BD 273 Violent Streets

[ChunkyLover]

One of the finest directors of Japanese chambara (sword fighting) films, Hideo Gosha (Sword of the Beast, Three Outlaw Samurai) also directed a number of films in the yakuza genre. The most outstanding of these was Violent Streets; a baroque crime thriller about a retired yakuza who gets pulled into a violent gang war by his former associates.

A former yakuza member, Egawa (Noboru Andô) is now a brooding world-weary nightclub owner. Some of his former associates are released from prison and want to regain a foothold in the criminal underworld by igniting a gang war between the local yakuza, and an out-of-town clan led by veteran actor Tetsurō Tanba (Harakiri).

A bold and colourful entry in the yakuza genre, Hideo Gosha’s Violent Streets makes its worldwide debut on Blu-ray from a new restoration completed by Toei Company, Ltd. 

SPECIAL FEATURES

Limited Edition slipcase featuring new artwork by Tony Stella [2000 copies]
1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K restoration of the original film elements
Optional English subtitles
An introduction to Violent Streets and the works of director Hideo Gosha by film critic Tony Rayns
Jasper Sharp on Violent Streets
A collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes
**All Extras subject to change

https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/violent-streets/

[ryannichols7]

Eureka releasing Japanese cinema again, all feels right in the world!

[Finch]

A first day purchase, very exciting!

[rapta]

Eureka releasing Japanese cinema again, all feels right in the world!

Yes, has been a while! Other than the eventual Kwaidan and House upgrades - and the three Honda films, presumably licensed around when Arrow were doing Gamera - we haven't had anything comparable to this from MoC since Cruel Story of Youth (2015) or Youth of the Beast (2014)!? So a long time coming...

Certainly a good sign they've got the ideal experts involved on this disc (Rayns, Sharp, Mes), so hopefully it means they can get some more Gosha in future (Samurai Wolf, Onimasa) - or perhaps some chambara titles from directors like Imai (Bushido, Revenge), Kudo (Samurai Revolution Trilogy) or Uchida (Miyamoto Musashi series). I imagine Radiance and/or Arrow might be interested in some of those too, so if we're lucky we might get a few more than expected (though have a feeling Radiance will be more focused on Fukasaku/yakuza titles)!

Also, love the artwork! Glad Eureka hired Tony Stella, both for this and Run, Man, Run. Love these much more than the Eureka Classics HK titles of late (some of the artwork for those looks a bit too wacky for my liking). MoC have been knocking it out of the park design-wise lately in fact...

[swo17]

Perhaps they'll also do the Samurai Wolf movies, like I believe Film Movement has planned

[ChunkyLover]

The BBFC is listing that there have been cuts made:
https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/violent- ... 0xmda5mdyx

It's possible that they might be animal related cuts.

[MichaelB]

Cuts:
This work had compulsory cuts made to remove scenes of animal cruelty involving chickens. Cuts were made in accordance with BBFC Guidelines, policy and the application of the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937 under the Video Recordings Act 1984.

[black&huge]

any word on which scene(s) are supposedly cut?

[feihong]

Gotta be parts from the finale in the midst of all the chicken coops, no?

[JPJ]

Gotta be parts from the finale in the midst of all the chicken coops, no?

Yes

[feihong]

I don't remember the chickens themselves getting hurt. I thought the gangsters' blood maybe splashed on them––but to be fair, I've never seen a good-quality copy of this movie, so maybe stuff was happening I couldn't see.

[MichaelB]

The BBFC doesn’t cut for animal cruelty unless it’s clearly in breach of the 1937 Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act, whose two tests are “visible infliction of pain” and “cruel goading of an animal to fury”, and whose two loopholes are “it was provably faked” and “it would have happened regardless of the camera’s presence”.

I assume that the loopholes don’t apply in this instance, so there must be at least one shot where visible cruelty is committed, and the animal (or bird) is directly reacting to it.

[mhofmann]

I assume that the loopholes don’t apply in this instance, so there must be at least one shot where visible cruelty is committed, and the animal (or bird) is directly reacting to it.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... ount=44072

[MichaelB]

Yup, that looks completely open and shut.

[ChunkyLover]

I sampled a bit of this last night. I guess "2K" anything (scan, restoration, etc) is slowly becoming the new "high definition master" because this certainly doesn't look like a newer-ish master; what with all the scanner noise (it's appearance is something similar like "The Greatest Story Ever Told") that's littered throughout.

[feihong]

Yeah, it looks a little ragged, a little thin. I have to say, it looks better than I've ever seen the film before, though. Certainly not a reason to avoid the disc.

For some reason none of these Gosha pictures seem to rate a serious remaster. Goyokin and Tenchu! look better than this on blu ray, but none of them look as good as one feels like they ultimately could.

[Finch]

cuts detailed with screenshots in a comparison with the uncut French DVD

[black&huge]

considering these cuts for the UK release should I skip this and wait for another label? are the cuts really detrimental to the scenes they've been cut from?

[Finch]

I am wondering that too. On the other forum, someone said the cuts feel awkward. Film Movement's BD is due next month and has fewer extras. The MoC is probably still worth getting for Tony Rayns. I think it may be encoded by David MacKenzie?

Edit: I just saw the other UK extras and booklet have Jasper Sharp and Tom Mes, both of whom have done excellent pieces on Japanese cinema before.