Third Window Films Release Shinya Tsukamoto’s “Fires on the Plain 野火” (2014) on September 11th

Third Window Films will add Shinya Tsukamoto’s last film, Fires on the Plain to their catalogue of titles further making their releases the definitive editions! Fires on the Plain is an astonishing war film because of its relentlessly dwells on death and destruction and shows the pointlessness of war and the way it dehumanises people through a series of gruelling actions (gory battle scenes, murder, suicide, and worse) broken up by suspenseful periods of non-action in the beautiful jungle environs of the Philippines.

The film is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Shohei Ooka and Kon Ichikawa’s seminal 1959 war film and for director Shinya Tsukamoto it was a passion project he spent ten years bringing to life. It may be a war film but it fits in perfectly with his oeuvre since he has made films full of body-horror and he loves to explore the psychologically twisted aspects of human nature. Just watch his hyper-violent horror films like Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) and dark dramas like Vital (2003) and A Snake of June (2003) and lets not forget Ichi the Killer and Nightmare Detective. Despite the fearsome reputation of the films… well…

I met Shinya Tsukamoto before this movie was screened and he was remarkably laid back. I didn’t get the chance to interview him but I did get my picture taken with him and an autograph which lies safely in a DVD case… I have reviewed a lot of his films and you can see which ones be looking at my profile of the director. I pulled this information from my review of the film and information from Third Window Films. I hope this helps!

Fires on the Plain        

Fires on the Plain Film Poster

野火   「Nobi」

Duration: 87 mins.

Release Date: July 25^th 2015 Seen at Raindance

Director: Shinya Tsukamoto

Writer: Shinya Tsukamoto (Screenplay), Shohei Ooka (Original Novel)

Cast: Shinya Tsukamoto, Lily Franky, Tatsuya Nakamura, Yuko Nakamura, Dean Newcombe, Yusaku Mori,

Website   IMDB

The film Fires on the Plain takes place during the closing stages of the war. The Americans are invading Leyte Island in the Philippines and are hot on the heels of demoralised soldiers of the Japanese army, all of whom are looking to evacuate from the island. We see their increasingly desperate struggle from the perspective of an army conscript named Tamura (Shinya Tsukamoto) who is sick with tuberculosis.

He is forced into the field with a grenade by a commander who cannot waste resources on keeping a dying man alive and suggests Tamura blows himself up. Tamura doesn’t want to give up so easily and clings to life. He wanders around the jungle and bounces between broken platoons and brutal battles as everybody heads to the port at Palompon to be evacuated to Cebu but it is a journey that will lead him down a dark path where he will have to hold on to his humanity as he encounters betrayal, extreme violence, and worse…

Japan / 2015 / 87 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / HD / Colour

Out as a  DUAL FORMAT DVD & BLURAY 
September 11th, 2017

Special Features:
Dual format DVD & BLURAY
1 hour extensive making of
Audio commentary by Tom Mes, author of “Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto”
First 1000 copies come with LIMITED EDITION slipcase illustrated by Mathieu Bablet

Terror-Cotta to Release “Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell” AKA “The Japanese Evil Dead” on April 24th

It looks like over-the-top splatter fun and it lasts 62 minutes so the balance sounds about right when compared to the overly-long and incredibly gory splatter-fests released by Sushi-Typhoon (some of which I reviewed during a Summer of Splatter – that burnt me out in terms of Japanese horror films…).

Reviews for this one from horror aficionados such as Ken Wynne over at Attack from Planet B, are glowing:

“Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell meshes the SFX style of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s cult horror Hausu (1977) with the comedy and splatter associated with Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead series.”

It’s well worth reading the rest of the review not least because it has more information on the director who runs his own movie site. Terror-cotta are really getting behind this one by including a lot of interesting extras such as two “behind-the-scenes” clips and a step-by-step look at the work of Graham Humphreys did in making the cover for this. He is a legendary horror movie poster/VHS cover illustrator (THE EVIL DEAD, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) and his work here hits the mark. There are also the original Japanese trailers, an extensive behind-the-scenes photo gallery and two ‘making of’ video clips.

The film will be released on April 24th and this will be the first time it is available on DVD with English subtitles.

Third Window Films Release the Tetsuya Mariko film “Destruction Babies” on April 10th

The next home movie release from Third Window Films Destruction Babies,. It was released last year in Japan and cropped up in UK cinemas after it was secured a place on the programme at this year’s Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme. I haven’t seen this one but fellow movie bloggers have. Here’s a snippet of a review from Windows on Worlds, a site run by a writer named Hayley who knows a lot about Japanese cinema:

“Oblique, ambiguous, and soaked in blood, Destruction Babies is a rebel yell for a forlorn hope, as raw as it is disturbing.”

Third Window Films Release Ruined Heart

The latest Third Window Film release caught my attention earlier this year because it saw the collaboration between Wong Kar-Wai’s favourite cinematographer Christopher Doyle (the man responsible for the look for Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, Chungking Express) and the awesome actor Tadanobu Asano (Vital, Watashi no Otoko, Ichi the Killer, Survive Style 5+).

The film is a gangster flick which looks stylish and involves Asano falling for a gangster’s moll played by Mexican star Nathalia Acevedo (Post Tenebras Lux) and the two going on the run. They are working with the Phillipine director Khavn (Mondomanilla) and music is provided by German synth-pop duo Stereo Total. Long time readers will remember that I wrote about this when Asano and Stereo Total were at Nippon Connection earlier this year when trio played a concert and attended the screening of the film. Here are the details!

Third Window Films Release Fukuchan of Fukufuku Flats on July 13th

Fukuchan of Fukufuku Flats is one of my favourite films of all time and it made my top ten list of films I saw in 2014. It has a story that is really, really funny, poignant and quirky and the characters are all loveable.

I am a fan of the director Yosuke Fujita and I met him at last year’s Raindance International Film Festival before a screening of the film and talked to him where I explained that I loved his first film Fine, Totally Fine and I found I relate to his characters, all of whom are 20/30-somethings drifting along in life (kinda like me). We talked comedy and his background and then I saw Fukuchan and loved it (especially the characters and enka song used in the end credits – video at the bottom). It has an awesome performance by Miyuki Oshima who has excellent comic support from Yoshiyoshi Arakawa.

Third Window Films Releases Takashi Miike Film Lesson of Evil

Third Window Films will release Lesson of Evil on September 28^th and I have had mine on pre-order since it became available on day one. I’ll wait until I get it before I review it but I am anticipating a barn-storming bit of entertainment. It’s a title I have kept track of ever since it played at the Rotterdam film festival and I was excited by the buzz because the reviews pointed to it as evidence that he was going back to his roots in gory horror and action titles and those are the films I first go to know him by. The film is based on a book written by Yusuke Kishi, an award winning novelist who specialises in horror and stars a lot of great actors.

Also, awesome DVD case!

Here are the release details:

LESSON OF EVIL

A film by Takashi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins, For Love’s Sake)

Japan / 2012 / 129 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour

Third Window Films Release Japanese American Culture Clash Comedy Sake-Bomb

Sake-Bomb                                                                            

Running Time: 82 mins

UK Release Date: August 25th, 2014

Release Date: May 24^th, 2014 (Japan)

Director: Junya Sakino

Writer: Jeff Mizushima (Screenplay),

Starring: Gaku Hamada. Eugene Kim, Marlane Barnes, Josh Brodis, Samatha Quan, Hiroyuki Watanabe

Third Window Films are going to release Sake-Bomb at the end of August. I saw Sake-Bomb and interviewed its director at last year’s Raindance Film Festival, well ahead of its release in Japan. I wasn’t totally enamoured with the film but it is well-done and other critics have loved it. Here are the details:

Third Window Films Release For Loves Sake on DVD & Blu-Ray

Long time readers of the blog will remember that I attended last years BFI London Film Festival and saw For Love’s Sake. My review was positively overflowing with love, praise and fervour for the film and it landed at number 2 in my Top 10 Films of 2012. I can still remember whole swathes of the film and how I felt during the screening. When I found out that Third Window Films was releasing it I was rather pleased and I highly, highly (very, very highly) recommend it. Enough from me, here’s the details:

 

FOR LOVE’S SAKE

Director: Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, One Missed Call, Audition, Ninja Kids!!!)

 Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki (Villain, Tokyo Family, Tokyo!, Dororo)

Emi Takei (Rurouni Kenshin)
Sakura Ando (Love Exposure, Our Homeland, Penance)

Japan / 2012 / 134 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour

Out on Double-disc DVD & Blu-ray 

June 10th, 2013

DVD and Blu-ray Special Features
Anamorphic Widescreen transfer with 5.1 Surround Sound
Making Of, Skip to a Song Selection, Theatrical Trailer

 

Takashi Miike, the director of ’13 Assassins’, ‘Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai’ and ‘Audition’ brings us as Bollywood-style musical action/comedy/love story!
 
Not exactly a director that plays along with genre rules, the prolific Takashi Miike now takes his talent in genre bending to the pure romance world with For Love’s Sake (a.k.a. Ai to Makoto), based on Kajiwara Ikki’s 1973 manga series. An epic story of a rich high school girl who falls in love with a tough young gangster, Miike’s take on the story breaks all the rules with musical numbers (with music by popular music producer Kobayashi Takeshi), tongue-in-cheek humour, and in-your-face violence. Starring Satoshi Tsumabuki (Villain) and Emi Takei (Rurouni Kenshin) as the star-crossed lovers, For Love’s Sake is a unique and incredibly wild ride that will change your definition of what a pure romance can be.

Terracotta Release Live Action Antique Bakery

Terracotta took me by surprise when they released the anime OVA adaptation of Junji Ito’s Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack. Now they bring us another adaptation only this time it is the Korean live-action version of Fumi Yoshinaga’s Antique Bakery. This is not a brand new title for me because I have read the first volume of the manga purely out of curiosity. I was not enamoured with it but then again I am not at all interested in BL titles like some people are…

 

 Here are the details:

 Antique Bakery

                                                       

Dir: Min Kyu-Dong (All About My Wife, Memento Mori) 

Starring: Joo Ji-Hoon, Yoo Ah-In, Kim Jae-Wook, Choi Ji-Ho 

Korea/ 2008/ 109 Mins/ In Korean with English subtitles/ Colour/ Cert 15

 

Out on DVD February 11^th, 2013

DVD Special Features:
Making of ‘ANTIQUE BAKERY’, Korean Trailer, Music Video, Photo Gallery

As an heir to family fortune, Jin-hyuk (Joo Ji-Hoon) has money, the looks, the charm, everything except finding the love of his life. So he sets up a cake shop where women are sure to come. He hires Sun-woo (Kim Jae-Wook), a talented patissier who had a crush on Jin-hyuk back in high school.

Along with an ex-boxing champion Gi-beom (Yoo Ah-In) and a clueless bodyguard Su-young (Choi Ji-Ho), the four unique and handsome young men stir up the quiet neighbourhood at their cake shop, Antique. Although seemingly careless and happy, each of the four men has an unforgettable past that they are afraid to face. But their secrets slowly begin to unravel.

TETSUO: THE IRON MAN and TETSUO II: BODY HAMMER Release Details

Third Window Films are all set to release three Shinya Tsukamoto films next month. The first two major titles are Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer. These are genuine cyberpunk classics which showcase Tsukamoto’s creativity, dark imagination, and energy. The really exciting thing for cinephiles is the fact that this package comes complete with some of Tsukamoto’s earliest works and with a high definition transfer supervised by the man himself. Here is the information:

 

TETSUO: THE IRON MAN
TETSUO II: BODY HAMMER

A film by Shinya Tsukamoto (Kotoko, Snake of June, Vital)
Out on DVD October 8th, 2012

Two of the most talked-about Japanese cult films of all time makes their way onto a double-disc blu-ray set for the first time in the world with a brand new high definition transfer supervised by Shinya Tsukamoto!
TETSUO: THE IRON MAN

A strange man known only as the “metal fetishist”, who seems to have an insane compulsion to stick scrap metal into his body, is hit and possibly killed by a Japanese “salaryman”, out for a drive with his girlfriend. The salaryman then notices that he is being slowly overtaken by some kind of disease that is turning his body into scrap metal, and that his nemesis is not in fact dead but is somehow masterminding and guiding his rage and frustration-fueled transformation.

TETSUO II: BODY HAMMER

More of a companion piece to Tetsuo: The Iron Man than a sequel, Tetsuo II: Body Hammer sees Tsukamoto’s disturbing vision of a world populated by man-machines explode into a stunning colour interpretation.

For a taste of the madness, here is the trailer.

This 2 disc blu-ray and DVD set will include a brand new exclusive interview with Shinya Tsukamoto as well as the first English-subtitled release in the world of his 45 minute pre-Tetsuo student film ‘The Adventures of Electric Rod Boy’ which has also been remastered.

The release will feature both a slipcase as well as a reversible sleeve so fans can choose whether they’d rather have an image from Tetsuo I or II on the front of their box.

 

Tetsuo: The Iron Man – Japan / 1989 / 67 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / B&W / 16mm

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer – Japan / 1992 / 83 minutes / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour / 16mm

DVD/BLU-RAY Special Features:

New High Definition Transfer supervised by Shinya Tsukamoto
Exclusive interview with Shinya Tsukamoto
‘The Adventures of Electric Rod Boy’ – Shinya Tsukamoto’s early film
New UK Trailer
Japanese Theatrical Trailers for both Tetsuo I & II