7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A married phone counselor finds herself the blackmail victim of a mysterious caller who takes her through an odyssey of sexual exploration. When her husband becomes the stalker's target as well, things take a bizarre turn.
Starring: Asuka Kurosawa, Shinya Tsukamoto, Tomorô Taguchi, Susumu Terajima, Hiromi KanayaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 41% |
Psychological thriller | 7% |
Erotic | 7% |
Mystery | 6% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This version of this film is available as part of Solid Metal Nightmares: The Films of Shinya Tsukamoto.
There are two names which American film fans may need either outright introductions to or at least reminders about when coming to Solid
Metal
Nightmares: The Films of Shinya Tsukamoto. The first name is that of Shinya Tsukamoto himself, a fascinating cult figure with a rather long
and
impressive filmography as a producer, director, actor, writer, editor, cinematographer, production designer and art director (one
assumes
if the IMDb had a tab for craft services contributions, he'd be listed there, too), but who is still kind of
curiously unknown by the general public at large on this side of the pond. The other name that may come into play with regard to this handsome
new
set released for the North American market by Arrow is Third Window Films, a label that releases Blu-rays in the United Kingdom and which has in
fact
put out previous editions of several of the Tsukamoto films Arrow has included in this set. For that reason, fans or at least those interested in
“comparison studies” are encouraged to visit our listings for the Third Window Films’ releases of Tetsuo: The Iron Man / Tetsuo II: Body Hammer, Tokyo Fist, Bullet Ballet, A Snake of
June, and Kotoko, not just for Svet Atanasov’s
thoughts
about each of the films, but also to be able to do side by side looks at screenshots as well as to size up supplemental features on each release. (A
sixth film offered in this set from Arrow, The
Adventure of Denchu-Kozo, looks like it's included as a supplement on Third Windows' double feature offering the two Tetsuo
films.)
The
Arrow set does at least offer ten films in one nicely aggregated and designed package which includes a rather beautiful hardback book, which may
at least recommend the set to those trying to
save
a little shelf space, if nothing else.
A Snake of June is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Arrow's insert book offers only very generic data on all of the transfers in this set, with aspect ratios (at times misstated) and audio data detailed, and with a simple statement that the "high definition masters were provided by Nikkatsu Corporation". Svet's review of this film came out in 2015, and without any other information to the contrary, I'm assuming that this presentation was culled from the same master that Third Window Films utilized. There's some frankly contradictory information included in this set about how exactly this "blue version" of the film was created, but the bottom line is this was shot on 16mm and at some point a blue tint was added. Detail levels are therefore somewhat compromised by both the original format and the blue tinting, but on the whole this is an organic presentation that preserves the intended look of the film. As Svet mentioned in his review, there are some occasional distractions at the top and bottom of the frame that look to me like actual remnants of splicing glue. I'm still perhaps a bit more pleased with the overall appearance of this transfer than Svet was.
A Snake of June features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Japanese. This is perhaps surprisingly a somewhat toned down film from a sound design perspective, at least when compared to several other more over the top audio offerings in this set. Some nonstop ambient environmental sounds courtesy of things like torrential rainfall provide some intermittent surround activity, but there's less of the ubiquitous assault on the ears that some other Tsukamoto films offer. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout the film, and I noticed no issues whatsoever to any age related wear and tear.
As can be seen in the last screenshot accompanying this review, this disc offers three films. I'm listing all of the supplements on the disc, since while some supplements are ostensibly specific to one feature, there's still a certain amount of spillover.
- A Snake of June (1080p; 25:43)
- Vital (1080i; 11:06)
- Haze (1080i; 19:38)
- A Snake of June UK Trailer (1080p; 2:26)
- Vital Original Japanese Trailer (1080i; 1:35)
Haze Original Japanese Trailers (1080i; 3:43)
- A Snake of June (1080p; 4:00)
- Haze (1080p; 1:00)
A Snake of June is stylish even by Tsukamoto's often hyperbolic standards, and the film really repays repeated viewings as one becomes more and more aware of how Tsukamoto himself revisits various ideas and even images as he details the slow erotic unraveling of Rinko. This presentation has a few issues in the video department, none of which I personally found overly debilitating, but the surround track, while not consistently immersive, is fine. As is the case with all of the discs in this release, the supplemental package is great. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
2004
2018
2005
2011
バレット・バレエ
1998
東京フィスト / Tokyo Fuisuto / Tokyo Ken
1995
1987
鉄男 / Tetsuo
1989
1992
La coda dello scorpione
1971
一一
2000
Le Passé
2013
トパーズ / Topâzu
1992
薔薇の葬列
1969
ドライブ・マイ・カー / Doraibu mai kâ
2021
Tengoku to jigoku / 天国と地獄
1963
2013
海よりもまだ深く / Umi yori mo mada fukaku
2016
Le capital
2012
Boi Neon
2015