Arrow Academy has announced that it will add two new titles to its Blu-ray catalog: Hirokazu Koreeda's
The Third Murder (2017) and Hong Sang-soo's
Woman is the Future of Man (2004) and
Tale of Cinema (2005). The two releases will be available for purchase this July.
The Third Murder
Synopsis: From internationally lauded Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda (After The Storm; Like Father, Like Son) comes The Third Murder, a complex death-sentence drama which tells of one man's hunt for the truth whilst investigating the murky events of a gruesome murder.
Leading attorney Shigemori (Masaharu Fukuyama) takes on the defence of murder-robbery suspect Misumi (Kôji Yakusho) who served jail time for another murder 30 years ago. Shigemori's chances of winning the case seem low - his client freely admits his guilt, despite facing the death penalty if he is convicted. As he digs deeper into the case and hears the testimonies of the victim's family and Misumi himself, the once confident Shigemori begins to doubt whether his client is the murderer after all.
Kore-eda's latest film sees the award-winning Japanese auteur eschew the intimate approach of his acclaimed family dramas and deliver an ice-cold courtroom drama, packed with mystery and suspense. The Third Murder has been a huge success with critics and audiences alike in Japan, where the film swept the Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Editing at the 41st Japan Academy Prize.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Optional English subtitles
- The Making of The Third Murder, a new featurette on the film's production
- Tony Rayns on The Third Murder, a newly filmed video appraisal by the expert on Asian cinema
- Stills gallery
- Original trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring two artwork options
- First pressing only: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Alexander Jacoby
UK STREET DATE: JULY 23.
Woman is the Future of Man + Tale of Cinema: Two Films by Hong Sangsoo
Synopsis: This collection brings together Women is the Future of Man and Tale of Cinema, the fifth and sixth films by Hong Sangsoo, the masterful South Korean filmmaker who has been favourably compared to that great French observer of human foibles, Eric Rohmer.
Women is the Future of Man tells of two long-time friends, a filmmaker (Kim Taewoo) and a teacher (Yoo Jitae), who have had an affair with the same woman (Sung Hyunah). The friends decide to meet the girl one more time and see what happens...
Tale of Cinema uses the trope of a film within a film to tell two stories, that of a depressive young man (Lee Kiwoo) who forms a suicide pact with a friend (Uhm Jiwon); and the tale of a filmmaker (Kim Sangkyung) who sees see a film that he believes was based on his life, and who meets the actress from the film with view to turning their onscreen relationship into reality.
With these critically-acclaimed films, presented here in High Definition for the first time with a wealth of extras, Hong Sangsoo employs his idiosyncratic, measured style to create two compelling and truthful tapestries of human emotion and behaviour.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Newly translated optional English subtitles
- Newly filmed introductions to both films by Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns
- Interviews with Kim Sangkyung, Lee Kiwoo and Uhm Jiwon, the stars of Tale of Cinema
- Introduction to Woman is the Future of Man by director Martin Scorsese
- The Making Woman is the Future of Man, a featurette on the film's production
- Interviews with the actors of Woman is the Future of Man
- Original trailers
- Stills gallery
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Scott Saslow
- First pressing only: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Michael Sicinski
U.S. STREET DATE: JULY 17.
UK STREET DATE: JULY 16.