Black Test Car + The Black Report Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Black Test Car + The Black Report Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 19, 2020

The venerable Jonathan Rosenbaum is on hand on this double feature disc offering Black Test Car and The Black Report, with a video essay of sorts where he compares director (“maverick” director, as the back cover of this release kindly reminds us) Yasuzo Masumura to Billy Wilder, which might initially seem a bit odd, considering that these two films at least don’t really offer much of the sardonic humor that even Wilder’s ostensible dramas often could. That said, with a writer-director of Wilder’s range and stature, it’s not hard to find connections between at least some of his works and Masumura’s. In that regard, certain noir-ish aspects to the films on this disc may remind some of Wilder’s own forays into that realm like Double Indemnity (even if the Masumura efforts are admittedly more noir like in terms of tone rather than content), but Rosenbaum kind of interestingly makes a case for a comparison to One, Two, Three with regard to at least Black Test Car, with Rosenbaum seeing both films as critiquing some of the more ruthless aspects of capitalism. The Black Report may be somewhat harder to fit into Wilder’s oeuvre, though I might make a connection by offering a joke that it, too, like Sunset Boulevard, begins with a close-up of a male corpse. While Rosenbaum doesn’t really make this particular comparison (which in a way surprised me), the Wilder film that I thought of as Rosenbaum started to develop his thesis, and probably with regard to Black Test Car more than The Black Report, though it’s evident there, too, is The Apartment (note that this links to an out of print and now pretty pricey limited edition, since I reviewed it, but use the “other versions” on the Overview tab to see alternative purchase options). That may seem like an odd comparative choice since one film on this disc is about competition in the Japanese auto industry and the other one is a murder mystery with elements of a courtroom procedural, but in both Masumura films there’s the same kind of corrosive work environment that was central to Wilder’s Oscar winning masterpiece. Aside and apart from any connection to Wilder, both films on this disc also offer some interesting camerawork that is certainly influenced by noir but which can almost hint at Abstract Expressionist tendencies at times, with weirdly skewed framings that feature visual elements that can actually subdivide the frame.

For reviews of the two films included on this release, please click on the following links:

Black Test Car Blu-ray review

The Black Report Blu-ray review

Black Test Car + The Black Report Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Black Test Car + The Black Report Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Black Test Car + The Black Report Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow is releasing both of these films on one disc, and so the supplemental package has individual bonus features that may include either or both films.

• What Masumura Does With Our Madness (1080p; 17:07) is the analysis by Jonathan Rosenbaum referenced above in the main body of the review.


• Theatrical Trailers

  Black Test Car (1080p; 2:42)

  
  

  The Black Report (1080p; 3:01)

  
  Note: Both of these look really washed out in relation to the look of the actual features.

• Image Galleries

  Black Test Car (1080p; 2:40)

  
  

  The Black Report (1080p; 2:10)

Additionally, Arrow provides their typically well appointed insert booklet with cast and crew information, technical data and an essay by Mark Downing Roberts.

Black Test Car + The Black Report Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another really nice release of lesser known Japanese cinema from Arrow, and it provides a really interesting early sixties' account of how at least some Japanese were feeling about huge changes in the socioeconomic status of their country, and how those changes rippled out into both industry and, occasionally at least, law enforcement. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplemental package, especially the Rosenbaum piece, very enjoyable. Recommended.