"Actor: Nobuo Kaneko"

• Ikiru | DVD | (06/10/2003) from £14.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  ""Sometimes I think of my death "" wrote Akira Kurosawa ""I think of ceasing to be... and it is from these thoughts that Ikiru came."" The story of a man diagnosed with stomach cancer Kurosawa's film is a serious contemplation of the nature of existence and the question of how we find meaning in our lives. Opening with a shot of an x-ray showing the main character's stomach 'Ikiru' tells the tale of a dedicated downtrodden civil servant who diagnosed with a fatal cancer learns to c

• Battles Without Honor and Humanity | Blu Ray | (06/09/2021) from £26.79   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale) gave the world Japan's answer to The Godfather with this violent yakuza saga, influencing filmmakers from Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs) to Takashi Miike (Graveyard of Honor, Audition). Made within just two years, the five-film series brought a new kind of realism and ferocity to the crime genre in Japan, revitalising the industry and leading to unprecedented commercial and critical success.Literally exploding on screen with a mushroom cloud, and ending with Hiroshima's A-bomb Dome, the epic story of Battles Without Honour and Humanity follows over 100 characters through twenty years of gang wars, alliances, betrayals, and assassinations, in an exciting exploration of criminal power and politics in Japan. In the opening episode, ex-soldier Shôzô Hirono escapes from the post-war black markets to become a key member of the Yamamori gang, but soon finds himself disillusioned by the selfish duplicity of his bosses. Hiroshima Death Match focuses on a demobilised kamikaze pilot drifting through the early 1950s, whose suicidal impulses find good use as a mob assassin. Proxy War and Police Tactics form a labyrinthine, two-part story of ambition and betrayal set against Japan's rapid economic growth of the 1960s, with Shôzô caught between warring factions. Final Episode concludes the series in the 1970s as the former Yamamori gang transforms itself into an economic conglomerate called the Tensei Group, in a bid for mainstream respectability.Fukasaku and his team broke with the longstanding studio tradition of casting marquee idols as honourable, kimono-clad heroes, defending their gang bosses against unscrupulous villains, and instead adapted true accounts torn from the headlines, shot in a documentary-like style, and with few clear-cut heroes or villains. The vibrancy and dynamism of the filmmaking, plus its shocking violence, Shakespearean plotlines, and wide tapestry of characters, launched a revolutionary new genre, establishing the series as one of the great masterpieces of world crime cinema.Special Features:High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation of all five original filmsOriginal Mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays)Optional English subtitles for all five filmsReversible sleeves featuring newly commissioned artwork by Reinhard KleistDisc 1: Battles Without Honor and HumanityAudio commentary by critic and author Stuart Galbraith IVYakuza Graveyard an interview with Takashi Miike about Kinji Fukasaku and the yakuza film genreOriginal trailers for all five filmsDisc 2: Hiroshima Death MatchMan of Action an interview with series fight choreographer Ryūzō UenoOriginal TrailerDisc 3: Proxy WarSecrets of the Piranha Army a documentary about the troupe of supporting actors who appeared throughout the series, featuring interviews with original Piranha members Masaru Shiga and Takashi Noguchi, plus second-generation Piranha, Takashi Nishina and Akira MurotaTales of a Bit Player an interview with supporting actor and stuntman Seizô FukumotoOriginal TrailerDisc 4: Police TacticsRemembering Kinji a featurette about director Kinji Fukasaku and his work, featuring interviews with Kenta Fukasaku and film critic and Fukasaku biographer Sadao YamaneFukasaku Family an interview with Proxy War and Police Tactics assistant director Tôru Dobashi Original TrailerDisc 5: Final EpisodeLast Days of the Boss an interview with Final Episode screenwriter Kôji Takada Original poster gallery for the seriesOriginal Trailer

• Yakuza Graveyard | Blu Ray | (20/11/2023) from £12.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  When he falls for the beautiful wife of the jailed boss of the Nishida gang, things start to spiral out of control for detective Kuroiwa (Tetsuya Watari, Graveyard of Honour). In a world where the line between police and organised crime is vague, he finds himself on the wrong side of a yakuza war when his superiors favour Nishida's rivals, the Yamashiro gang. Co-starring the iconic Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood) and featuring Nagisa Oshima as chief of police, Yakuza Graveyard sees director Kinji Fukasaku (Battles without Honour and Humanity) at the peak of his powers. Product Features High-Definition digital transfer Original uncompressed mono PCM audio Appreciation by filmmaker Kazuya Shiraishi The Rage and the Passion - A visual essay by critic Tom Mes on Meiko Kaji and Kinji Fukasaku's collaborations Gallery of promotional imagery Easter Egg Trailer Newly translated English subtitles

• Big Time Gambling Boss | Blu Ray | (20/03/2023) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Tokyo, 1934. Gang boss Arakawa is too ill and a successor must be named. The choice falls on Nakai, but being an outsider he refuses and suggests senior clansman Matsuda instead. But Matsuda is in jail and the elders won't wait for his release, so they appoint the younger and more malleable Ishido to take the reins. Clan honour and loyalties are severely tested when Matsuda is released, resulting in an increasingly violent internal strife.An atmospheric tale of gangland intrigue written by Kazuo Kasahara (Battles Without Honour and Humanity) and starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, (Lone Wolf and Cub, The Bounty Hunter Trilogy) and genre legend Koji Tsuruta, Big Time Gambling Boss is one of the all-time classics of the yakuza genre. Paul Schrader called it the richest and most complex film of its type, while novelist Yukio Mishima hailed it as a masterpiece. Radiance Films is proud to present this crucial re-discovery for the first time ever on Blu-ray.Product FeaturesHigh Definition digital transfer of the filmUncompressed mono PCM audioVisual essay by genre expert Chris D on the film and its place within the period and genre (2022)Ninkyo 101: A masterclass with Mark Schilling, author of The Yakuza Movie Book (2022)Trailer

• New Battles Without Honour & Humanity | Blu Ray | (21/08/2017) from £21.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  NEW BATTLES WITHOUT HOUNOUR AND HUMANITY: THE COMPLETE TRILOGY New Battles Without Honour and Humanity New Battles Without Honour and Humanity: The Boss's Head New Battles Without Honour and Humanity: Last Days of the Boss In the early 1970s Kinji Fukasaku's five-film Battles Without Honour and Humanity series was a massive hit in Japan and kicked off a boom in realistic modern yakuza films based on true stories. Although Fukasaku had intended to end the series Toei Studio convinced him to return to the director's chair for this unconnected follow-up trilogy of films each starring Battles leading man Bunta Sugawara and telling separate but fictional stories about the yakuza in different locations in Japan. In the first film Bunta Sugawara is Miyoshi a low-level assassin of the Yamamori gang who is sent to jail after a bungled hit. While in stir family member Aoki (Lone Wolf and Cub's Tomisaburo Wakayama) attempts to seize power from the boss and Miyoshi finds himself stuck between the two factions with no honourable way out. In the second entry The Boss's Head Sugawara is Kuroda an itinerant gambler who steps in when a hit by drug-addicted assassin Kusunoki (Tampopo's Tsutomu Yamazaki) goes wrong and takes the fall on behalf of the Owada family but when the gang fails to make good on financial promises to him Kuroda targets the family bosses with a ruthless vengeance. And in Last Days of the Boss Sugawara plays Nozaki a labourer who swears allegiance to a sympathetic crime boss only to find himself elected his successor after the boss is murdered. Restrained by a gang alliance that forbids retributions against high-level members Nozaki forms a plot to exact revenge on his rivals but a suspicious relationship with his own sister (Chieko Matsubara from Outlaw: Gangster VIP) taints his relationship with his fellow gang members. Making their English-language home video debut in this limited edition set the New Battles Without Honour and Humanity films are important links between the first half of Fukasaku's career and his later exploration of other genres. Each one is also a top-notch crime action thriller: hard-boiled entertaining and distinguished by Fukasaku's directorial genius funky musical scores by composer Toshiaki Tsushima and the onscreen power of Toei's greatest yakuza movie stars. LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS: High Definition digital transfers of all three films High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations Original uncompressed mono audio New optional English subtitle translation for all three films Beyond the Films: New Battles Without Honour and Humanity a new video appreciation by Fukasaku biographer Sadao Yamane New Stories New Battles and Closing Stories two new interviews with screenwriter Koji Takada about his work on the second and third films in the trilogy Original theatrical trailers for all three films Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Reinhard Kleist Illustrated collector's book featuring new writing on the films the yakuza genre and Fukasaku's career by Stephen Sarrazin Tom Mes Hayley Scanlon Chris D. and Marc Walkow

• Yakuza Graveyard | DVD | (19/08/2002) from £8.47   |  Saving you £7.52 (88.78%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Yakuza Graveyard was one of the stylish, morally ambivalent movies with which director Kinji Fukasaki revolutionised the Japanese gangster genre in the 1970s. These days more famous for his brilliant teen exploitation film Battle Royale, Fukasaki has a proven flair for unsettlingly violent scenes in which the camera dips and twirls as his characters throw each other down stairs and across rooms. An honest cop (Tetsuya Watari) is stationed in Osaka and finds himself caught up in a nightmare world where his superiors launder money and carry out hits for several rival gangs. His sense of honour--already supporting the drunken, promiscuous widow of a man he killed--ties him ever closer to the principal heavy of the gang his superiors are gradually destroying and to the man's half-sister, with whom he falls passionately in love. A torrid interlude as waves beat on the shore--waves that somehow manage to be something other than a cliché--is just a break in the gloomy spiral of degradation and death. This is in some ways as corny as anything, in other ways a minor classic. On the DVD: Yakuza Graveyard is presented in 16:9 widescreen and comes with a short text essay explaining the importance of the film in the development of Fukasaki's career and the yakuza genre. --Roz Kaveney

• Yakuza Papers | DVD | (23/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This nihilistic chronicle of the gang-wars that ravaged Hiroshima in post-war Japan centres on the character Sugawara. Based on the prison diary of a yakuza involved in the wars (Kozo Mino) Sugawara is distinguished through extreme callous brutality. The villainous godfather Yamamoru initiates him into his ruthless gang which inevitably wins the power struggle through titanic gruesome battles. Once more with 'The Yakuza Papers' director Kinji Fukasaku elevates brutality and abrup

• Cops vs Thugs | DVD | (01/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  It is 1963 and the police of Kurashima City have spent the past seven years eradicating the Yakuza gangs which have caused so much strife in the city. The last two remaining gangs Ohara and Kawade are in tatters with the Ohara Boss in prison. But with the police force full of corrupt officers the gangs begin to flourish once again. The Kawade gang sensing the opportunity to strike their enemies while their leader is incarcerated decide to stage a raid on a club owned by their rivals but the attention of the police is drawn to both gangs again. Ken Hirotani is running the Ohara gang while the Boss is in jail and he soon discovers that a childhood friend Kuno is now a police detective assigned to clean up the underworld. But Kuno's loyalties lay more with his friend than his career and his honour is tested time and time again. When a major property deal goes bad the police are able to persuade the two gangs to come to a truce but there are elements of both sides who don't like what their superiors are negotiating. Soon it's not only Cops vs Cops as loyalties are strained and honour pushes the boundaries of the law with an epic showdown looming.

• Yakuza Papers / Yakuza Graveyard / Street Mobster | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Yakuza Papers: This nihilistic chronicle of the gang-wars that ravaged Hiroshima in post-war Japan centres on the character Sugawara. Based on the prison diary of a yakuza involved in the wars (Kozo Mino) Sugawara is distinguihed through extreme callous brutality. The villainous godfather Yamamoru initiates him into his ruthless gang which inevitably wins the power struggle through titanic gruesome battles. Once more with 'The Yakuza Papers' director Kinji Fukasaku elevate

• Big Time Gambling Boss | Blu Ray | (02/01/2023) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Tokyo, 1934. Gang boss Arakawa is too ill and a successor must be named. The choice falls on Nakai, but being an outsider he refuses and suggests senior clansman Matsuda instead. But Matsuda is in jail and the elders won't wait for his release, so they appoint the younger and more malleable Ishido to take the reins. Clan honour and loyalties are severely tested when Matsuda is released, resulting in an increasingly violent internal strife. An atmospheric tale of gangland intrigue written by Kazuo Kasahara (Battles Without Honour and Humanity) and starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, (Lone Wolf and Cub, The Bounty Hunter Trilogy) and genre legend Koji Tsuruta, Big Time Gambling Boss is one of the all-time classics of the yakuza genre. Paul Schrader called it the richest and most complex film of its type, while novelist Yukio Mishima hailed it as a masterpiece. Radiance Films is proud to present this crucial re-discovery for the first time ever on Blu-ray. Product Features High Definition digital transfer of the film Uncompressed mono PCM audio Visual essay by genre expert Chris D on the film and its place within the period and genre (2022) Ninkyo 101: A masterclass with Mark Schilling, author of The Yakuza Movie Book (2022) Trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by maarko phntm Limited edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Stuart Galbraith IV, and critic Hayley Scanlon Limited edition of 2000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

• Classic Kurosawa | DVD | (28/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Throne of Blood (1957): Kurosawa's film career began in 1936 at the Photo Chemical Laboratories in Tokyo. His directorial debut in 1943 Judo Saga bore evidence of his economy of expression and marked his humanist approach. His Rashomon won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1951 and this led to the 'discovery' of his other works and those of his mentors and peers notably Ozu and Mizoguchi. Kurosawa's transposition of Shakespeare's Ma

• Yakuza Graveyard | Blu Ray | (15/05/2023) from £16.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  When he falls for the beautiful wife of the jailed boss of the Nishida gang, things start to spiral out of control for detective Kuroiwa (Tetsuya Watari, Graveyard of Honour). In a world where the line between police and organised crime is vague, he finds himself on the wrong side of a yakuza war when his superiors favour Nishida's rivals, the Yamashiro gang. Co-starring the iconic Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood) and featuring Nagisa Oshima as chief of police, Yakuza Graveyard sees director Kinji Fukasaku (Battles without Honour and Humanity) at the peak of his powers. Limited Edition Special Features High-Definition digital transfer Original uncompressed mono PCM audio Appreciation by filmmaker Kazuya Shiraishi The Rage and the Passion - A visual essay by critic Tom Mes on Meiko Kaji and Kinji Fukasaku's collaborations Gallery of promotional imagery Easter Egg Trailer Newly translated English subtitles Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow Limited edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mika Ko on the representations of Koreans in the yakuza film, and newly translated re-prints of a contemporary review and writing by screenwriter Kazuo Kasahara