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Based on a real-life incident of a father who had strangled his violent son, “The Strangling” seems to follow one of the most prevalent themes of Japanese cinema from the 70s and onwards, the accusation towards the previous generation for the blights that torment the current. Kaneto Shindo, however, definitely moves much further, and occasionally even in an opposite direction, in a film that went beyond the borders of Japan, screening in competition at the 36th Venice International Film Festival, where Nobuko Otowa was awarded as Best Actress.

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The movie actually begins with the titular deed, showing Yasuzo, after an agreement with his wife, Ryoko, strangles his son, Tsutomu. Although Shindo takes care of showing what happened after the deed, including the support the couple got from their neighbors in all aspects, the main arc of the story deals with how the young man,...

It’s another CineSavant review of a movie largely unavailable, especially the original Japanese version. This third Ishirô Honda / Eiji Tsuburaya outer space action epic is probably the best Toho science fiction feature ever, an Astral Collision tale in which the drama and characters are as compelling as the special effects. Nothing can stop a colossal planetoid heading toward Earth, but science comes to the rescue with the biggest construction job ever undertaken by mankind. The fine screenplay generates thrills, suspense and human warmth. It also takes place in the far, far future: 1980.

Gorath

CineSavant Revival Screening Review

Not On Region A Home Video

1962 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 88 83 min. / Yôsei Gorasu

Starring: Ryô Ikebe, Yumi Shirakawa, Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno, Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara, Jun Tazaki, Ken Uehara, Takashi Shimura, Seizaburô Kawazu, Takamaru Sasaki, Kô Nishimura, Eitarô Ozawa, Hideyo Amamoto, George Furness, Ross Benette, Nadao Kirino, Fumio Sakashita, Ikio Sawamura, Haruo Nakajima.

Lady Snowblood (original title: Shurayukihime)

Written by Norio Nagata

Directed by Toshiya Fujita

Japan, 1973

On a windy, wintry night deep inside a prison cell for female inmates, with searing pain erupting through her bodya woman delivers birth to a baby girl. With her dying breath the mother whispers a life mission to her child Yuki: avenge her murdered father, big brother and soon to be dead mother. Yuki grows up to be a strikingly beautiful if eerily pale looking woman (Meiko Kaji) that traverses late 18th century Japan to hunt and annihilate the four foul characters who took advantage of her family during a time of great national turmoil. The film occasionally jumps to and fro in the story’s timeline to juxtapose Yuki’s adult mindset, one filled with quiet rage, and her child years whilst under martial arts tutelage of an old priest (Ko Nishimura).

The 1970s ostensibly...

The Twitch curated Tokyo Drifters: 100 Years Of Nikkatsu screening series continues this Saturday with a rare screening of Kurahara Koreyoshi's Intimidation. Kurahara's film is one of the purest examples of a Japanese take on American film noir and has seldom been seen on screens on this side of the ocean.A lean, efficient crime thriller from prolific Nikkatsu vet Koreyoshi Kurahara, Intimidation focuses on Takita (Nobuo Kaneko), an ambitious, rising bank manager at a regional branch clawing his way to the top of his firm by any means necessary -- most often by walking all over his meek underling and childhood friend Nakaike (Akira Nishimura). On the verge of his promotion to head office, Takita has his world upended when a mysterious blackmailer appears with...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Reviewer: Philip Tatler IV

Ratings (out of five):

Intimidation: ****

The Warped Ones: ***½

I Hate But Love: ***½

Black Sun: ****½

Thirst for Love: ***½

Set: ****

Koreyoshi Kurahara is most well-known for the 1983 ”sled dogs overcome cruel nature” piece Antarctica (Nankyoku Monogatari) which was Japan’s number one box office smash for over a decade. Diving into the five early Kurahara features featured in this set, however, it’s hard to imagine him being picked for such a Disneyesque enterprise.

The set begins simply enough with Intimidation (1960), a tamped-down caper that twists and turns right up to the last of its scant 65 minutes. Just as bank manager Mr. Takita (Nobuo Kaneko) is enjoying his ascension to the upper echelon of society, his past sins return to haunt him whilst compelling him to embezzle three million yen from his bank’s vault. Takita enlists his long-suffering “friend,” a pathetic underling named Nakaike (a heartbreaking,...