7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The story centers on a group of young people who travel back in time when they are in a movie theater just before closing time. They witness deaths during the closing days of Japan's feudal times and on the battlefront in China before they are sent to Hiroshima just before the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing of the city.
Starring: Takato Hosoyamada, Yoshihiko Hosoda, Riko Narumi, Hirona Yamazaki, Takako TokiwaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 29% |
War | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Adventure | 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 5.1
Japanese: LPCM 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Maybe it's just because ads for The French Dispatch are all over
television right now and so may have brought some of Wes Anderson's stylistic quirks to top of mind, but some may feel like I did after having
watched Labyrinth of Cinema, thinking Nobuhiko Obayashi and Anderson could have at least been comrades in arms (Obayashi died in
2020
from cancer), and maybe even those long lost (distant) cousins that genealogy websites inform people they have. There are a number of
interesting
parallels
between Anderson's overall filmography and Labyrinth of Cinema, including simultaneously unfolding stories that are separated either by
time or place, a certain "meta"* perspective pervading things that includes liberal doses of surrealism as well as a winking nod to the fact within the
film itself that a movie is being viewed, changing aspect ratios, modulations between
color and black and white, a surplus of color in the color sequences, an at times bizarre but whimsical production design, and
even an animated interpolation or two. Obayashi tends to shy away from some of Anderson's predilections toward symmetry in his framings, and
of
course the story here, which revolves around Japan's history and especially the calamity that befell Hiroshima toward the end of World War II,
probably won't end up in any Anderson film. The "Anderson connection" (if indeed anyone else even sees it) may at least provide an entrance
point to Obayashi's dense and at times pretty freewheeling story for some who are otherwise unacquainted with Obayashi.
*The fact that a certain social media giant rebranded itself with a certain word about a nanosecond after this review had been written I am taking
as a "meta meta"
moment
of my own.
Labyrinth of Cinema is presented on Blu-ray by new label Crescendo House with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 (which as can be seen in the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review is achieved via windowboxing). According to the IMDb, Obayashi shot Labyrinth of Cinema with Canon EOS models, with a 2K DI. We reviewers often decry an "overly digital" experience, but kind of ironically (and one assumes maybe intentionally provocatively) for a film celebrating "film" (in both its senses). there is an undeniable "video"-like appearance to Labyrinth of Cinema, one which deliberately emphasizes artifice. Obayashi likes to almost "downgrade" his own imagery at times with things like shifting matte lines (which I suspect were achieved digitally, anyway), obviously low grade "special effects" like the "rain" seen in screenshot 1, really hokey looking green screen material and totally bizarre CGI. The result is never less than entrancing to watch, but one has to accept these particular "meta" aspects as part and parcel of Obayashi's stylistic palette. In terms of the actual palette, this presentation offers gorgeous hues which run the gamut from almost garishly bright greens and yellows to more reserved tones when, for example, things get to Samurai times. Fine detail on practical items like props and (especially) costumes is typically superb throughout, while the CGI can be decidedly less sharp (and again, one suspects perhaps intentionally). Aside from the windowboxing issue, which may or may not bother some, there are a couple of very brief moments of what I'd be prone to call banding, as seen in screenshot 19, though they only occur during sequences featuring the screen shown and/or the officer in the frame, and so this may be another instance of Obayashi offering a deliberately degraded, lo-res image.
Labyrinth of Cinema features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. The surround track is definitely advised for those with the setup for it, as the increased immersion and especially force in the mid and low ranges is immediately noticeable with the fun music underlying the colorful credits sequence. Because so many of the films within the main film offer at least some supposed action elements, sound effects can regularly engage the side and rear channels. There are a number of goofy effects that tend to be the aural equivalent of some of the equally out there visuals on display. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available, and the film offers what Crescendo House has told me are kanji and kana subtitles at times, both at the bottom of the frame and also within the text boxes I mention in the main body of the review.
Disc One - Feature Film
For those who have had some previous exposure to Obayashi courtesy of something like House, some of the over the top aspects of Labyrinth of Cinema may be at least relatively more expected. For anyone who hasn't encountered an Obayashi film before, just take a deep breath, assure yourself that you'll probably be more or less intact by the time you get through it, and enjoy the stream (some might argue torrent) of consciousness approach the film takes as it cartwheels through an assortment of supposed "other" films within this film. I know I'm not alone in feeling like we have to watch too many cookie cutter entertainments, and whatever deficits Labyrinth of Cinema may have, it is at least squarely sui generis. Crescendo House is off to a good start with this release, which features secure technical merits, good supplements and nice packaging. Highly recommended.
夢 / Yume / Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
1990
小さいおうち / Chiisai ouchi | Limited Edition to 3000
2014
人間の條件 / Ningen no jôken
1961
1968
고지전 / Go-ji-jeon
2011
春婦伝 / Shunpu den
1965
Les croix de bois
1932
Uomini contro
1970
野火 / Nobi
1959
Die Brücke
1959
Démanty noci
1964
ビルマの竪琴 | Biruma no tategoto | 4K restoration
1956
Skammen
1968
The Little Soldier
1963
Grand Illusion
1937
雨月物語 / Ugetsu monogatari
1953
Иди и смотри / Idi i smotri
1985
人間の條件 / Ningen no jôken
1959
Ива́ново де́тство / Ivanovo detstvo
1962
妖怪大戦争 / Yōkai Daisensō
2005