7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
When Sakura Nishi is dispatched in 1939 to a ramshackle field hospital in Tientsin, the frontline of Japan's war with China, she and her colleagues find themselves fighting a losing battle tending to the war-wounded and emotionally shellshocked soldiers while assisting head surgeon Dr. Okabe conduct an unending series of amputations. As the Chinese troops close in, she finds herself increasingly drawn to Okabe who, impotent to stall the mounting piles of cadavers, has retreated into his own private hell of morphine addiction.
Starring: Ayako Wakao, Yûsuke Kawazu, Shinsuke AshidaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 46% |
War | 1% |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Japanese: LPCM Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Red Angel is a devastating deconstruction of what it's "really" like to be in a war, and while absolutely not in the same quasi-comedic vein (no medical pun intended), it plies some of the same "field hospital" ambience as Robert Altman's M*A*S*H. That well remembered 1970 opus was of course an anti-war film in its own mercurial way, but watching Red Angel, which came out in 1966 and which was probably a relatively startling viewing experience for Japanese audiences at the time, made me wonder about how the American war film, specifically those about World War II, may have morphed through the years in terms of their perspective on some American activities. "War is hell" films from Hollywood's majors were legion even during World War II, and yet they tended to emphasize the heroic nature of our fighters' efforts. Some, like The Best Years of Our Lives or perhaps even Twelve O'Clock High, sought to delve into some of the psychological (and, in the case of the Wyler film, physical) wounds suffered by combatants, but, again, things were treated in an almost hagiographic fashion. A number of films that appeared in the post- World War II era like Home of the Brave and The Men, continued to peel back the scab covering all sorts of wounds engendered by war, both mental and physical, but there was still an underlying premise about the nobility of the fight itself, something that is distinctly lacking in both Red Angel and films like M*A*S*H (which, not to state the obvious, was about Korea). In that regard, it may be downright surprising to realize that we "forward thinking" Americans didn't really start questioning some of the behaviors of American troops in World War II in cinematic depictions of the fracas until at least the mid to late fifties or early sixties, really not that much before Red Angel was released. And perhaps even more saliently, and as one of the supplements on this disc points out (in a somewhat different context), it wasn't until 1980 and films like Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One that American films may have started to get "real" in terms of an honest reassessment of some American activities.
Red Angel is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains only the following fairly generic verbiage about the transfer:
Red Angel / Akai tenshi is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with mono sound. The High Definition master was produced and supplied by Kadokawa, with additional grading by Arrow Films at R3Store Studios, London.While there are a few passing signs of age related wear and tear, including some noticeably unstable frames during the very opening seconds of the credits, and a few nicks and blemishes later in the presentation, this offers a generally lustrous accounting with secure contrast of the film's intentionally shrouded cinematography by Setsuo Kobayashi. The film only occasionally ventures outside, and those few moments provide welcome figurative breaths of fresh air since so much of the film seems to take place in the hellish confines of a claustrophobic surgical ward. Black levels are generally impressive, though they may also contribute to moments where shadow definition is minimal, if perceptible at all. Detail levels are also very good to excellent, with potential trouble areas like the mosquito netting surrounding Nishi and Obake in several scenes resolving without any major issues (you can see it overlaying the image in screenshot 15 and in the background in the upper left of the frame of screenshot 19). There some mild fluctuation in the tightness of grain resolution (some of the brief outdoor material can look a little clumpy).
Red Angel features an LPCM Mono track in the original Japanese. The film isn't really a "war picture" in terms of providing explosive battle scenes and the like, but this unavoidably narrow track manages to handle some of the more cacophonous moments, like the chaotic field hospital sequences, without any issues. Ostensibly quieter moments involving what amount to "two hander" scenes typically between Nishi and one of the male supporting characters also are rendered without any problems. Dialogue comes through cleanly and clearly, and I noticed no real signs of any age related wear and tear. Optional English subtitles are available.
As Irene González-López mentions in her really interesting essay included in this release's insert booklet, perhaps due to the absolutely disturbing imagery of severed limbs in one unforgettable sequence, Red Angel was almost intentionally ignored in Japan for a while, which may point out a certain irony in my whole discussion above about war films taking their home countries to task for various behaviors. That said, this is a really devastating account not just of the horrors of war, but maybe more saliently Man's inhumanity to Man, which is not necessarily limited only to war. Arrow, which has been curating Masumura's film with some care, provides another release with generally solid technical merits and some outstanding supplements. Recommended.
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