Eureka Entertainment has announced its February batch of releases. They are: Jakob the Liar (1999) and Zen & Sword: The Miyamoto Musashi Saga at Toei (1961-1965).
Description: A swordsman, writer and artist who lived between 1584 and 1645, Miyamoto Musashi is a near-mythic figure in Japanese history and an icon of Japanese popular culture. The first film based on his life was produced in the silent period, followed by dozens more made over the next decades. In the early 1960s, Toei launched into an entire series focused on the legendary samurai – a five-part saga adapted from the works of Eiji Yoshikawa and completed under the direction of Tomu Uchida between 1961 and 1965.
Miyamoto Musashi charts the origins of the eponymous swordsman (Kinnosuke Nakamura) following his participation in the Battle of Sekigahara and traces his path towards the way of the samurai. In Miyamoto Musashi II: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights, Musashi emerges from a period of learning and contemplation, soon coming into conflict with a rogue group of ronin. Then, in Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of the Two Sword Style, the samurai develops his personal style of swordsmanship and first encounters Kojiro Sasaki (Ken Takakura), who will become his arch-rival. His feud with Sasaki intensifies in Miyamoto Musashi IV: Duel at Ichijyo-ji and Miyamoto Musashi V: Duel at Ganryu Island, ultimately leading to an epic final battle.
A greatly accomplished samurai saga featuring two titans of Japanese cinema in Kinnosuke Nakamura and Ken Takakura, Toei's Miyamoto Musashi films deserve to stand with the Zatoichi series as one of the great samurai sagas of the 1960s. The Masters of Cinema Series is honored to present all five films on Blu-ray from new 4K restorations by Toei.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW4K RESTORATIONS BY TOEI
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
New audio commentary on Miyamoto Musashi with Japanese cinema expert Jonathan Wroot
New audio commentary on Miyamoto Musashi II: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights with critic and Japanese cinema specialist Jasper Sharp
Live by the Sword – new video essay on Miyamoto Musashi in history and popular culture by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shōgun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun
A Legendary Swordsman – new appreciation of Toei's Miyamoto Musashi saga by film critic Tony Rayns
On Otsu and Other Women – new interview with Japanese cinema scholar Jennifer Coates on female representation in Toei's Miyamoto Musashi saga
Trailers
Limited edition hardbound slipcase featuring new art by John Dunn
Limited edition 100-page collector's book featuring translated writing by Miyamoto Musashi, notes on each film in Toei's Musashi series by Japanese cinema expert Joe Hickinbottom and a new essay on the films' stars by Jennifer Coates, author of Film Viewing in Postwar Japan, 1945-1968
Description: Directed for DEFA by Frank Beyer (Trace of Stones) and adapted from the novel of the same name by Jewish author Jurek Becker, Jakob the Liar was the only East German film to ever be nominated for an Academy Award. Starring the prolific Czech actor Vlastimil Brodsky (Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea), it follows the members of a Jewish community in German-occupied Poland.
In a Jewish ghetto, Jakob Heym (Brodsky) is ordered to report to a police station by a Nazi watchtower guard, where he overhears a radio broadcast suggesting that the Red Army is closing in on Poland. He tells friends and neighbours that the Germans might be losing the war, but they refuse to believe that he could have survived an encounter with Nazi officials. To make his story plausible, he claims to illegally possess a radio – and soon finds himself spreading false reports that he has supposedly heard on the airwaves, if only to give his community hope in the face of unimaginable horror.
One of the most powerful Holocaust films ever made, Jakob the Liar is also one of the finest films DEFA ever produced – and a significant influence on a cycle of prestigious Holocaust films produced by Hollywood in the 1990s, chiefly Peter Kassovitz's later adaptation of Becker's novel starring Robin Williams. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Jakob the Liar from a 4K restoration by the DEFA Foundation.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW4K RESTORATIONS BY DEFA
Original German audio
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
Lessons of the Past – new interview with Jewish studies scholar Sue Vice on Holocaust cinema
Jurek and Jakob – new video essay by film and literature scholar Mary Going on Jurek Becker and DEFA's adaptation of Jakob the Liar
A Diary for Anne Frank (Joachim Hellwig, 1958) – DEFA documentary on the story of Anne Frank
Limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on Jakob the Liar by Sebastian Heiduschke, author of East German Cinema: DEFA and Film History
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F