“Pigs, Pimps & Prostitutes: 3 Films by Shohei Imamura”, that’s the title of this amazing box set coming out on DVD on May 19th 2009. Covers & Specs:
«A dazzling, unruly portrait of American–occupied postwar Japan, Pigs and Battleships details, with escalating absurdity, the desperate power struggles between small-time gangsters in the port town of Yokosuka. Shot in gorgeously composed, bustling cinemascope, Pigs follows a young couple as they try to navigate Yokosuka’s corrupt businessmen, yakuza, and their own unsure future together. With its breakneck pacing and constantly inventive cinematography, this film marked Shohei Imamura as a major voice in Japanese cinema.»
DVD Features:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfers
- Introduction by critic Tony Rayns
- “Imamura, the Free Thinker,” a 1995 episode from the French television series Cinéastes de notre temps
- New and improved English subtitle translations
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essays by film critics Audie Bock
«Born in a rural farming village in 1918, Tome grows up to survive decades of Japanese social upheaval, as well as abuse and servitude at the hands of various men. Yet Shohei Imamura, with his trademark “entomological” approach, refuses to make a victim of Tome (played by the extraordinary Sachiko Hidari), instead observing her as a fascinating, pragmatic creature of twentieth-century Japan. A portrait of opportunism and resilience in three generations of women, The Insect Woman is Imamura’s most expansive film, and Tome his ultimate heroine.»
DVD Features:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Introduction by critic Tony Rayns
- Conversations between Shohei Imamura and critic Tadao Sato
- New and improved English subtitle translations
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critics Dennis Lim
«Sadako (Masumi Harukawa), cursed by generations before her and neglected by her common-law husband, falls prey to a brutal home intruder. As a result, rather than become a victim, she forges a path to her own awakening. This disturbing and pitiless evocation of domestic drudgery and sexual violence is also a fascinating, unsentimental account of one woman’s determination. Filled with director Shohei Imamura’s characteristic flashbacks and dream sequences, Intentions of Murder is a gripping, audacious portrait of a woman coming into her own in a man’s world.»
DVD Features:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Introduction by critic Tony Rayns
- Conversations between Shohei Imamura and critic Tadao Sato
- New and improved English subtitle translations
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic James Quandt
Suggested retail price: $79.95
(It’s $63.96 on the Criterion Store!)
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