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Release: July 12, 2016

$6.99

Description

Product Description One of the great lost masterpieces of Japanese animation, never before officially released in the U.S., BELLADONNA OF SADNESS is a mad, swirling, psychedelic light-show of medieval tarot-card imagery with horned demons, haunted forests and La Belle Dame Sans Merci with J.R.R. Tolkien influences. The last film in the Animerama trilogy produced by the godfather of Japanese anime & manga, Osamu Tezuka and directed by his longtime collaborator Eiichi Yamamoto (ASTRO BOY and KIMBA THE WHITE LION), BELLADONNA unfolds as a series of spectacular still watercolor paintings that bleed and twist together. A young woman, Jeanne (voiced by Aiko Nagayama) is assaulted by the local lord on her wedding night. To take revenge, she makes a pact with the Devil himself (voiced by Tatsuya Nakadai, from Akira Kurosawa's RAN) who appears as a sprite and transforms her into a black-robed vision of madness and desire. Extremely transgressive, BELLADONNA is fueled by a mind-blowing Japanese psych rock soundtrack by noted avant-garde jazz composer Masahiko Satoh. The film has been newly restored by Cinelicious Pics using the original 35 mm camera negative and sound elements and including over 8 minutes of surreal footage cut from the negative. On par with Rene Laloux's FANTASTIC PLANET and Ralph Bakshi's WIZARDS as an LSD-stoked 1970s head trip, BELLADONNA marks a major rediscovery for animation fans. If Led Zeppelin had a favorite film, this would be it. In other words, Stairway to Hell. Special Features: New Video Interviews with Director Eiichi Yamamoto, Art Director Kuni Fukai, and Composer Masahiko Satoh Red Band Trailer, Green Band Trailer, Original Trailer 16 page booklet Review A Bewitching Masterpiece. ---Glenn Kenny, The New York Times See Belladonna now or be damned to perdition! ---Robert Brenner, The Huffington Post Belladonna Of Sadness is a major re-discovery. ---Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, A.V. Club

Release: May 28, 2024

$8.99(Not Free for Subscribers)

Description

Japanese language, English subtitles, 1080p high definition, Region A disc. All region 4K UHD disc. THE STUNNING CULT CLASSIC ON BOTH BLU-RAY AND 4K ULTRA HD! Jeanne had hoped that her wedding day would be a dream―a shining light through the oppressive fog of Dark Age France. Yet, that fantasy was horrifically ripped apart on her wedding night. While trying to survive in her waking nightmare, Jeanne encounters an impish apparition who offers to grant her power beyond her wildest wishes. But as the belladonna’s influence grows, so does the tragedy lying in wait to trample her. The great Eiichi Yamamoto weaves a tapestry of harrowing horrors and psychedelically sexual visions in the final entry of Mushi Production’s Animerama trilogy.

Release: January 28, 2025

$7.99

Description

*This listing is for the standard edition version and does NOT come with a limited edition slipcase!* Fresh out of prison, a broken man reluctantly takes a job to kill three men, but changes his mind when some gangsters target the same men. He then tries to find out why the men are being targeted in the first place. Bonus Features: 1. Fighting Spirit - New video essay by TokyScope author Patrick Macias 2. Bitter Little World - New video talk by Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras author Odie Henderson 3. 16 page booklet with a new essay by writer, filmmaker and film programmer Steve Macfarlane

Release: October 4, 2011

$7.99

Description

Following the collapse of his clan, an unemployed samurai (Ran's Tatsuya Nakadai) arrives at the manor of Lord Iyi, begging to commit ritual suicide on his property. Iyi's clansmen, believing the desperate ronin is merely angling for a new position, try to force him to eviscerate himself— but they have underestimated his beliefs and his personal brand of honor. Winner of the 1963 Cannes Film Festival's Special Jury Prize, Harakiri, directed by Masaki Kobayashi (The Human Condition) is a fierce evocation of individual agency in the face of a corrupt and hypocritical system.

Release: June 8, 2021

$7.99

Description

This mammoth humanist drama by Masaki Kobayashi is one of the most staggering achievements of Japanese cinema. Originally filmed and released in three installments of two parts each, the nine-and-a-half-hour The Human Condition, adapted from Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kaji—played by the Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai—from labor camp supervisor to Imperial Army soldier to Soviet prisoner of war. Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and again finds his morals to be an impediment rather than an advantage. A raw indictment of Japan’s wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashi’s riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best. THREE-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural (Parts 1–4) and 4.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio (Parts 5 and 6) soundtracks • Excerpt from a 1993 Directors Guild of Japan interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, conducted by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda • Interview from 2009 with actor Tatsuya Nakadai • Appreciation of Kobayashi and The Human Condition from 2009 featuring Shinoda • Trailers • PLUS: An essay by critic Philip Kemp

Release: June 8, 2021

$7.99

Description

This mammoth humanist drama by Masaki Kobayashi is one of the most staggering achievements of Japanese cinema. Originally filmed and released in three installments of two parts each, the nine-and-a-half-hour The Human Condition, adapted from Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kaji—played by the Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai—from labor camp supervisor to Imperial Army soldier to Soviet prisoner of war. Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and again finds his morals to be an impediment rather than an advantage. A raw indictment of Japan’s wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashi’s riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best. THREE-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural (Parts 1–4) and 4.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio (Parts 5 and 6) soundtracks • Excerpt from a 1993 Directors Guild of Japan interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, conducted by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda • Interview from 2009 with actor Tatsuya Nakadai • Appreciation of Kobayashi and The Human Condition from 2009 featuring Shinoda • Trailers • PLUS: An essay by critic Philip Kemp

Release: June 8, 2021

$7.99

Description

This mammoth humanist drama by Masaki Kobayashi is one of the most staggering achievements of Japanese cinema. Originally filmed and released in three installments of two parts each, the nine-and-a-half-hour The Human Condition, adapted from Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kaji—played by the Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai—from labor camp supervisor to Imperial Army soldier to Soviet prisoner of war. Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and again finds his morals to be an impediment rather than an advantage. A raw indictment of Japan’s wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashi’s riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best. THREE-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural (Parts 1–4) and 4.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio (Parts 5 and 6) soundtracks • Excerpt from a 1993 Directors Guild of Japan interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, conducted by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda • Interview from 2009 with actor Tatsuya Nakadai • Appreciation of Kobayashi and The Human Condition from 2009 featuring Shinoda • Trailers • PLUS: An essay by critic Philip Kemp

Release: August 18, 2009

$6.99

Description

When a warlord dies, a peasant thief is called upon to impersonate him, and then finds himself haunted by the warlord’s spirit as well as his own ambitions. In his late color masterpiece Kagemusha, Akira Kurosawa returns to the samurai film and to a primary theme of his career—the play between illusion and reality. Sumptuously reconstructing the splendor of feudal Japan and the pageantry of war, Kurosawa creates a historical epic that is also a meditation on the nature of power. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES Restored high-definition digital transfer, with DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 soundtrack. Audio commentary by Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince Lucas, Coppola, and Kurosawa, an interview piece from 2005 in which directors George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola discuss Kurosawa and Kagemusha Documentary from 2003 on the making of the film Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity, a piece from 1993 reconstructing Kagemusha through Kurosawa’s paintings and sketches Suntory Whisky commercials made on the set of Kagemusha Gallery of storyboards painted by Kurosawa and images of their realization on-screen Theatrical trailers and teasers PLUS: An essay by scholar Peter Grilli and an interview with Kurosawa by renowned critic Tony Rayns

Release: October 20, 2015

$7.99

Description

Blu-ray. After more than a decade of sober political dramas and social-minded period pieces, the great Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi (The Human Condition) shifted gears dramatically for this rapturously stylized quartet of ghost stories. Featuring colorfully surreal sets and luminous cinematography, these haunting tales of demonic comeuppance and spiritual trials, adapted from writer Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folklore, are existentially frightening and meticulously crafted. This version of Kwaidan is the original three-hour cut, never before released in the United States.

Release: February 16, 2010

$6.99

Description

EPIC DRAMA/ADVENTURE OF A SIXTEENTH CENTURY JAPANESE WAR-LORD AND THE CONFLICT BETWEEN HIM AND HIS THREE SONS. INSPIRED BY 'KING LEAR' AND DIRECTED BY THE LEGENDARY AKIRA KUROSAWA.

Release: November 16, 2021

$8.99(Not Free for Subscribers)

Description

EPIC DRAMA/ADVENTURE OF A SIXTEENTH CENTURY JAPANESE WAR-LORD AND THE CONFLICT BETWEEN HIM AND HIS THREE SONS. INSPIRED BY 'KING LEAR' AND DIRECTED BY THE LEGENDARY AKIRA KUROSAWA.

Release: March 23, 2010

$6.99

Description

Thanks to perhaps the most indelible character in Akira Kurosawa's oeuvre, YOJIMBO surpassed even Seven Samurai in popularity when it was released. The masterless samurai SANJURO, who slyly manipulates two warring clans to his own advantage in a small, dusty village, was so entertainingly embodied by the brilliant Toshiro Mifune, that it was only a matter of time before he returned in a sequel. Made just one year later, SANJURO matches YOJIMBO's storytelling dexterity, yet adds a layer of world-weary pragmatism that brings the duo to a thrilling and unforgettable conclusion.

Release: January 6, 2015

$7.99

Description

Tatsuya Nakadai (Harakiri) and Toshiro Mifune (Yojimbo) star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman plying his craft during the turbulent final days of shogunate rule in Japan, Ryunosuke (Nakadai) kills without remorse or mercy. It is a way of life that ultimately leads to madness. Kihachi Okamoto's swordplay classic is the thrilling tale of a man who chooses to devote his life to evil.

Release: March 23, 2010

$6.99

Description

Thanks to perhaps the most indelible character in Akira Kurosawa's oeuvre, YOJIMBO surpassed even Seven Samurai in popularity when it was released. The masterless samurai SANJURO, who slyly manipulates two warring clans to his own advantage in a small, dusty village, was so entertainingly embodied by the brilliant Toshiro Mifune, that it was only a matter of time before he returned in a sequel. Made just one year later, SANJURO matches YOJIMBO's storytelling dexterity, yet adds a layer of world-weary pragmatism that brings the duo to a thrilling and unforgettable conclusion.