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Celebrating 100 years of iconoclast director Seijun Suzuki (1923-2017), a singular force in Japanese cinema whose radical stylistic vision and unpredictable narratives shaped the B-movie genre, Japanese cinephilia and the political New Left, Japan Society and The Japan Foundation present Seijun Suzuki Centennial—a selection of six films from across the filmmaker’s nearly 60-film body of work, all on imported 35mm prints straight from Japan. Covering ground from his earliest yakuza feature (Satan’s Town) to his unbridled return to studio filmmaking after being blacklisted for 10 years (A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness) and his subsequent independent success (Kagero-za), this special series offers a rare glimpse into the core of Suzuki’s creative genius.

Organized in conjunction with the recent publication of series’ guest curator William Carroll’s Suzuki Seijun and Postwar Japanese Cinema (Columbia University Press, 2022), Seijun Suzuki Centennial delves into the versatility and audacious nature of the...

For vintage Japanese classics Arrow is the place to be this summer. Yasuzô Masumura’s complicated tale of industrial espionage is an attack on the free enterprise system — even good people will do terrible things to get ahead, to prevail over the competition. It’s Tiger Car Company against the Yamato Car Company, winner take all. Plus, the extra feature The Black Report is not filler, but a terrific murder prosecution story, with Masumura’s patented dose of acid cynicism and murky misanthropy.

Black Test Car

Blu-ray

Arrow Video

1962 /95 min. / Kuro no tesuto kaa

Starring: Jirô Tamiya, Junko Kanô, Eiji Funakoshi, Hideo Takamatsu, Ichirô Sugai, Kichijiro Ueda.

Written by Kazuro Funabashi, Yoshihiro Ishimatsu from a novel by Sueyuki Kajiyama

Produced by Gentaro Nakajima

The Black Report

Blu-ray

Arrow Academy

1963 / 94 min. / Kuro no hôkokusho

Starring: Ken Utsui, Junko Kanô, Hideo Takamatsu, Shigeru Kôyama, Eitarô Ozawa, Bontarô Miake, Mieko Kondô.

Written by Yoshihiro Ishimatsu,...