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The issue of the Zainichi Koreans was one that interested Nagisa Oshima significantly, with him having shot the TV documentary “Forgotten Soldiers” in 1963 and the experimental short “Diary of Yunbogi” in 1965. Two events revolving around the problems of Koreans in Japan, the Kim Hiro and the Komatsugawa Incident, were also roots of inspiration for him, resulting in two films, “Death by Hanging” and “Three Resurrected Drunkards” both of which use irony, theatricality and intense avant-garde elements to portray his take on the subject.

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The overall directorial approach here becomes apparent from the beginning, as it shows three Japanese students at the beach, reenacting one of the most famous pictures of the Vietnam war, before they decide to strip to their underwear and go for a swim. While they are swimming, a hand emerges from the sand and steals their clothes,...

Kaneto Shindo was a prolific director and screenwriter who created some of the most memorable films of the black and white era, such as “Onibaba” (1964) and “Kuroneko” (1968). In “The Naked Island” (1960) Shindo gives us a window on a small farming family living on an island, showing the harsh conditions under which they survive.

The film begins with a man and woman collecting water that they transport back to the island on a small vessel. We see that they have two sons living with them. It is clear from the beginning that theirs is a difficult life. The dry earth means that they are required to continually water their crops, travelling back and forth from the island and hauling their buckets up the steep hill. The eldest son is taken by his mother to school on the mainland. While much of their time is taken up with an endless struggle against the elements,...

In this episode of CriterionCast Chronicles, Ryan is joined by David Blakeslee, Arik Devens, and Mark Hurne to discuss the Criterion Collection releases for May 2016.

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Don't let your boss see this movie, it'll give them ideas. Writer-director Kaneto Shindo reduces the human drama to its basics, as an isolated family endures a backbreaking existence of dawn 'til dusk toil to eke out a living. It's a beautiful but humbling ode to adaptability and human resolve. And the show has no conventional dialogue. The Naked Island Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 811 1960 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 94 min. / Hadaka no shima / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 17, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Nobuko Otowa, Taiji Tonoyama, Shinji Tanaka, Masanori Horimoto. Cinematography Kiyomi Kuroda Film Editor Toshio Enoki Original Music Hikaru Hayashi Produced by Eisaku Matsuura, Kaneto Shindo Written and Directed by Kaneto Shindo

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Writer-director Kaneto Shindo started his own production company in the 1950s earning critical attention but not great success with pictures on topical themes -- the legacy of Hiroshima, the story of the fishing trawler irradiated by a hydrogen blast.

Feature Dan Auty 8 Jul 2013 - 06:35

Two classic films from Onibaba director Kaneto Shindo arrive on Blu-ray. Dan takes a look at The Naked Island and Kuroneko...

Without question, Kaneto Shindo’s best-known film is his chilling 1964 masterpiece Onibaba. Frequently listed as one of the greatest horror films ever made, this tale of a murderous wife and daughter in feudal Japan has long been available in the UK on VHS, DVD and now Blu-ray, and stands as a landmark of Japanese cinema. But what of Shindo’s other films? The director’s death last year - at the grand age of 100 - has led to resurgence in interest in his work, and this week Masters Of Cinema release two of his other classics in gorgeous new Blu-ray editions.

The Naked Island (1961)

The Naked Island was the prolific Shindo’s 15th film, but for a while it looked like it might his last.

Japanese film director whose work was heavily influenced by the Hiroshima atomic bomb

The fact that the film director Kaneto Shindo, who has died aged 100, was born in Hiroshima affected his work both directly and indirectly. His films, such as Children of Hiroshima (1952), are valuable contributions to the cinema of hibakusha, the testimony of the survivors of the atomic bomb. Many of his movies are allegories on the absence of civilised behaviour in the conduct of war, exposing humankind's innate propensity towards violence and cruelty in the absence of a moral and spiritual code.

Much of his humanism and style derived from the director Kenji Mizoguchi, for whom Shindo wrote two screenplays. In 1975 Shindo paid homage to his mentor in a documentary, Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director. Like Mizoguchi, Shindo created many forceful women characters who, by virtue of their willpower and love, tend to "save" their male counterparts.

Chicago – Halloween just isn’t the same without an Onryō. Thanks to America’s tireless remakes of Japanese horror films, the materialization of Onryōs in pop culture has become as much of a seasonal tradition as witches and goblins. They’re often characterized by long black hair, white robes, bodily contortions, tragic backstories and an unquenchable thirst for vengeance beyond the grave.

In short, Onryōs unnervingly embody the old adage that “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…even a dead one.” It’s easy to see how spine-tingling modern classics like “Ringu” and “Ju-on: The Grudge” followed in the ghostly footsteps of Kaneto Shindô’s overlooked 1968 masterwork, “Kuroneko” (“Black Cat”). Though the film is more hypnotic than scary, it still manages to creep under the skin as it spins a tale of real emotional and erotic power.

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

As in Shindô’s better-known 1964 classic, “Onibaba,” this film...

Rank the week of October 18th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #1487

Win Percentage: 47%

Times Ranked: 8433

Top-20 Rankings: 50

Directed By: Rob Marshall

Starring: Johnny Depp • Penélope Cruz • Ian McShane • Kevin McNally • Geoffrey Rush

Genres: Action • Adventure • Costume Adventure • Fantasy • Sea Adventure • Swashbuckler

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Bad Teacher

(Blu-ray & DVD | R | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #3281

Win Percentage: 42%

Times Ranked: 3361

Top-20 Rankings: 19

Directed By: Jake Kasdan

Starring: Cameron Diaz • Justin Timberlake • Jason Segel • Lucy Punch • Phyllis Smith

Genres: Comedy • Farce • Sex Comedy

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Red State

(Blu-ray & DVD | Nr | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #2738

Win Percentage: 53%

Times Ranked: 1781

Top-20 Rankings: 12

Directed By: Kevin Smith

Starring: Michael Parks • John Goodman • Melissa Leo • Kevin Pollak • Michael Angarano

Genres: Drama • Horror • Religious Drama • Thriller

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Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest

(Blu-ray & DVD...