Over the past year or so Cinema Epoch have quietly built themselves into one tasty little boutique label for fans of unusual film, particularly of the Asian variety, and the menu just expanded considerably. The company picked up a fistful of classic titles at the recent Cannes Marche Du Film and will be bringing all of them to DVD in 2009 with brand new anamorphic transfers taken from new prints of the films. What have they got?
BAD GIRL MAKO (Furyo Shojo Mako) (1971) Director: Koreji Kurahara Cast: Junko Natsu Cult classic from Nikkatsu Studios. Patronized by a gang ruling the city, Mako delinquently plays around a nightclub everynight with her bad company. When her lover Hideo is murdered by the gang, Mako swears vengeance on all of those responsible.
TALE OF SORROW AND SADNESS (Hishu Monogatari) (1977)
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Cast: Kyoko Enami, Yoshio Harada, Masumi Okada
Seijun Suzuki's sole directorial effort from the 1970s follows a professional model poised for success in the golfing magazine fashion world. Pure Suzuki madness ensues when she is confronted by a sexy female blackmailer.
YELLOW FANGS (Rimeinzu: Utsukushiki yuusha-tachi) (1990)
Director: Sonny Chiba/Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Bunta Sugawara
Yuki's family is killed by a huge maneating bear, and her childhood friend Eiji and his fellow hunters set off in search of the murderous beast. Although she cannot join them as women are forbidden from entering the mountains, she is determined to pursue a perilous quest for revenge. Based on a true story.
THE HEARTBREAK YAKUZA (Saraba itoshiki hito yo) (1987)
Director: Masato Harada
Cast: Hiromi Go, Mariko Ishihashi, Kazuya Kimura, Koichi Sato
A precursor to John Woo's "The Killer" about an up and coming Yakuza member who accidentally blinds a childhood friend during a shootout. An impressive early work by director Masato Harada. The Japanese title was later used as a Sony Playstation game.
Roaming outside of Asia a bit they've also picked up Polish thriller Palimpsest.
Actually, just one of these is from Nikkatsu - BAD GIRL MAKO. In fact, the last film made by Nikkatsu Studios before they switched entirely over to Roman Porno. It was produced under the auspices of a short-lived studio collaboration called "Dai-nichi" - Daiei and Nikkatsu combined forces since both were facing serious financial pressures from the new popularity of television, and declining box office figures. After the short period of Dai-nichi's existence, Daiei declared bankruptcy and Nikkatsu switched genres.
The other titles acquired by Cinema Epoch are from Shochiku Studios.
Criterion already owns SEASON OF HEAT (aka THE WARPED ONES) and THE VELVET HUSTLER, and they just signed a deal to pick up an additional group of Nikkatsu Action titles this month - keep your eyes peeled for an official announcement coming soon.
Email them via their website if you want them to release the titles they already own; they've been sitting on them for literally years.
Thanks Marc. That's great news!!
These movies deserve to be out there for everyone to see.