DVDuell.de Forum

[Horrorcollector]

Hi,

Ronin Gai ($24,95)

Directed By: Kazuo Kuroki

Starring: Shintarô Katsu, Yoshio Harada, Kanako Higuchi, Eisei Amamoto

Summary
Kazuo Kuroki’s international award-winning period drama was produced in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the death of Shozo Makino, “the father of Japanese films.” Set in the 1830s near the end of the age of the samurai, Ronin Gai is populated by an ensemble of colorful characters, social outcasts who patronize a restaurant and brothel on the outskirts of Edo. Among them are prostitutes and masterless samurai reduced to drunkenness and debauchery. The disgraced and disillusioned former warriors get a chance at redemption when renegade samurai invade the area to murder the prostitutes.

Specifications
1992
Color
Drama
Samurai
Runtime: 121 min
DVD
1.78:1 aspect
stereo
In Japanese with optional English subtitles

Special Features
Digital transfer, enhanced for 16:9 televisions
Original theatrical trailer
Essay by film critic Mark Pollard

The Inheritance ($29,95)

Directed By: Per Fly

Starring: Ulrich Thomsen, Lisa Werlinder, Karina Skands, Diana Axelsen, Ghita Nørby, Lars Brygmann

Summary
Winner of six Danish Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, Per Fly’s The Inheritance is a powerful and timely drama about a man torn between his family and business. Ulrich Thomsen (Celebration) gives a heartbreaking performance as Christoffer, who four years earlier abandoned the family steel business for an idyllic life as a restauranteur with the woman he loves, Maria (Lisa Werlinder), a rising actress. But when Christoffer’s father commits suicide, Christoffer’s domineering and manipulative mother (Ghita Norby, The Kingdom) compels him to return home to take control. Maria’s worst fears for Christoffer are tragically realized as he must contend with a business on the brink of financial ruin and a brother-in-law scheming for control. Christoffer must make wrenching decisions that threaten to tear his family apart and destroy his soul.

Specifications
2003
Color
Drama
Runtime: 115 min
DVD
1.85:1 aspect
stereo
In Norwegian with optional English Subtitles

Special Features
Digital transfer, enhanced for 16:9 televisions
Director commentary
‘Making-of’ documentary (55 minutes)
Essay by film critic Richard Schickel
(Time Magazine)

Kick ‘n Rush ($26,95)

Directed By: Aage Rais-Nordentoft

Starring: Jacob Krarup, Cyron Bjørn Melville, Esben Smed Jensen, Marie Bach Hansen, Niels Ellegaard

Summary
"American Pie," Danish-style! Aage Rais-Nordentoft’s gritty and frank coming-of-age drama scores with authentic performances from its non-professional cast and insightful script that intimately captures the impulsiveness and awkwardness of adolescence. Jakob, Bo, and Mikkel are high school students whose passions are soccer, girls, and renting videos. Jakob is devastated when the girl of his dreams moves to Africa, but strikes up a tentative romance with classmate Mathilde. Mikkel has a crush on a counter girl at the local diner. Bo, whose talent attracts the attention of professional scouts, falls under the influence of a fast crowd. Through sexual fantasies, all-night parties and petty crimes, the trio's friendship is put to the supreme test.

Specifications
2003
Color
Drama
Comedy
Runtime: 94 min
DVD
1.85:1 aspect
stereo
In Danish with optional English subtitles

Special Features
Digital transfer, enhanced for 16:9 televisions
Original trailer
Interview with director Aage Rais-Nordentoft (DVD Liner notes)
Optional Dolby 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 soundtrack

Under the Flag of the Rising Sun ($24,95)

Directed By: Kinji Fukasaku

Starring: Sachiko Hidari, Tetsuro Tamba, Noboru Mitani, Kanemon Nakamura , Sanae Nakahara

Summary
Sachiko Hidari gives a towering performance in Kinji Fukasaku’s devastating anti-war drama as Mrs.Togashi, a war widow determined to clear the name of her disgraced husband, who was court-martialed for desertion and executed. Official records have been destroyed, and the ministry that distributes benefits continues to deny her a pension. Twenty-six years after the war, she seeks out four survivors of her husband’s garrison. Each tells a dramatically different story about her husband’s conduct, but she is determined to learn the truth. “Until my husband can rest in peace,” she proclaims, “I’ll have no comfort.” Thus begins a Rashomon-like mystery that unfolds in harrowing flashbacks, punctuated by archival still combat images that convey the brutality and absurdity of war.

Specifications
1972
Color/BW
Drama
War
Mystery
Runtime: 96 min
DVD
2.35:1 aspect
monaural
In Japanese with optional English subtitles

Special Features
Digital transfer, enhanced for 16:9 televisions
Audio commentary by acclaimed Fukasaku subtitler Linda Hoaglund
Interview with noted Fukasaku scholar Yamane Sadao
Original theatrical trailer
Essay by Tom Mes (Midnight Eye)


Ich freue mich wahnsinnig über Under the Flag of the Rising Sun, gibt wohl kaum einen Titel den ich mehr erwartet habe!

Grüsse,

Dennis