These new Blu-ray release are a little something for everyone. They represent all kinds of different genres. Let's take a look at these awesome Blu-rays and the great bonus features included.
Tchao Pantin Bensoussan (Richard Anconina) is a small-time drug pusher in the 18th Arrondissement of Paris. Being trailed by suspicious patrol cops he takes refuge in a petrol station and strikes up a conversation with night manager Lambert (Coluche). As Bensoussan continues to drop in on Lambert they develop a friendship. But it isn't long before problems arise for Bensoussan and Lambert feels a responsibility to the the young tearaway.
Bonus Materials
* 4K restoration by Path approved by cinematographer Bruno Nyutten
* Uncompressed mono PCM audio
* Once Upon a Time Tchao Pantin - A documentary on the film featuring interviews with writer-director Claude Berri, novelist Alain Page, stars Richard Anconina, Mahmoud Zemmouri, Agn's Soral, cinematographer Bruno Nyutten and others (2003, 55 mins)
* Trailer
* Newly improved English subtitle translation
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista
* Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Manuela Lazic
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18 Years in Prison Trying to survive in the ruins of post-war Japan, Kawada (Noboru Ando, By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him) and Tsukada (Asao Koike, Sympathy the Underdog) run afoul of the military police after stealing valuable copper wire. Kawada is arrested and sent to prison, but Tsukada uses their gains to start a yakuza gang. Facing violent inmates and a cruel warden (Tomisaburo Wakayama, Big Time Gambling Boss), Kawada vows to escape and stop his former partner. Tai Kato directs this epic prison story with characteristic visual flair, while gangster-turned-actor Ando delivers a stunning performance charged with real-life gravitas. As an examination of the deep scars of wartime, this genre classic is also a clear precursor to Kinji Fukasaku's epoch-making Battles Without Honour and Humanity series.
Bonus Materials
* High-Definition digital transfer
* Uncompressed mono PCM audio
* Appreciation by critic and programmer Tony Rayns (2024)
* A visual essay on Japanese prison films by author Tom Mes (2024)
* Original trailer
* Newly translated English subtitles
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
* Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Ivo Smits and an archival interview with Noboru Ando by Mark Schilling
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Tokijiro: Lone Yakuza Weary of the rigid codes of the underworld, gambler Tokijiro (Kinnosuke Nakamura, Goyokin) wanders Japan in search of freedom. But escape proves to be impossible when an obligation to a gang boss leaves him with no choice but to kill a man. To atone for his crime, he vows to take care of his victim's widow and young son. But the gang won't rest until they've killed the entire family - including the man who stands in their way. With this breathtakingly stylised film, Tai Kato broke all the conventions of the yakuza genre, fusing blood-spurting action with melodrama worthy of Japanese cinema's greatest masters.
Bonus Materials
* High-Definition digital transfer
* Uncompressed mono PCM audio
* Interview with film critic Koushi Ueno about the film's place in genre cinema history
* A visual essay on star Kinnosuke Nakamura by Japanese cinema expert Robin Gatto
* New and improved English subtitle translation
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
* Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by scholar Ivo Smits and a newly translated archival review
Viva La Muerete As the Spanish Civil War draws to a close, Fando, a young boy, is tormented by violently conflicting feelings towards his mother, who he suspects may have had a role in his father's capture by fascists; feelings that manifest themselves as a nightmare onslaught of terrifying and bizarre imagery. Based on Fernando Arrabal's own brutal experiences during the Civil War, Viva la muerte is a shockingly provocative work of surrealist cinema from the artist and film-maker.
Bonus Materials
* New 4K restoration of the original 35mm negative by the Cinémathèque Toulouse in collaboration with Fernando Arrabal
* Audio discussion from the Project Booth podcast featuring Mike White, Heather Drain and Jess Byard (66 mins)
* Sur les traces de Baal - a short documentary by Abdellatif Ben Ammar in which the filmmaker followed Arrabal's film and captured him at work on Viva la Muerte! (1970, 20 mins)
* VIDARRABAL - a feature-length documentary on Arrabal by Xavier Pasturel Barron capturing the life and work of this singular filmmaker, playwright, painter and essayist, featuring interviews with admirers, friends and family, including members of the Panic
* Interview with scholar and Spanish cinema expect David Archibald
* Trailer
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
* Booklet featuring new writing by Sabina Stent and archival interview with Fernando Arrabal
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Tattooed Life Tetsuo (Hideki Takahashi, Fighting Elegy), a low-level yakuza is double-crossed by his boss and attacked. His younger brother Kenji (Kotobuki Hananomoto, This Transient Life), an aspiring artist with no connections to crime, comes to his aid and kills Tetsuo's assailant. Fearing repercussions from the yakuza they flee to Manchuria where they risk coming under suspicion of rival gangs. Seijun Suzuki (Branded to Kill) remains loyal to the conventions of the yakuza film, but Tattooed Life contains flashes of his later creative genius, including a final act of explosive visual excess that has become one of the director's all-time classic scenes.
Bonus Materials
* High-Definition digital transfer
* Uncompressed mono PCM audio
* Audio commentary by William Carroll, author of Seijun Suzuki and Postwar Cinema (2024)
* Newly edited archival interview with director Seijun Suzuki
* Newly edited archival interview with art director Takeo Kimura
* Trailer
* Newly improved English subtitle translation
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
* Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Tom Vick and a newly translated archival review of the film
Order The Blu-ray Here!
A Man on his Knees Mistaken as a witness to a crime, Nino (Giuliano Gemma, The Iron Prefect), learns from a friend he has been put on a Mafia hit list and is being stalked by an assassin (Michele Placido, Romanzo Criminale). A man with a troubled past, Nino knows only too well what he faces and uses all his strength and cunning to keep himself and his family alive.
Bonus Materials
* New 4K restoration from the original negative
* Uncompressed mono PCM audio
* Archival interviews with stars Giuliano Gemma, Tano Cimarosa and assistant director Mino Giarda
* New interview with Alberto Pezzotta, author of Regia Damiano Damiani
* Trailer
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista
* Booklet featuring new writing by Roberto Curti
* Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Order The Blu-ray Here!
Whether it's drama, war, mafia, horror or prison films Radiance Films have you the physical media collector covered. Not only have they restored these films to the best quality possible, but they added some very cool bonus features.
If you are looking for an amazing deal on additional Radiance Films Blu-rays head over to MVD Shop to the Radiance Films section and she their huge selection of Blu-rays!
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