Ferocious Fukasaku: 2 Films by Kinji Fukasaku
This thrilling two-disc set features a double dose of hyperbolic heist movie mayhem directed by the great Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Battle Royale), restored to HD, and, for the first time ever, available on Blu Ray in North America.
Fukasaku's 1964 breakthrough Wolves, Pigs and Men finds three brothers pitted against each other as rivals in the Yakuza underworld. Jiro, alongside his girlfriend Mizuhara, devises a scheme to rob his younger brother Sabu's gang. However, when the eldest brother Kuroki learns of this, he seeks to conspire against them to take it all for himself in a treacherous nightmare of unbridled violence.
While lesser known, 1976’s Violent Panic: The Big Crash wreaks havoc across the streets of Japan with stylishly nihilistic aplomb. After expert bank-robber Takashi's big job is foiled, he goes on the lam. Trailed by the police, his lover, his partner-in-crime’s brother, and countless others, Takashi becomes the target of a manhunt filled with twists, double-crosses, and explosive action that gives the 70’s car chase genre a run for its money.
This essential collector's item is jam-packed with bonus content, including Audio commentaries by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp, Interview with Fukasaku biographer Sadao Yamane, Interview with co-screenwriter Junya Sato, Interview with Producer Tatsu Yoshida, Fast, Furious, Fukasaku video essay by Tokyoscope author Patrick Macias, and 16 page booklet with new essay by film critic Kenji Fujishima.
Cast
- Tsunehiko Watase
- Miki Sugimoto
- Yayoi Watanabe
- Ken Takakura
- Rentarô Mikuni
- Kin'ya Kitaôji
Blu-ray Features
BONUS FEATURES:
- Audio commentaries by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp
- Interview with Fukasaku biographer Sadao Yamane
- Interview with co-screenwriter Junya Sato
- Interview with Producer Tatsu Yoshida
- Fast, Furious, Fukasaku video essay by Tokyoscope author Patrick Macias
- 16 page booklet with new essay by film critic Kenji Fujishima
Discs: 2
- "Those looking for fast paced action entertainment should, however, prepare to be blown away. "
- "Fun, frothy, and fierce, Violent Panic: The Big Crash is a cult film spectacle that pulls out all the stops."
- "[F]erocious, dynamic yakuza thriller in which Rentaro Mikuni, then as now one of the Japanese cinema’s most distinguished actors, plays a sleek gangster who has risen from a shantytown to the big time. "
- "[O]ne of the best movies Kinji Fukasaku made, a film with genuine tension, drama, and emotional power."
- "Wolves, Pigs and Men, which pitted three slum-dwelling gangster brothers against one another, established Fukasaku's pattern for contemporary action and crime dramas inspired by the French New Wave and American noir, featuring realistic portrayals of violence and often set in chaotic, working-class milieux."
- "Weighing cold hard yen against filial bonds, no holds are barred as the three brothers rip up the streets to Isao Tomita’s amazing jazz/surf-rock hybrid soundtrack. Shot on the real-life mean streets of Japan’s slums, Fukasaku’s blood-soaked yakuza debut mixes social criticism, American noir, French New Wave influences, and hard men with a penchant for violence."