Third Window Films are going to issue a dual-edition DVD/blu-ray release of the 
indie film Melancholic on September 07th with a selection of great extras typical for TWF.
Extra features:
Dual Format (Both DVD and Blu-ray included)
Behind the Scenes
Q&A with director and cast
Melancholic Short Film
Trailer
Here’s the trailer and synopsis and a little extra info:
Third Window Films follow up last month’s release of the ultra-brilliant “Shady” with a more heart-warming human drama about the power of friendship called “The Story of Yonosuke“. As I made clear in my review, I liked it a lot. Here are the release details:
Japan / 2013 / 160 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour
Continue reading “Third Window Films Release The Story of Yonosuke”
The 08th of October 2012 will be a momentous day for Japanese film fans as Third Window Films are going to release three Shinya Tsukamoto films which played a pivotal role in my Shinya Tsukamoto Season.
The first two titles are Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer which stunned me as my reviews show. They are released as part of a 2-disc DVD/Blu-Ray set and this Blu-Ray will be the first time the Tetsuo films have graced the format anywhere in the world. More importantly, Shinya Tsukamoto has been heavily involved with the release which results in a phenomenal set of extras which impressed me so much I felt they merited review themselves. Here are the details:
A film by Shinya Tsukamoto (Kotoko, Snake of June, Vital)
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.
I gave both films 5/5 because I was left flabbergasted by the arresting images, disturbing soundscapes and inventive use of the medium of film. I ended my review for Tetsuo: The Iron Man with the sentence, “If you consider yourself a cinephile willing to push the boundaries of your experiences then buy this film.” I stand by this because the works are just that great and show the power of film and the inventiveness of Shinya Tsukamoto.
Here is the UK trailer:
This 2 disc blu-ray and DVD set includes a brand new exclusive interview with Shinya Tsukamoto that lasts for nearly twenty minutes and goes into detail about how he started making movies, the making of Tetsuo and what film and cyberpunk mean to him. Also included is 45 minute ‘The Adventures of Electric Rod Boy’, an early film Tsukamoto made just before Tetsuo: The Iron Man which is an absolute riot and full of joy and creativity. This is the first English-subtitled release and it has also been remastered.
The release features 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
The third film released by Third Window Films is Kotoko which won the ‘Best Film’ award in the Orrizzonti at the Venice Film Festival last year, the only Japanese Film to ever win that award. When I watched it I was struck by the difference between Tsukamoto’s earliest films as seen in Tetsuo and the way he has changed his style but retained his visual literacy and kept his ability to use the medium of film to convey so many ideas. I described Kotoko as a harrowing film to watch but worth striving for because it is strong emotionally and visually and powered with a strong central performance from Cocco and I gave it 4.5/5.
Here are the details of the release:
A film by Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo, Snake of June, Vital)
Kotoko (Cocco) is a young single mother who lives alone with her baby son. Suffering from an unknown illness that makes her see doubles of people and not knowing which version of the person is real, it severely impacts her day-to-day life, often leading to her lashing out violently. The only time she does not see double is when she is singing. As her situation worsens and she becomes a liability her son Daijiro is taken from her and put in the care of her sister. Kotoko is left alone with her own thoughts and is at a loss as to how to get Daijiro back. Then a man named Tanaka (Tsukamoto) enters her life when he hears her singing on a bus trip and finds something awoken inside himself. Tanaka is a novelist with a hit title called The Man Who Brightened the Moon in bookshops but he leads a lonely life. Despite initial rejections he persists but Kotoko’s mental state is not getting better.
Japan / 2011 / 91 Mins / In Japanese with English subtitles / Colour / HD
DVD/BLU-RAY Special Features:
Exclusive interview with Shinya Tsukamoto
UK Trailer
Japanese Theatrical Trailer
Third Window Films is releasing Yuya Ishii’s “Mitsuko Delivers” on the 9th of July.
Mitsuko Delivers 
Romaji: Hara Ga Kore Nande
Japanese Title: ハラ が コレ なんで
Release Date: 05th November 2011 (Japan)
UK DVD Release Date: 09th May 2012
Running Time: 109 min.
Director: Yuya Ishii
Writer: Yuya Ishii
Starring: Riisa Naka, Aoi Nakamura, Ryo Ishibashi, Shiro Namiki, Miyoko Inagawa, Miyako Takeuchi, Momoka Oono, Yoshimasa Kondo, Yukijiro Hotaru, Keiko Saito
Mitsuko (Naka) is nine-months pregnant, broke and alone in Tokyo. Her parents (serial failed entrepeneurs) think that she’s in America with the baby’s GI father but she’s actually in dire straits as she is forced to move out of her apartment. Despite all of this she remains positive and believes that things will turn out alright. She doesn’t know where she will go but decides to hop into a taxi she cannot pay for and follows a cloud back to the ramshackle working-class alley where she grew up. This place is a relic from the past and it has had the life sucked out o it with the departure of many of its residents, but Mitsuko’s infectious get-up-and-go attitude soon compels the remaining locals to roll up their sleeves and restore the alley to its former glory. Mitsuko has so much to do and so little time before her baby arrives but she will find a new assertiveness and help those floundering around her.
DVD Special Features:
Making Of, Theatrical Trailer
Continue reading “Third Window Films Releases Mitsuko Delivers on DVD”
Miki Satoshi who directed Instant Swamp and Turtles are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers is getting another film released courtesy of Third Window Films:
Adrift in Tokyo
DVD Release Date: 27th February 2012
Running Time: 101 mins.
Director: Miki Satoshi
Writer: Miki Satoshi
Starring: Jo Odagiri, Kyoko Koizumi, Achiro Fukuhara, Eri Fuse, Ryo Iwamatsu, Yutaka Matsushige, Reona Hirota, Yoshizumi Ishihara, Ittoku Kishibe, Kumiko Aso
Synopsis
Fumiya (Jo Odagiri) is broke and lazy. He has been a university student for 8 years and owes money to loan sharks and one day a man named Fukuhara comes to collect. Unfortunately Fumiya cannot pay so Fukuhara makes a proposition: He will cancel the debt as long as Fumiya agrees to walk with him across Tokyo to the police station of Kasumigaseki, where he intends to turn himself in for a crime he deeply regrets. Fumiya accepts the deal which is the start of a journey which will lead them to various unusual encounters, most of all with themselves.
Continue reading “Third Windows Film Releases Adrift in Tokyo on DVD”
Winner of multiple awards including Best Director and Direction at the 33rd Moscow International Film Festival and Best Actor for Juno Mak at 15th Puchon Film Festival, this dark and bloody Hong Kong thriller aims to tell the killer’s side of the story. While these awards are well deserved viewers who have seen recent South Korean serial killer films will find little new here however the film is less interested in forging new ground within the horror genre and more concerned with charting the all-consuming desire for revenge and this is where it succeeds.
Police are investigating a serial killer who targets pregnant women. The media have labelled him ‘The Dissector’ and are running sensationalist headlines such as “Pregnant woman dissected alive, husband put to death in 100 degrees boiling water”. After investigating the scene of a murder two detectives, Jeff (Chin Siu Ho) and Kwok Wah (Tony Ho) decide to comb the area and soon find a known suspect, Chan Kit (Juno Mak), and bring him in for questioning. Chan Kit remains silent throughout the physically brutal interrogation and is released without charge. If Chan Kit is not the killer, then who is? Jeff and Kwok Wah find themselves caught in a deadly investigation.
To call this a horror film is a stretch. Although it utilises elements of the horror genre and never shrinks from offering brutality it feels tame compared to some of the recent offerings from other regions. Indeed what the film bears out is an investigation of revenge powered by a strong central performance from Juno Mak.
Third Window Films has announced the DVD release date of the multi-award winning Japanese film Villain.
UK DVD Release Date: 5th of December 2011
Running time: 140 mins
Certificate: 15
Director: Lee Sang-il
Starring: Eri Fukatsu, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Hikari Mitsushima, Masaki Okada,
DVD EXTRA FEATURES:
Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer with 5.1 Surround Sound and optional English subtitles
1 Hour long ‘Making Of’
Discussion between director Lee Sang-il and actor Satoshi Tsumabuki
Theatrical Trailer
I personally liked this film a lot as my review shows and I wasn’t alone as it was nominated for 15 Japanese Academy Awards and won for Best Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress Supporting Actor and Music Score, beating out the magnificent 13 Assassins! Just look at the talent involved:
Eri Fukatsu: one of Japan’s best actresses and the lead in the current number one film in the Japanese box office, Once in a Blue Moon. For her performance in Villain she won the Best Actress at the Montreal Film Festival.
Third Window Films is all set to release Underwater Love: A Pink Musical on the 21st of November
Dir. Shinji Imaoka
Starring: Sawa Masaki, Yoshiro Umezawa, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Emi Nishimura, Ai Narita
Cinematographer: Christopher Doyle
Running Time 87 mins.
Continue reading “Underwater Love: A Pink Musical DVD Release”
Third Window Films are all set to release the wonderful Yuya Ishii film Sawako Decides next week on the 3rd of October. I highly recommend this brilliant comedy which stars the wonderful Hikari Mitsushima. It is a great observational comedy that examines the odder aspects of life in modern Japan with hilarious cracked personalities everywhere and it has Hikari Mitsushima (just thought I’d remind you!). The DVD comes with a nice choice of extras as well. You can order it from Amazon today.
(Japan 2009, 112 Mins, In Japanese with English subtitles, Colour 35mm)
Director: Yuya Ishii
Starring: Hikari Mitsushima as Sawako
Masashi Endo as Kenichi
Kira Aihara as Kayoko
Kotaro Shiga as Sawako’s father Tadao
Ryo Iwamatsu as Nobuo
Cert. 12
– Synopsis –
Sawako has lived in Tokyo for five years, is working her fifth office job, and is dating her fifth boyfriend, who is also her boss at the office. Her life with Kenichi, her boyfriend, and his daughter from a previous marriage, Kayoko, feels like a “compromise,” and she endures each day feeling distressed about her career and love life.
One day, she receives word that her father, Tadao, who runs a freshwater clam processing business in her hometown, has fallen ill. There is a reason why Sawako would rather not go back home so easily, but she reluctantly decides to return at Kenichi’s insistence. But Kenichi, who had actually quit his job shortly before Sawako, uses this opportunity to come along with Sawako to her hometown with his daughter in tow.
Thus Sawako’s ordeals continue. Still, she takes over her father’s clam processing company and begins to work there, though she slowly starts to take charge of the situation and form a new life for herself
DVD BONUS FEATURES:
Special message from director Yuya Ishii
Exclusive interview with director Yuya Ishii
Theatrical Trailer
“You will be taking another test. If you don’t answer students will die one by one. You must solve all questions.”
Death Bell, the first release from Terracotta’s new horror imprint Terror-Cotta, is a mash-up of The Whispering Corridors, Battle Royale and Saw with nods to Carrie and Scream. The final result is a film that fails to synthesise any original or shocking horror but remains largely enjoyable due to strong visuals and performances.
A group of students at an elite high school, preparing for mid-term exams (goas) are held captive and forced into a series of sadistic games. The students find themselves plunged into a deadly test where they are picked off one by one and held in impenetrable traps where they must rely on the amazing intellects of their classmates to be released, every time a question is answered incorrectly, a classmate meets their torturous, grizzly death. When it emerges that the students are being picked off according to a pattern, pupil Kang Yi-na (Nam Gyu-Ri) discovers how much time she has to stay alive, and solve the puzzles to unmask their vicious killer, before the Death Bell rings for her.
