BD 40 Gate of Hell

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swo17
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BD 40 Gate of Hell

#1 Post by swo17 » Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:15 am

Gate of Hell

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One of the key works of the early 1950s wave of Japanese films to first reach foreign markets, director Kinugasa's sumptuous period drama astonished audiences with its dramatic force and spectacular colour cinematography.

During feudal unrest in the 12th century, samurai warrior Moritô (Kazuo Hasegawa) manages to thwart a palace rebellion and save the life of the empress, using loyal subject Lady Kesa (Machiko Kyô) as a decoy. When Moritô is offered anything he should desire as reward, he requests Kesa's hand in marriage. Informed that she is already married to a fellow samurai (Isao Yamagata), he refuses to withdraw his request, setting in motion a tragic chain of events.

Three decades after the director's iconic A Page of Madness, Kinugasa's striking tale of feudal intrigue, political machinations, and erotic obsession won the Grand Prix at Cannes, two Academy Awards for Best Foreign-Language Film and Costume Design, and has since been named by Martin Scorsese as one of the ten greatest colour achievements in world cinema. Gate of Hell's blazing palette is proudly presented afresh by The Masters of Cinema Series in a magnificent new restoration, available for the very first time for home viewing in the UK.

DUAL FORMAT RELEASE INCLUDING BLU-RAY AND DVD VERSIONS OF THE FILM

• Beautifully restored high-definition master presented in the film’s original aspect ratio, in 1080p on the Blu-ray
• Newly translated optional English subtitles
• Illustrated booklet featuring the words of Kinugasa, rare archival imagery, and more
• Further details to be announced nearer the release date!

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SpiderBaby
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Re: MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist and Random Speculation

#2 Post by SpiderBaby » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:42 am

Too much to hope for A Page of Madness as an extra to Gate of Hell? Either way, very excited.

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neilist
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Re: MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist and Random Speculation

#3 Post by neilist » Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:11 am

SpiderBaby wrote:Too much to hope for A Page of Madness as an extra to Gate of Hell? Either way, very excited.
I thought that too for a moment, in a kind of Imamura-style 'This release also contains the director's early feature...' package, but I really think it would have been mentioned in the announcement and 'A Page Of Madness' really is deserving of its own release. Hopefully the release of 'Gate Of Hell' may point that way though!

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Re: MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist and Random Speculation

#4 Post by Calvin » Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:14 am

A Page of Madness with Crossroads as an extra would make a great 2013 release.

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Tommaso
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#5 Post by Tommaso » Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:42 pm

Very nice to see this film finally getting an English-subbed release in the west. I've watched it a long time ago and found it a quite entertaining, suspenseful film. Just don't expect it to be as good as Kurosawa or Mizoguchi's jidai-geki. And certainly, I would also have preferred "A Page of Madness", with or without "Crossroads". But at least it's the only film in the current bunch of releases, except "Nibelungen" (if you count that one as 'new'), which is really a novelty in the English-language dvd world.

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swo17
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Re: 117 / BD 40 Gate of Hell

#6 Post by swo17 » Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:15 pm

MoC Twitter wrote:Our upcoming edition of Kinugasa's GATE OF HELL will include a new essay by Philip Kemp, and writing on the film by Carl Theodor Dreyer.

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Re: 117 / BD 40 Gate of Hell

#7 Post by MichaelB » Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:12 am

I'm watching it now.

No Page of Madness, or indeed any on-disc extras, but the transfer itself is about as good as anything I've seen from a nearly 60-year-old Eastmancolor source: the picture is damn near pristine and the colours in the more naturalistic outdoor sequences ring completely true, so I'm assuming the more overtly stylised interiors are equally accurate. It's taken from the 2011 Japanese restoration and it shows.

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manicsounds
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Re: 117 / BD 40 Gate of Hell

#8 Post by manicsounds » Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:44 pm

Surprised that the Japanese release doesn't even have a trailer on it. Lost over time perhaps? And I'm guessing the still gallery of photos are going to be printed for the MoC version.

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swo17
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#9 Post by swo17 » Fri Nov 09, 2012 12:01 pm

Eureka Facebook wrote:UPDATED RELEASE NEWS: The forthcoming release of GATE OF HELL will now be available ONLY in a DUAL FORMAT (Blu-ray & DVD) edition. The previously announced DVD edition has been withdrawn. GATE OF HELL will be released in the UK on 3 December 2012. Apologies to those of you who were hoping to bag a copy of the DVD only edition.

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htdm
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#10 Post by htdm » Fri Nov 09, 2012 7:27 pm

Will the DVD edition be NTSC?

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knives
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#11 Post by knives » Fri Nov 09, 2012 7:42 pm

Given recent history probably.

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MichaelB
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#12 Post by MichaelB » Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:59 pm

Given the Japanese source, almost certainly.

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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#13 Post by peerpee » Mon Nov 12, 2012 5:16 pm

The "Japanese source" is an HD master (which is neither NTSC or PAL). So it could make a fine NTSC disc or a fine PAL disc if necessary.

When I was at MoC, I decided to let the existence of a 24fps Blu-ray dictate that the DVD should be 24fps NTSC (to keep the subtitling, length, and audio pitch the same).

There's no need whatsoever for labels to continue making PAL DVDs in Dual Format sets when the source is 24fps and the Blu-ray is 24fps. The only reason it's done is because "PAL is Europe, isn't it?", but it doesn't have to be. Any label could switch tomorrow to NTSC DVDs and it wouldn't have a detrimental effect at all.

Pointing to your contract and saying "ah, but it says here I have to issue it as PAL", doesn't mean anything either – because the Blu-ray isn't PAL, so technically, the Blu-ray breaks that part of the contract too.

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MichaelB
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#14 Post by MichaelB » Mon Nov 12, 2012 5:23 pm

peerpee wrote:The "Japanese source" is an HD master (which is neither NTSC or PAL). So it could make a fine NTSC disc or a fine PAL disc if necessary.
A fair point - I'd forgotten about the HD source.

(Despite having actually watched the Blu-ray...)

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manicsounds
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#15 Post by manicsounds » Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:52 am


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MichaelB
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#16 Post by MichaelB » Wed Nov 28, 2012 7:37 am

Eureka has just published a clip on YouTube.

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Finch
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#17 Post by Finch » Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:55 pm

Craig & co, thank you for this release: it's oftentimes astoundingly beautiful and watching it was similar to seeing The Red Shoes in restored form 2 years ago; I couldn't take my eyes off it. I don't agree with Kemp's or Kinugasa's point about the pacing, to me it felt just right. (FWIW, I thought Kyo was much better in Gate Of Hell and Ugetsu than she was in Rashomon (Pauline Kael's famous putdown that her wailing was nearly enough to drive you to the exit was spot on)). More of this, please! (And obviously, Page of Madness)

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antnield
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#18 Post by antnield » Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:45 pm


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Tommaso
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#19 Post by Tommaso » Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:59 am

Watched this last night and can only agree with what was already said before: truly a stunning restoration and transfer (even on SD) with unbelievably intense, semi-psychedelic colours. This film really needs to have the colours look like they on this disc, because it seems that Kinugasa's whole direction depended on them, or at least that he saw colour as the main visual attraction for his audience . Because in black and white this would be a rather stagey film, which misses the visual flexibility and differentiation of the characters that Mizoguchi would have brought to it. But no complaints: the story is engaging nevertheless, and if you regard this as some sort of showpiece for the new colour technology, it succeeds perfectly. It unfolds indeed like a succesion of paintings, similar to the scroll that is shown in its initial moments. Not a truly great film, but a real pleasure to watch.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: BD 40 Gate of Hell

#20 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:54 pm

What a lovely looking film -- in terms of color and scenery. But to me this was dramatically almost inert -- mostly a waste of the acting talent involved. I guess Kinugasa is a director who is just NEVER going to work for me.

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