Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

A Fugitive from the Past Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 14, 2022

The eminent philosopher Steve Miller once opined that "time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future", but the unstated reason for that phenomenon may well be that time, like the rest of us, is running away from what happened in the past. For reasons which are as unfathomable as the march of time itself, A Fugitive from the Past regularly makes the very top of "all time best films" lists in its native Japan, as Jasper Sharp gets into in his informative introduction included on this disc as a supplemental feature, but the film has been strangely less known on this side of the pond, something this new release from Arrow may help to ameliorate. This is the relatively rare release from Arrow (or anyone else, for that matter) which doesn't just offer one scholarly commentary, but several, including from a bunch of people with those all important acronyms like PhD after their surnames. That may indicate how immensely well regarded A Fugitive from the Past is by those "in the know", and the approach by these commentators to everything from Buddhist concepts of karma to almost Proustian exegeses of memory may add even more fuel to this already highly intellectual fire. The main story of A Fugitive from the Past is basically very simple, though, meaning viewers may not need to really "worry" that much about any unperceived subtext, since the surface tale is so often riveting.

In fact the plot dynamics are actually kind of melodramatic and perhaps even tawdry, and had this film been made a decade or so earlier and in the United States, one could see a grizzled actor like Humphrey Bogart in the lead. Perhaps not so coincidentally, then, some aspects of A Fugitive from the Past may remind some, at least in passing, of two actual Bogart outings, We're No Angels, at least insofar as there are three ne'er-do-wells at the core of the story, but probably even more so The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, in that what might be termed dishonor among thieves runs rampant, with the result being that there's only one surviving ne'er-do- well within just a few minutes of the film's opening.

Though it's kind of discursively handled, the film documents the escape of Takichi Inukai (Rentarō Mikuni) with two of his accomplices in some kind of robbery that the film actually doesn't document, interestingly. Instead, the fraught relationship between the trio is pretty obvious, and without giving away too much, suffice it to say that an unexpected typhoon provides Inukai with a convenient way to rid himself of unwanted partners. A suspicious policeman named Yumisaka (Junzaburō Ban) starts looking into things, without much to go on, but in the meantime Inukai, perhaps in an act of penance, has befriended and financially aided a prostitute named Yae (Sachiko Hidari). There's some fairly provocative content in the relationship between Inukai and Yae even aside and apart from the seemingly more wholesome if still morally questionable aspect of Inukai helping Yae with his ill gotten gains.

Suffice it to say that all of the above is basically just a set up for what might be thought of (and indeed is overtly referred to in some of the excellent supplements on this disc) as karmic comeuppance several years down the line, when Inukai has managed to carve out a new identity (both figuratively and literally) for himself. All sorts of karmic ripples end up emanating outward from earlier decisions, with "ripples" being the operative image, since Tomu Uchido repeatedly offers scenes of water. Anyone looking for the kind of salvation that element typically provides in another major world religion's rites, namely baptism in Christianity, will find a distinctly different use of it here, and in fact it's an overt harbinger of death on at least two occasions.

What's so fascinating about the moral ambiguity at the core of this story is how Inukai seems to be both ruthless and also strangely sympathetic. Things definitely become less ambiguous once fate reaches out years later to tap Inukai fairly vigorously on the shoulder, but even then, the interplay between light and shadow both in terms of an individual psyche as well as in this film's presentational style between positive and negative exposures, is what gives A Fugitive from the Past its really inexorable tragic fury.

A Fugitive from the Past Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Fugitive from the Past is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

A Fugitive from the Past is presented in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio with mono sound. The High Definition master was produced and supplied by Toei from the best available archival materials, with additional grading and picture restoration by Arrow Films at R3Store Studios.

That "best available archival materials" may be the giveaway here, as this is a somewhat problematic looking presentation, though some of the oddness is certainly due to the intentional use of quasi-negative moments, transitions which seem to hint at interior perceptions, or memories, but whose use struck me as at times somewhat inconsistent. You can see examples of this technique in screenshots 8 and 16. But even in the "positive" moments, the transfer here shows signs of having been culled from a secondary element (at least). The good news is actual damage is at a minimum. The bad news is that detail levels are often minimal (see screenshot 19 for just one example), contrast and clarity can both fluctuate noticeably, sometimes within scenes without edits, and a lot of this has a somewhat "dupey" look to it, with roughhewn grain and general fuzziness. One of the commentaries supposedly address the Toie W 106 system without actually giving any salient information about it, and there seems to be some actual dispute about what that designation actually means. The insert booklet essay by David Baldwin is thankfully more forthcoming, confirming the IMDb listing of a 16mm negative (which could well account for some of the grittiness on display), as well as a number of post production tweaks including optical zooming, and the so-called Sabatier effect, which is the quasi-negative look mentioned above. Whatever camera and lenses were used, there is some of the same sometimes odd anamorphic squeezing and/or stretching on display that can be seen in other Japanese widescreen efforts (look at the right side of screenshot 18 for one example).

A Fugitive from the Past Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Fugitive from the Past features an LPCM Mono track in the original Japanese. The film has an almost hallucinatory sound design which utilizes a fascinating score by Isao Tomita (yes, the Snowflakes are Dancing guy) which combines elements of musique concrète with more traditional scoring methods. The recurrent water imagery also offers some good effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

A Fugitive from the Past Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction by Jasper Sharp (HD; 26:52) serves up another great assortment of background, biography and filmography on Tomu Uchida.


• Scene Specific Commentaries each come with their own title, and when was the last time you remember that happening?:

  The Fugitive Past of Tomu Uchida and Modern Japan (HD; 17:47) features Professor Aaron Gerow from Yale University.

  
  

  Chaos and Order in A Fugitive from the Past (HD; 22:31) features Earl Jackson, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Chair Professor, Asia University.

  
  

  Cinematography of Hunger: Tomu Uchida and the Toei W 106 System (HD; 8:15) features Professor Daisuke Miyao, University of California, San Diego.

  
  

  Sachiko Hidari: Stardom and Characterisation in A Fugitive from the Past (HD; 15:44) features Dr. Irene Gonzalez-Lopez, Birbeck College, University of London.

  
  

  The Haunting Voice of Karma: Isao Tomita's Music in A Fugitive from the Past (HD; 32:11) features Erik Homenick.

  
  

  In Betweenness in A Fugitive from the Past (HD; 13:54) features Professor Alexander Zahiten from Harvard University.

• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:56)


• Tomu Uchida Filmography (HD) offers a gallery of text information frames.


• Image Gallery (HD)

Additionally, Arrow provides another typically well appointed insert booklet.

A Fugitive from the Past Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are a number of layers in this film which have gone largely unaddressed in my review but which are dealt with handily in both the on disc supplements as well as the insert booklet included with this release, all of which is to say A Fugitive from the Past is a film worthy of attention and analysis. Arrow provides a release with general solid technical merits, though I encourage those interested to parse through the screenshots to get an idea of what this looks like. The supplements are outstanding. Highly recommended.