(aka 'Hana to doto' or 'The Flower and the Angry Waves')
Japan 1964
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Early 20th century Tokyo is brought to life with Suzuki's trademark editing and extraordinary camerawork in this swashbuckling historical action yarn. Kikuju, a Yakuza, elopes with his master's betrothed, with an assassin from his old gang in hot pursuit. Stirring B-movie fare from this veteran Japanese director.
A riotous, bloody, all-action historical epic set in 19th Century Tokyo. Akira Kobayashi (Kanto Wanderer) stars as a coal-miner who leads a rebellion against a vicious tyrant, played with villainous relish by Suzuki regular Tamio Kawaji.
Add to this a heady mix of violence, gang fights, blackmail, bribery, assassins, trade unionism, a tattooed bandit-geisha femme fatale, yakuzas, adultery, sword fights and gun fights, make this a jaw-dropping adventure that proves fertile ground for Suzuki's cinematic obsessions. |
Poster
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Theatrical Release: February 8th, 1964 - Tokyo
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DVD Review: Yume Pictures - Region 2 - PAL
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| Distribution | Yume Pictures - Region 2 - PAL | |
| Runtime | 1:27:51 (4% PAL Speedup) | |
| Video |
2.35:1
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.28 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English, None | |
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Release Information:
Edition Details: • Trailers |
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| Comments: |
A big thanks to my good friend George who sent me this DVD which seemed to have slipped past my radar. It's standard Suzuki - meaning an abundance of fun, stylish, drama. The disc is only single-layered but it looks quite acceptable with the feature sharing the space with nothing but 8 trailers. The Yume image quality appears quite thick but detail and colors are better than I would have anticipated. It's anamorphic in the impressive 2.35:1 widescreen ratio. It's certainly not as flat as we've seen from other Japanese films of this era on DVD. It represents the film surprisingly well.
The 2.0 mono audio is unremarkable but consistent. Any weaknesses are fairly unnoticeable in normal viewing. The English subtitles are below the frame in a fairly large readable white font. Aside from the aforementioned trailers (Suzuki and Masumura films) there is an essay by Tony Rayns visible through the inside of the transparent keep case. This is a great little example of Suzuki's exuberant style - in this film centering on an illicit love affair to a backdrop of Suzuki's usual caricature personas and conflicts. Perfect! |
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| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution | Yume Pictures - Region 2 - PAL | |
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Gary Tooze
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Thank You!
