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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
( aka "An Actor's Revenge' or 'Yukinojo henge" or 'Revenge of a Kabuki Actor' or 'The Revenge of Ukeno-Jo' or 'The Revenge of Yuki-No-Jo' )
directed
by
Kon Ichikawa
Japan 1963
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'An Actor's Revenge,' Kon Ichikawa's 1963 film is an obvious divergence from anything he had done previously. A deeply artistic film steeped in rich cultural tradition and imagery. It was one of those films that I felt was better than it actually appeared, if that makes any sense. The immense amount of work and detail put into it are obvious. The shots fully exercising the full scope of the lens and many memorable and beautiful moments caught with splashed color on dense backgrounds. 'An Actor's Revenge' did capture me for a spell and I am certain that as I watch it again that will only deepen. It was unlike most other films I have seen with subtle moments reminding me of the Korean film 'Chunhyang' with its theatrical roots and narrative. *** A uniquely prolific and chameleonic figure of world cinema, Kon Ichikawa delivered a burst of stylistic bravado with this intricate tale of betrayal and retribution. Set in the cloistered world of nineteenth-century kabuki theater, the film charts a female impersonator’s attempts to avenge the deaths of his parents, who were driven to insanity and suicide by a trio of corrupt men. Ichikawa takes the conventions of melodrama and turns them on their head, bringing the hero’s fractured psyche to life in boldly experimental widescreen compositions infused with kaleidoscopic color, pop-art influences, and meticulous choreography. Anchored by a magnificently androgynous performance by Kazuo Hasegawa, reprising a role he had played on-screen three decades earlier, An Actor’s Revenge is an eye-popping examination of how the illusions of art intersect with life. |
Poster
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Release Date: January 13th, 1963
Comparison:
BFI Region 2 - PAL vs. Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
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1) BFI Region 2 - PAL LEFT 2) Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT
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| Box Covers |
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Also coming to Blu-ray, in the UK, by BFI, in March of 2018:
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| Distribution | BFI Region 2 - PAL | Animeigo - Region 1- NTSC |
Criterion Collection (spine #912) Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
| Runtime | 1:48:32 (4% PAL Speedup) | 1:53:04 | 1:53:39.938 |
| Video |
2.35:1.0
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.2 mb/s PAL 1024x576 25.00 f/s |
2.35:1.0
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.67 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
Disc Size: 48,280,578,231 bytes Feature Size: 33,974,710,272 bytes Average Bitrate: 35.72 MbpsDual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4-AVC |
| Bitrate:
BFI |
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| Bitrate: Animeigo |
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| Bitrate: Criterion Blu-ray |
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| Audio | Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0) | Original or restored - Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0) | LPCM Audio Japanese 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit |
| Subtitles | English (non-removable) | English (Full, Limited or captions only) - yellow or green, None | English, none |
| Features |
Release Information:
BFI Aspect Ratios: - 2.35:1
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Release Information: Animeigo Aspect Ratios: - 2.35:1
Edition Details: • trailer |
Release
Information: Studio: Criterion Collection
Aspect Ratio: Disc Size: 48,280,578,231 bytes Feature Size: 33,974,710,272 bytes Average Bitrate: 35.72 MbpsDual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4-AVC
Edition Details:
Blu-ray
Release Date: February 13th, 2018
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| Comments: |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray January 2018: The Criterion is from a "New 4K digital restoration", and it's a massive improvement over the older DVDs. The 1080P with max'ed out bitrate has far richer, deeper, colors, the image is darker and detail significantly rises. There is depth and may show a sliver less information in the 2.35:1 frame, but the differences are night and day between HD and SD. Grain textures are prevalent. This is, presumably from a new restoration as it is also being released in Region 'B' by BFI, HERE.
For the audio Criterion use an authentic linear PCM mono
track in the original Japanese language. There are
effects but the music is of prime effectiveness for the
film experience. Tamekichi Mochizuki (Ugetsu
Monogatori,
Sansho
the Bailiff) and Masao Yagi - a Japanese pianist devoted to
American jazz with over 100 film composure credits - are
credited with the, unique, score. It sounds flat and
even in the uncompressed transfer. There are optional
English subtitles on the Region 'A'-locked
Blu-ray
disc.
Criterion include a rare, 58-minute, 1999 Directors
Guild of Japan interview with director Kon Ichikawa,
conducted by film critic Yuki Mori (author of The
Films of Kon Ichikawa) - which may be the same one
on Masters of Cinema's
KoKoro DVD. It deals with the beginnings of the
director's involvement in cinema. There is also a new,
13-minute, interview with critic, filmmaker, and
festival programmer Tony Rayns who examines the themes
and visual style of An Actor's Revenge and places
the film in the context of Kon Itchikawa's oeuvre, The
package contains a liner notes booklet featuring an
essay by critic Michael Sragow and a 1955 article by
Ichikawa on the beginnings of his work in an anamorphic
widescreen format.
Kon Ichikawa is a true artist and although most in the
West know him for
Tokyo Olympiad, he left a rich, diverse,
tapestry of cinema of which An Actor's Revenge is
a key film. It is brilliant filmmaking and the Criterion
Blu-ray gets our highest recommendation!
***
ADDITION: Animeigo - NTSC - October 08':
Short story is that the BFI looks brightness boosted but has more detail
than the Animeigo. To me the single-layered Animeigo looks vertically
stretched a bit too and shows more isolated damage - but it is really
only on a frame-by-frame basis. The NTSC edition shows a shade more
information in the frame and is marginally wider although has a slim
black border circumventing the frame slightly limiting horizontal
resolution. Animeigo are big on offering
subtitle options (see our comparison of their DVD of Imamura's
Ballad of Narayama) and you get a choice of dialogue, captions
or both with a separation of colors (yellow and green) - see sample
below. Animeigo also give an option of original or
restored audio and the restored did seem to improve over the older BFI
transfer. Extras, although mostly static, lean to Animeigo. The BFI is almost double the price of the Animeigo
which, despite its flaws, seems to have had some real effort put into
the DVD production although dual-layering would have helped the
presentation. Still I'll repeat that I wish this was Criterion.
***
ON THE BFI: Although not perfect
image quality, it s quite strong at times. A little hazy although
anamorphic. If I was to grade the image out of 10 I would give it 7.0 .
Not bad, but room for improvement. There was strobbing evident in a few
scenes (bright kimonos) and even in italicized sub-titles ( which are
non removable English by the way ). The Extras aren't worth
discussing... a few static screen on Ichikawa's life and a web link to
the BFI site. The sound was good with no hiss or crackling but frankly I
was expecting more considering the high interest in this release. Still,
I guess beggars can't be choosers especially in the artistic DVD sense,
so I thank BFI for putting this out, but again wish it was
Criterion.
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DVD Menu
(BFI Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC RIGHT)
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Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Supplements
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Screen Captures
Damage on the Animeigo
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1) Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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Subtitle samples
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1) Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) BFI Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) BFI Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) BFI Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) BFI Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) BFI Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) BFI Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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More Blu-ray Captures
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| Box Covers |
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Also coming to Blu-ray, in the UK, by BFI, in March of 2018:
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| Distribution | BFI Region 2 - PAL | Animeigo - Region 1- NTSC |
Criterion Collection (spine #912) Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
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Gary Tooze
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Many Thanks...
