7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Tokijiro has the unfortunate duty according to the code of the gamblers to join in the fighting when afforded a night’s stay and meals at the home of a town boss. Though he dislikes killing, the strength of his swordsmanship will be tested time and time again in the bloody tale.
Starring: Kinnosuke Nakamura, Junko Ikeuchi, Jirô Okazaki, Keiko Yumi, Yôko MiharaForeign | 100% |
History | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Japanese: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
It's probably quite likely that many Westerners have never heard of Shin Hasegawa, or at least of the writer with that name (there is evidently kind of interestingly more than one Japanese celebrity with this name, including a famous rugby player). Hasegawa wrote a 1928 opus called Kutsukake Tokijiro which was actually based on a story his father told him involving migrant farm workers and a man Hasegawa's Dad had met who was taking care of a woman and child whose husband and father the man had killed. Hasegawa made a few "dramatic" changes, including transporting the basic setup back to a feudal environment, and offering a traveling swordsman / gambler in place of a farm worker. Hasegawa's original (which some online sources state was a play, even if a supplement on this disc states it was a story or novel) became so instantly popular that it was adapted repeatedly in Japan for both stage and screen (and, later, television). This version offers the film's titular "lone yakuza", Tokijiro (Kinnosuke Nakamura), who through the vagaries of fate and/or (mis)fortune is more or less conscripted into a scheme which ends up with the death of a nemesis called Mutsuda no Sanzo (Chiyonosuke Azuma). Before he expires, Sanzo makes an unusual request of Tokijiro, asking Tokijiro to make sure Sanzo's wife and child are delivered safely to family members. This 1966 effort by Tai Katô is actually one of the "newer" versions of Hasegawa's story, and that perhaps hints at a certain "contemporary" ambience Katô brings to the production. Katô is enjoying something of a renaissance courtesy of several Blu-ray releases by Radiance Films, including I, the Executioner, Eighteen Years in Prison and By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him .
Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Radiance's insert booklet contains only the following minimal information on the transfer:
Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza was transferred in high definition by Toei Co. Ltd. and supplied to Radiance Films as a high definition digital file.I'm frankly not always a fan of these Toei produced transfers, but this is one of the more consistent ones I've seen recently. Color timing looks just slightly skewed toward orange at times, something that can make flesh tones look slightly flushed on occasion, but on the whole, the palette resonates very well and densities are generally solid throughout the presentation. There's an interesting anomaly which perhaps can be spotted in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review where at times the very center of the frame can look slightly out of focus, which leads me to believe there may have been some lens deficiencies that are inherited. There are some very minor signs of age related wear and tear, but you'll have to be pretty eagle eyed to catch them. Grain resolves naturally throughout.
Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track in the original Japanese. Things are just very slightly thin sounding throughout, something that is probably most noticeable in some of the scoring choices and sound effects during fight scenes. Otherwise, there's really nothing problematic with the track, which delivers dialogue cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza starts out with almost Grand Guignol levels of violence and blood spilling, but then actually starts to mine honest to goodness human emotion, which is where the film really begins to establish its most distinctive qualities. Technical merits are generally solid and the two main supplements very worthwhile. Recommended.
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