Seijun Suzuki Tsigoineruwaizen Zigeunerweisen DVD Review Seijun Suzuki Tsigoineruwaizen Zigeunerweisen DVD Review

(aka 'Tsigoineruwaizen')

Japan 1980

Departing from his signature stylistically-infused Yakuza pulpy drama's Seijun Suzuki concocts another masterpiece of psychedelic cinema. Titled after a Pablo Sarasate violin composition that haunts the film both narratively and aurally, Zigeunerweisen (aka Tsigoineruwaizen) was a huge hit in Japan. Suzuki's naturalistic, yet twisted and bizarre, approach helped reincarnate himself as the modern auteur of Japanese Art cinema. Set in the 1920's and saturated with decadence and nihilism, the story unites a disparate quartet drawn together by unseen strings of fate - and nearly driven mad by their own fears and desires. Its uniqueness only intensifies its appeal. A weird cocktail of horror and nightmarish sensibilities.

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Theatrical Release: April 1st, 1980 - Tokyo

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DVD Review: Kino Video - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
	Also available in Seijun Suzuki's The Taisho Trilogy which includes Zigeunerweisen, Kagero-za and Yumeji
Distribution	Kino Video - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	2:24:00
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.1 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English (ingrained)
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Suzuki discusses the making of the Taisho Trilogy (25:59) • Suzuki Bio/Filmography • Original theatrical trailer • Original key art/press images • Print essay on Suzuki and the Taisho Trilogy DVD Release Date: March 7th, 2006 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

Frankly, a bit of a disappointment for the first segment of the Taisho Trilogy - the subtitles are ingrained (not player generated) and are burned onto the image. Overall the transfer doesn't look terribly poor but I suspect it is from an original analog source. There is minor color bleeding and chroma is evident. Audio appears fairly consistent. On the positive - it is in the correct aspect ratio of 1.33 (unlike the box that reports it as 1.66) and the image appears to be progressive. Sharpness is acceptable and the Suzuki discussion extra (26:00) is quite interesting. It looks as though Kino have tried their best but couldn't obtain a superior master. The other editions in the boxset are equally as weak.

DVDBeaver understand that these films may be in great demand by Suzuki fans, but we do not recommend the boxset or any of the individual editions based on the poor transfer quality and the excessive price for what is being offered. Hopefully, a real DVD company will releases these in a more pristine transfer very soon.