Eureka Entertainment has announced its March slate of Blu-ray releases. They are: Cruel Tale of Bushido (1963), The Devil's Hand (1943), and The Invincible Eight (1971).
Best known for dramas such as Until We Meet Again and An Inlet of Muddy Water, the Japanese filmmaker Tadashi Imai was also the director of Revenge, a highly accomplished and brutal jidaigeki picture. These two sensibilities come together in the film that might just stand as Imai's masterpiece: Cruel Tale of Bushido.
Kinnosuke Nakamura (Miyamoto Musashi) stars in multiple roles, playing seven generations of men belonging to the same family. In the modern day, salaryman Iikura is devastated by his wife's attempted suicide. To distract himself, he begins working through his recently discovered family records. As he traces his personal history across 350 years, he discovers tale after tale of men who have suffered, debased themselves and made untold sacrifices in the name of bushido, or the moral code of the samurai.
Featuring Eijiro Tono (Seven Samurai) and Masayuki Mori (Rashomon) in supporting roles and boasting a foreboding score by the celebrated composer Toshiro Mayuzumi, Cruel Tale of Bushido won the Golden Bear Award at the 1963 Berlin Film Festival for its uncompromising deconstruction of the all-too-often romanticised concept of bushido.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 4K RESTORATION BY TOEI
Original Japanese mono audio
Optional DTS-HD MA 5,1 audio
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
Telling a Cruel Tale – new interview with film critic Tony Rayns
Years of Honour – new video essay on Cruel Tale of Bushido and Japanese history by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of Japan
Trailer
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Tony Stella [2000 copies]
Limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing by Japanese cinema expert Hayley Scanlon [2000 copies]
U.S. AND CANADA STREET DATE: MARCH 24.
UK STREET DATE: MARCH 23.
Directed by cinematic pioneer Maurice Tourneur (Cecile is Dead) and starring Pierre Fresnay (La Grande Illusion), The Devil's Hand stands with Diabolique and Eyes Without a Face as one of the finest horror films ever produced in France.
Guests staying at an isolated mountain inn, cut off from the outside world by an avalanche, are astounded by the sudden arrival of Roland Brissot (Fresnay), a mysterious man with a prosthetic hand. He soon begins to regale the assembled patrons with his extraordinary story: once a struggling artist, his luck changed on the day that he bought an enchanted talisman in the shape of a hand, an artefact that supposedly bestows good fortune upon its owner. Overnight, he became talented, wealthy and contented – but he must sell the talisman at a loss before he dies, or else he will be damned to hell for all eternity…
A distinctly French twist on the likes of Faust and The Monkey's Paw, The Devil's Hand was adapted from the 1927 novel of the same name by Gérard de Nerval and produced under German occupation at the height of World War II. The Masters of Cinema Series presents this extraordinary film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
PREVIOUSLY RESTORED BY GAUMONT
Original French mono audio
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
New audio commentary by film critic James Oliver
The Devil in the Details – new video essay by film historian Samm Deighan
La Continental – archival documentary on Continental Films and French cinema under German occupation, presented with newly translated English subtitles
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by John Dunn
Limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on director Maurice Tourneur by French cinema expert Barry Nevin
Directed by Lo Wei shortly before he achieved global success with the Bruce Lee vehicles The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, The Invincible Eight was one of the first films produced by Golden Harvest following the company's founding in 1970 – a wuxia tale starring Nora Miao (The Way of the Dragon), Angela Mao (Hapkido), Paul Chang Chung (Police Story) and James Tien (Yes, Madam!).
Eight men and women band together for a single purpose: to take their revenge on the military General responsible for killing members of their respective families. They intend to stop at nothing until their adversary is dead, but theirs will not be an easy task. For the General not only has the protection of the Imperial army, but also an elite group of bodyguards armed with whips and sworn to protect their leader at any cost.
Boasting fight choreography by Sammo Hung (who also plays one of the villain's whip-wielding henchmen), The Invincible Eight is a significant film in the history of Hong Kong cinema, notable for helping to establish Golden Harvest as an industry force to be reckoned with. Eureka Classics is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time outside of Asia.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 2K RESTORATION
Original Mandarin mono audio
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
New audio commentary by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist and filmmaker Michael Worth
Whip Smart – new appreciation of The Invincible Eight by Wayne Wong, author of Martial Arts Ecology
Original theatrical trailer
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju)
Limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on The Invincible Eight and Golden Harvest by East Asian cinema expert Camille Zaurin