6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A barkeeper saves a Yakuza boss' life and thus makes his way up in the organization. However his fear of nothing soon causes problems.
Starring: Renji Ishibashi, Hirotarô Honda, Gorô Kishitani, Shigeo Kobayashi, Takashi MiikeForeign | 100% |
Crime | 11% |
Action | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available as part of
Graveyards of Honor.
There have been all sorts of remakes through the years, ranging from the slavishly duplicative (as — at least in theory — Psycho and
Psycho) to the other side of the spectrum, where two properties may indeed share the same name and even the same source, but
which
may otherwise differ rather radically. That’s probably the case with regard to Kinji Fukasaku’s Graveyard of Honor from 1975 and
Takashi
Miike’s Graveyard of Honor from 2002. Both films are ostensibly culled from a novel by a real life yakuza named Gorô Fujita, though I
haven’t been
able to authoritatively determine whether he’s the same Gorô Fujita who was evidently a 19th century samurai also known as Saitō Hajime (all of
the
online
biographical data I’ve been able to find about this particular person does not mention any writing having been done by him, and this individual
seems
to have been a policeman rather than a member of the yakuza). One way or the other, the Gorô Fujita who was a writer was
also
responsible for the source material that became Gangster VIP
, and the fact that both that film and the Kinji Fukasaku version of Graveyard of Honor star Tetsuya Watari playing roles that are at
least somewhat similar, may tend to link the two films together for some fans. The Miike film, like so many by this provocative Japanese
auteur,
is decidedly more sui generis despite having ostensible links to both the source material and the prior film.
Graveyard of Honor is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains only the following pretty generic verbiage on the transfer:
Graveyard of Honor / Shin Jingi no hakaba (2002) is presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio with stereo sound. The High Definition master was produced and supplied by Kadakowa.While this is often a pretty gritty looking presentation in a conceit which is perhaps meant to subliminally evoke the appearance of Fukasaku's 1975 version, detail levels are typically quite impressive and the palette is very well saturated, especially in terms of some of the reds (there's a lot of blood in this film, probably unsurprisingly). There are some noticeable variances in clarity and fine detail levels when Miike ventures out into the streets for what was apparently some "candid camera" footage of things like a bloody Ishimatsu stumbling through crowded urban environments (with, kind of hilariously, nobody really paying much attention to him). I noticed no compression anomalies and no signs of digital tweaks.
Graveyard of Honor features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that offers nice support for the film's dialogue, effects like gunfire and a kind of doleful, jazz inflected score that features elements like muted trumpet. The sound design here is a little bit more cacophonous than the 1975 film (which is certainly energetic in its own way), and this stereo track offers some nice width and impressive dynamic range. Optional English subtitles are available.
While this is certainly a rather riveting film in its own right, it's perhaps especially interesting to see it as part of a double feature with the 1975 outing. Miike toys with the source material, and the Fukasaku version itself, almost like a cat toying with a mouse, before, in typical Miike fashion, slashing it to bits in a pique of violence. Maybe just a little surprisingly, there's arguably even more of a tragic feeling to this version than in the already troubling Fukasaku version. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplementary package very enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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