Battleship Potemkin with Michael Nyman conducting and it looked pretty glorious!

[HungFist]

The funny thing is, I'm not a hardcore videophile, at least not with home video. During the past 5 or 6 years I've just been seeing so many 35mm prints on festivals and in theaters that I've came to realize they have their own aura. They look better (different), and they especially feel better. Something the digital projections don't quite achieve. Sure, I've still gone see some Hollywood classics in digital projections in the local cinema (The Godfather, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Great Escape etc.), but they feel more like Blu-Ray +.

35mm prints on the other hand give you the feeling that you are seeing films in their original format. It's also something you gotta work for, rather than download off the net or see on youtube like the kid next door...(maybe this is elitism, but then be it). I was blown away by Argento's Deep Red on 35mm, and even Castellari's 1990: The Bronx Warriors felt much better on a slightly scratched film print than on DVD. Same with Tetsuo, which totally rocked...

I'd pay a small fortune to see Blade Runner on 35mm.

And no, I haven't seen Taifu Club in theater. Sure, if they had DCP here in Sapporo I'd still go see it, but in this case it would be a trade off: I'd miss Aesthetics of a Bullet (which is not available on home video in any format) and it would warrant an extra trip to Chiba... I'm still hoping to get another chance to catch it on 35mm some other time because it screens in Tokyo area rather often.

[Shingster]

I would expect those hollywood classics you caught in digital were probably liberally "remastered" for digital presentation (I know Raiders of the Lost Ark certainly was!), personally I'd trust the Japanese studios to take a more authentic approach - for instance I'd love to see those 6k Ghibli scans up in a digital presentation, judging from the Japanese blus they should look sensational (whether you subscribe to the theory that their colours are too warm or not). The only thing I'd be worried about with a Japanese print is that if they've made it with a future Blu-ray release in mind then it might have been digitally scrubbed and regrained (like some of those classic Shunji Iwai titles look like to me) and there's also the possibility of the colour temp being off to cater for Japanese TVs (which I think are mostly set to 9300K as standard these days). A film like Taifu Club I'd hope would get the reverential treatment in Japan though!

[HungFist]

No Taifu Club this time, but I think I can manage to squeeze in Kazuo Kuroki's Preparation for the Festival (1975), also in the ATG series. Schedule looking like this now.

17:30 Aesthetics of a Bullet (1973) (35mm) (Laputa Asagaya / ATG series)
19:40 Preparation for the Festival (1975) (Laputa Asagaya / ATG series)
10:10 Female Delinquent: A Docu-Drama (1977) (35mm) (Shimbashi Bunka / Roman Theater)
11:30 Oh Women! A Dirty Song (1981) (35mm) (Shimbashi Bunka / Roman Theater)
13:00 Path of the Beast (1980) (35mm) (Shimbashi Bunka / Roman Theater)

Compact one night trip, cheap flights and a night in capsule hotel. Godzilla films are screening in another theater at the same time (all 35mm) but don't have enough time, plus the series already reached mid 80s, so not such a big loss (would have loved to catch a few of the earlier ones on film).

Really looking forward to seeing Oh Women! A Dirty Song and Female Delinquent: A Docu-Drama again. Oh Women is the jaw dropping true accounting of asshole rock star Yuya Uchida, of course played by Uchida himself, and directed by Tatsumi Kumashiro. Tons of sleaze, great rock music, and terrific performances. Female Delinquent is an even bigger lost gem: an ultra grim true story of a delinquent girl, directed by Toshiya Fujita (Lady Snowblood) and packed with wonderful cinematography, great performances and absolutely fabulous rock soundtrack.

Female Delinquent:






Oh Women!






oh, and there's a better looking print of Taifu Club in VoD circulation. Saw a preview on Toei's YouTube channel (I'm not sure if this will view outside Japan... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G5pg9x-o6U )

[HungFist]

I knew I did the right choise last year not wasting my time and money on digital Taifu Club! There's gonna be a 35mm screening in Institut Francais (uhm, yeah) in Tokyo next month.
- http://www.institutfrancais.jp/tokyo/ev ... 506251900/

Laputa Asagaya is having Ryo Ikebe series at the same time, the 1969 Toei ninkyo film Toseinin retsuden is screening around that time. And Cinema Vera, Shinbungeiza, Jinbocho and Meguro Cinema haven't announced their program yet so with a bit of luck should be a worthy trip.



Speaking of Somai, cinema Vera is having a retro for Kei Ijichi who produced lots of his films. They are screening about half of Somai's films: Tonda Couple, PP Rider, Sailor Suit and Machine Gun, Luminous Woman, Lost Chapter of Snow: Passion, Ohikkoshi and The Friends. I'm considering making a quick trip and catch the first 5 if I can. The irritating thing is that PP Rider is a digital print, while the same film is playing on 35mm in Institut Francais one day later! Unfortunately I can't make it there... I'd miss either Lost Chapter of Snow: Passion or Caste of Owls (1963) which playing at National Film Center as part of Toei Jidai Geki series.

[HungFist]

I finally got to see Taifu Club in 35mm at National Film Archive! Was absolutely amazing of course. Fine print too, as always with Film Archive (formerly Film Center).

(the screening I posted about three years ago... missed it. Was supposed to go to Tokyo for Nobuhiko Obayashi all night + Taifu Club but when I found out Obayashi was sold out, I cancelled my trip).

btw, Toei is streaming a new digital version that is too dark and vertically cropped I think, the 35mm was 1.66:1 more or less judging by the eye.

[HungFist]

For the record (not that anyone cares), here's a list of Japanese films from 1954-1999 that I've seen in 35mm.

Toei
Seven Bullets (Nanatsu no dangan) (1959)
Nagurikomi kantai (1960)
Police Department Story 12 (1960)
The Big Gamblers of the Amazon (1961)
Funky Hat Detective (1961)
The Proud Challenge (1962)
Niniroku jiken: Dasshutsu (1962)
Four Sisters (Sanroku) (1962) (16mm)
Castle of Owls (1963)
Violent Street (1963)

Theatre of Life: Hishakaku (1963)
Two Bitches (1964)
Theater of Life - New Hishakaku Story (1964)
Dragon`s Life (1964)
Blind Monk Swordsman (1964)
Tale of Meiji Era Chivalry: Third Generation Boss (1965)
Abashiri Prison: Saga of Homesickness (1965)
Abashiri Prison: Northern Territories (1966)
Tokijiro Kutsukake: Lone Yakuza (1966)
The Secret of the Urn (1966)

Game of Chance (1966)
Kamikaze Man: Duel at Noon (1966)
Four and a Half Mats (Yojôhan monogatari: Shôfu shino) (1966)
The Chivalrous Life (Kyokotsu ichidai) (1967)
Red Peony Gambler (1968)
Red Peony Gambler 2 (1968)
The Fake Game (Ikasama bakuchi (1968))
Army Intelligence 33 (1968)
Ninja's Mark (Shinobi no manji) (1968)
History of the Shogun's Harem (1968)

Hot Springs Massage Geisha (1968)
Memoir of Japanese Assassins (1969)
Horrors of Malformed Men (1969) (thrice)
Inferno of Torture (1969) (thrice)
Orgies of Edo (1969)
Love and Crime (1969) (twice)
Red Peony Gambler 4 (1969)
Killer's Black List (1970)
Bloodstained Clan Honor (1970)
Prisoner's Black List (1970)

Red Peony Gambler 6 (1970)
Red Peony Gambler 7 (1971)
Onsen Mimizu Geisha (1971)
Onsen Suppon Geisha (1972)
Cold Wind Monjiro 2 (1972)
Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion (1972)
Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)
Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973)
Female Prisoner Scorpion: Grudge Song (1973)
Female Yakuza Tale (1973)

Girl Boss: Escape from Reform School (1973)
True Account of Ginza Tortures (1973)
Bodyguard Kiba (1973)
Criminal Woman: Killing Melody (1973)
Sex and Fury (1973)
Bohachi Bushido: Code of the Forgotten Eight (1973) (twice)
Account of the Ando Gang: Killer Younger Brother (1974)
Third Generation Boss (1974)
Oh Wonderful Utamaro (1974)
Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (1974) (twice)

Jeans Blues: No Tomorrow (1974)
School of the Holy Beast (1974)
Military Comfort Woman (Jyûgun ianfu) (1974)
The Street Fighter (1974)
The Executioner 2: Karate Inferno (1974) (twice)
13 Steps of Maki (1975) (twice)
The Defensive Power of Aikido (1975)
Gambling Den Heist (1975)
Graveyard of Honor (1975)
Shitakari Hanjirô: (Maruhi) kannon o sagase (1975)

The Story of a Nymphomaniac (1975)
Bullet Train (1975)
Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975) (thrice)
Karate Bullfighter (1975)
The Great Chase (1975)
Truck Yaro (1975)
Rugby Yaro (1975)
Kigeki Tokudashi: Himo tengoku (1975)
A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (Bakeneko Toruko furo) (1975)
Cops vs. Thugs (1975) (twice)

Yakuza Graveyard (1976)
Okinawa Yakuza War (1976)
Jitsuroku gaiden: Osaka dengeki sakusen (1976) (twice)
Jail Breakers (1976)
Karate Warriors (1976)
Which is Stronger: Karate or the Tiger (1976)
Noboru Ando's Filthy Escape into Sex (1976)
Crazed Beast (1976)
Violent Panic: The Big Crash (1976)
Karate for Life (1977)

Hokuriku Proxy War (1977)
Okinawa 10 Year War (1978)
Tenshi no yokubo (1979)
Shogun's Ninja (1980)
Samurai Reincarnation (1981)
The Young Ramblers (Taiyo no kizuato) (1981)
Roaring Fire (1981) (twice)
Onimasa (1982)
Leave it to Kotaro (1984)
Dolls of Shogun's Harem (1986)

Sukeban Deka: Counter-Attack of the Kazama Sisters (1988)
Kyohansha (1999)

Nikkatsu
The Burmese Harp (1956)
Pigs and Battleships (1961)
The Gambling Monk (1963)
Wandering Gun - Jail-Break Blues (Kenju mushuku datsugoku no blues) (1965)
Carmen from Kawachi (1966)
Tokyo Streetfighting (1967)
Asia-Pol Secret Service (1967)
Diamond of the Andes (Sekido wo kakeru otoko) (1968)
Biographies of Killers (1969)
Yakuza Native Ground (1969)

Rising Dragon's Iron Flesh
Anego (1969)
Women's Police (1969)
Kyoka retsuden shumei tobaku (1969)
Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970) (twice)
Shinjuku Outlaw: Buttobase (1970)
Melody of Rebellion (1970)
Wet Sand in August (1971)
Virgin Blues (1974)
Monster Woman '88 (1988)

Nikkatsu: Roman Porno
Secret Chronicle: Prostitution Market (1972)
Trap of Lust (1973)
Delinquent Girl: Alleycat In Heat (1973)
(Maruhi) Jorô Zankoku Iro-jigoku (1973)
Modern Prostitution: Lust Under Uniform (1974)
Secret Chronicle: She Beast Market (1974)
Love Doll Report: An Adult Toy (1975)
Woman in the Honmoku Brothel (1975)
A Woman Called Sada Abe (1975)
Wet Lust: Opening the Tulip (1975)

True Story of a Woman In Jail: Sex Hell (1975)
Assault! Jack the Ripper (1976)
Runa's Confession: Men Crawling All Over Me (1976)
Watcher in the Attic (1976)
Female Delinquent: A Docu-Drama (1977)
Secret Honeymoon: Rape Train (1977)
Beauty's Exotic Dance: Torture (1977)
Girl's Pleasure: Man Hunting (1977)
Young Beast: Secret Pleasures (1978)
Rape and Death of a Housewife (1978) (twice)

Angel Guts: Red Classroom (1979)
Star of David: Hunting Beautiful Girls (1979) (twice)
Red Violation (1980) (twice)
Rape Ceremony (1980)
Rolling on the Road (1981)
Hakuchu no onna gari (1984)
Love Hotel (1985)

Toho
Seven Samurai (1954)
Car 33 Doesn't Answer (1955)
Rodan (1956)
Bullet Terror (1957)
The Decoy (Datsugokushu) (1957)
Mothra (1961)
Gorath (1962)
Kwaidan (1964)
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Blood and Diamonds (1964)

International Secret Police: A Keg of Powder (1964)
International Secret Police: Key of Keys (1965)
Professional Killer (1968)
Goyokin (1969)
Too Young to Die (1969)
Attack on the Sun (1970)
The Creature Called Man (1970)
Attack in the Sun (1970)
City of Beasts (1970)
Lake of Dracula (1971)

Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman (1971)
Trail of Blood (1972)
The Target of Roses (1972)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Babycart to Hades (1972)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Babycart in Peril (1972)
Lone Wolf & Cub: Babycart in the Land of Demons (1973)
The Blossom and the Sword (1973)
Did the Red Bird Escape? (1973)

Beast Hunt (Yajyu gari) (1973)
Lady Snowblood (1973)
Lady Snowblood 2 (1974)
Demon Spies (1974)
Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (1974)
Lupin the Third: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy (1974)
Failed Youth (1974)
Africa's Light (1975)
Domyaku retto (1975)
Tonda Couple (1980)

Lost Chapter of Snow: Passion (1985)

Shintoho
King of the Ring: The World of Glory (1957)
Queen Bee and the School for Dragons (1960)

Shochiku
Harakiri (1962)
Tokyo Bay (Tokyo wan) (1962)
The Shape of Night (1964)
Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)
Cash Calls Hell (1966)
Secret Agent 101: Bodyguard Murder (1966)
Japan's Zero Zone: Night Watch (1966)
Black Lizard (1968)
Flower and Dragon (1973)
Minato no Yoko, Yohohama, Yokosuka (1975)

Hatakko junjo (1978)
Fall Guy (1982)
Village of Doom (1983)
Shanghai Rhapsody (1984)
Busu (1987)
Ready to Shoot (1990)

Daiei
Wrath of Daimajin (1966)
Zatoichi Challenged (1967)
Certain Killer, A (1967)
Secret Report from a Woman's Prison (1968) (16mm)
Yokai Monsters (1968)
Devil's Temple (1969)
Sleepy Eyes of Death 13: The Full Moon Swordsman (1969)
Sleepy Eyes of Death 14: Fylfot Swordplay (1969)
Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (1970)
Decapitation Island (1970)

Way In, Way Out (Koukousei bancho) (1971)

Kadokawa
G.I. Samurai (1979)
Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (1979)
Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981)
Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983)
Tragedy of W (1984)
The Island Closest to Heaven (1984)

ATG
Aesthetics of a Bullet (1973) (twice)
Preparation for the Festival (1975)
Distant Thunder (1981)
Mermaid Legend (1984)
Taifu Club (1985)

Anime
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Akira (1988) (thrice)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Ocean Waves (1993)
Spriggan (1998)
Perfect Blue (1998)

Others
The Embryo Hunts in Secret (1966)
Akamoru: The Dark, Wild Yearning (Chi ha taiyo yori akai) (1966)
Dark Story of a Sex Crime: Phantom Killer (Aru torima no kokugaku: Gendai sei hanzai ankokuhen) (1969)
Nihon no Sex jyudan: Hihashi nihon hen (1971)
The War of the 16 Year Olds (1973)
Utamaro's World (1977)
Tokyo Daijishin Magnitude 8.1 (1980) (16mm)
Ryuji (1983)
The Mosquito on the Tenth Floor (1983)
Reibyo densetsu (1983) (16mm)

Evil Dead Trap (1988) (twice)
Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? (1993)
Fried Dragon Fish (1993)
A Night in Nude (1993)
Tokyo Fist (1995)
Picnic (1996)
Swallowtail Butterfly (1996)
Pink Salon Hospital: No Pants Nurses (1997)
Hana-Bi (1997)

April Story (1998)
Japanese Hell (1999)

[grim_tales]

You've seen Lone Wolf + Cub and Seven Samurai in 35mm? That must have been amazing!

[HungFist]

You've seen Lone Wolf + Cub and Seven Samurai in 35mm? That must have been amazing!

Yes, and yes

For Lone Wolf, parts 1, 2 and 5 only.

Actually all Lone Wolf films will screen in Tokyo in 35mm again in Laputa Asagaya in Oct-Nov.

[HungFist]

Last weekend Red Peony Gamber 6: Oryu Returns (1970) became the 100th Toei film I see in 35mm (no. 101 was Teruo Ishii's History of the Shogun's Harem from a mind-blowingly beautiful print).