Radiance Films Announces July Releases
HomeRadiance Films Announces July Releases
Posted April 9, 2025 01:46 PM by Webmaster
Radiance Films has announced its July batch of Blu-ray releases. They are: The Beast to Die (1980), Rosa la rose: fille publique (1986), Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive (1989), and Essential Polish Animation (1957-1986).
The Beast to Die
Deeply scarred by what he witnessed on battlefields across Asia, a young war photographer (Yusaku Matsuda, Yokohama BJ Blues) returns to the bustling streets of Tokyo, plotting a series of brutal murders and robberies that are mere warmups for an unprecedented bank heist. Searching for an accomplice, he finds the short-fused and equally disenfranchised Tetsuo (Takeshi Kaga, Death Note). Directed by Toru Murakawa (The Game Trilogy) from a venomous script by Shoichi Maruyama (Yokohama BJ Blues), this unsettling dark thriller was Yusaku Matsuda's farewell to his 1970s action hero persona.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
UK STREET DATE: JULY 21.
Rosa la rose: fille publique
On the streets of Paris, Rosa 'la rose' (Marianne Basler, Va savoir) is the belle of Les Halles. With no shortage of clients, she is beloved by her fellow working girls and spoiled by her pimp Gilbert (Jean Sorel, Belle de Jour). For her, this is a charmed life - that is until her 20th birthday arrives. Across the floor, she locks eyes with Julien (Pierre Cosso, An American Werewolf in Paris), a blue-collar worker who sees something deeper beyond her fun-loving façade. Almost Shakespearean in its execution, Paul Vecchiali's underseen drama explores class consciousness and female sexuality with startling precision. Anchored by a magnetic central performance from the then 20-year-old Marianne Basler, Rosa la rose, fille publique is a true hidden gem.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
UK STREET DATE: JULY 21.
Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive
Exploding a seemingly simple premise – a nameless "cowboy" courier (Spencer Nakasako) arrives in pre-Handover Hong Kong to deliver a mysterious briefcase to a mercurial Mob boss whilst becoming entangled with his femme fatale mistress (Cora Miao) – independent filmmaking legend Wayne Wang's Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive barrels through inspired genre deconstruction, guerrilla docu-fiction and fierce political jeremiad, all with a keen sense of humour and one of the richest visual palettes of the 1990s.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Essential Polish Animation
"All of cinema is essentially animation" - Walerian Borowczyk Polish animation, influenced by jazz, poster design and collage, took off in the late 1950s when artists found creative freedom in the wake of Stalin's death. Pioneering filmmakers like Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica would change the form and usher in a golden age of filmmaking that would enable this art form to be appreciated around the world including winning prestigious international awards at festivals such as Cannes, Annecy, Oberhausen and an Oscar for Rybczyński's Tango. This collection of 27 films spans the breakthrough works of the late 1950s to the close of the classic era in the 1980s, capturing some of the form's essential films.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Beast to Die
Deeply scarred by what he witnessed on battlefields across Asia, a young war photographer (Yusaku Matsuda, Yokohama BJ Blues) returns to the bustling streets of Tokyo, plotting a series of brutal murders and robberies that are mere warmups for an unprecedented bank heist. Searching for an accomplice, he finds the short-fused and equally disenfranchised Tetsuo (Takeshi Kaga, Death Note). Directed by Toru Murakawa (The Game Trilogy) from a venomous script by Shoichi Maruyama (Yokohama BJ Blues), this unsettling dark thriller was Yusaku Matsuda's farewell to his 1970s action hero persona.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 4K RESTORATION BY THE KUDOKAWA STUDIO
- Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
- Interview with Toru Murakawa (2025)
- Interview with Shoichi Maruyama (2025)
- Critical appreciation from novelist and screenwriter Jordan Harper (2025)
- Newly improved English subtitle translation
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Tatsuya Masuto
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
- REGION- A/B "LOCKED"
UK STREET DATE: JULY 21.
Rosa la rose: fille publique
On the streets of Paris, Rosa 'la rose' (Marianne Basler, Va savoir) is the belle of Les Halles. With no shortage of clients, she is beloved by her fellow working girls and spoiled by her pimp Gilbert (Jean Sorel, Belle de Jour). For her, this is a charmed life - that is until her 20th birthday arrives. Across the floor, she locks eyes with Julien (Pierre Cosso, An American Werewolf in Paris), a blue-collar worker who sees something deeper beyond her fun-loving façade. Almost Shakespearean in its execution, Paul Vecchiali's underseen drama explores class consciousness and female sexuality with startling precision. Anchored by a magnetic central performance from the then 20-year-old Marianne Basler, Rosa la rose, fille publique is a true hidden gem.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 2K RESTORATION approved by Paul Vecchiali
- Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
- Interview with critic David Jenkins (2025)
- Archival interview with director Paul Vecchiali (1985)
- Archival interview with actors Marianne Basler and Jean Sorel (1985)
- Newly improved English subtitle translation
- Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original promotional materials
- Limited edition booklet featuring archival interviews and new writing by Marina Ashioti
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
- REGION-FREE
UK STREET DATE: JULY 21.
Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive
Exploding a seemingly simple premise – a nameless "cowboy" courier (Spencer Nakasako) arrives in pre-Handover Hong Kong to deliver a mysterious briefcase to a mercurial Mob boss whilst becoming entangled with his femme fatale mistress (Cora Miao) – independent filmmaking legend Wayne Wang's Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive barrels through inspired genre deconstruction, guerrilla docu-fiction and fierce political jeremiad, all with a keen sense of humour and one of the richest visual palettes of the 1990s.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW 4K RESTORATION from the original 35mm color interpositive
- New video interview with director Wayne Wang
- New video interview with co-writer/co-director Spencer Nakasako & Wang
- Original full-length chase sequence
- Trailer
- Newly improved English subtitle translation
- Limited edition booklet with new writing by Aliza Ma
- Limited edition slipcover, exclusive to radiancefilms.co.uk
- REGION-B "LOCKED"
Essential Polish Animation
"All of cinema is essentially animation" - Walerian Borowczyk Polish animation, influenced by jazz, poster design and collage, took off in the late 1950s when artists found creative freedom in the wake of Stalin's death. Pioneering filmmakers like Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica would change the form and usher in a golden age of filmmaking that would enable this art form to be appreciated around the world including winning prestigious international awards at festivals such as Cannes, Annecy, Oberhausen and an Oscar for Rybczyński's Tango. This collection of 27 films spans the breakthrough works of the late 1950s to the close of the classic era in the 1980s, capturing some of the form's essential films.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- TWO-DISC SET
- High-Definition digital transfers of 27 classic animated films
- Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
- Audio commentaries on select films by Polish film expert Daniel Bird (2025)
- Visual essay by film historian and Eastern European cinema expert Michael Brooke (2025)
- Optional English subtitles
- Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by animation expert Karol Szafraniec
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
- REGION-FREE
