Pigs & Battleships / Stolen Desire Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Pigs & Battleships / Stolen Desire Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 20, 2011

Shohei Imamura's "Buta to gunkan" a.k.a. "Pigs & Battleships" (1961) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The disc also contains Shohei Imamura's debut feature for Nikkatsu, "Nusumareta yokujo" a.k.a. "Stolen Desire" (1958). In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the two films. Also, the disc arrives with a lavish illustrated booklet featuring essays on both films by Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns. Region-B "locked".

You should have not done that to me...

Set in the small port town Yokosuka in post-war Japan, Shohei Imamura’s Pigs & Battleships follows a young hustler named Kinta (Hiroyuki Nagato, Nianchan, Koto), who dreams of saving enough and proving to his family and friends that he isn’t a loser. Kinta has a girlfriend, Haruko (Jitsuko Yoshimura, Onibaba, Dodes'ka-den), who isn’t happy that he is hanging around with the local yakuza, which is why she constantly begs him to find a normal job.

But all of the normal jobs are in Kawasaki. In Yokosuka, there are only bars, brothels and lousy restaurants, servicing the U.S. personnel from a nearby Navy base. To make money one has to be with the local yakuza, selling drugs, pimping, or killing for them.

Looking to further expand their business, the yakuza bosses decide to open up a big pig farm and quickly convince a few unlucky souls to "invest" in the project in exchange for protection. As soon as the money is collected, however, the bosses begin challenging each other.

A competitor is killed and Kinta and his buddies ordered to get rid of his body. They do, but the body somehow reappears and creates all sorts of problems for Kinta’s boss - until one of the gangsters comes up with a not so brilliant solution for it. Shortly after, Kinta’s boss becomes seriously ill and learns that he has only a couple of days left to live.

Sensing that this is the right time to shake things up, another boss decides to steal the pigs and sell them to a competitor. But Kinta, who has been promised a hefty bonus once the pigs are sold as arranged by his boss, confronts the cheater and his men.

What impresses the most in Imamura’s Pigs & Battleships is the incredibly accurate depiction of the chaos that reigned in post-war Japan. Like the main protagonist, Kinta, the country was looking for new identity which its government was convinced should be shaped by Western, meaning primarily U.S., standards. This desire to imitate permeates the entire film.

The search for new identity, however, had a devastating effect on many people in Japan. The country’s dependence on U.S. dominance as the Cold War grew, which was of crucial importance to the U.S. because it kept Communist and leftist influence in the region in check, also translated in a cultural transformation that was not enthusiastically embraced by everyone. A similar transition with similarly devastating effects was witnessed during the early 90s in Eastern Europe, after the end of the Cold War, when the former Soviet Union satellite states immediately borrowed the worst the West had to offer (rampant prostitution, drug trafficking, etc).

The film blends dark humor and acidic wit exceptionally well. Even some of the most disturbing scenes, such as the one where the body problem is resolved, make important points. Elsewhere, the seemingly absurd actions of the main protagonists begin to make sense once one realizes that the environment they are forced to endure is equally absurd, and that the only way they could change things is by wreaking havoc.

In addition to Pigs & Battleships, Eureka Entertainment’s Blu-ray release also contains director Imamura’s debut feature for Nikkatsu, Stolen Desire (1958), which tells the story of a young director who joins a working-class troupe performing some rather unusual kabuki plays.

Note: In 1962, Pigs & Battleships won Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film.

Pigs & Battleships / Stolen Desire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.36:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Pigs & Battleships arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

Note: Screencaptures #1-17 are from Pigs and Battleships. Screencaptures #18 an 19 are from Stolen Desire.

The improvements in detail range from subtle to dramatic. The former are limited and present only during the prologue, the latter are practically everywhere. The close-ups, in particular, look quite good. Clarity is also improved, especially during the darker footage (for example, the segment where Kinta's father discovers the body on the beach). Contrast levels differ slightly from those of the Criterion SDVD release of the film, with grays being slightly overexposed and blacks more subdued. Overall, however, there is a pleasing consistency during the indoor and outdoor footage (see screencaptures #1 and 2). Edge-enhancement is never an issue of concern. In fact, there is never even a hint of overzealous sharpening. Macroblocking does not plague the high-definition transfer either. Heavy noise corrections have not been performed and a layer of light grain, some of which is also mixed with noise, is present throughout the entire film. However, there are a few small fluctuations that occasionally overexpose the grain, or noise, in tiny lumps. I assume that the effect is likely inherited as the newly restored master Eureka Entertainment had to work with was struck from the original camera negative. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. I did not see any large cuts, damage marks, or debris either.

Stolen Desire - the presentation is not as pleasing as that of Pigs & Battleships. Generally speaking, the image is considerably softer, while clarity has a tendency to fluctuate. Contrast levels are also shaky. Naturally, detail seems to suffer, especially during the darker scenes.

(Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Pigs & Battleships / Stolen Desire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with portions of English). For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is unlikely to impress you. Its dynamic amplitude is fairly limited while fluidity isn't its best quality either. However, these limitations should not be attributed to it as all of them are indeed inherited. This said, the dialog is surprisingly crisp and stable, and the finale where Kinta goes berserk actually quite strong. There are no problematic pops, cracks, strong hiss, or audio dropouts. The English translation is very good.

Pigs & Battleships / Stolen Desire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Stolen Desire (1958) - Shonei Imamura's debut feature for Nikkatsu. In Japanese (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0), with optional English subtitles. (82 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - a lavish illustrated booklet featuring essays on Pigs & Battleships and Stolen Desire by Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns.

Pigs & Battleships / Stolen Desire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A major classic of Japanese cinema, Shohei Imamura's Pigs & Battleships looks quite impressive on Blu-ray, far better than I expected it to look. Kudos to Eureka Entertainment for bringing yet another very important film to the UK market. As far as I am concerned, Pigs & Battleships belongs in every serious film library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.