1155 Cure

[swo17]

Cure



Kiyoshi Kurosawa's arresting international breakthrough established him as one of the leaders of an emerging new wave of Japanese horror while pushing the genre into uncharted realms of philosophical and existential exploration. A string of shocking, seemingly unmotivated murders—each committed by a different person yet all bearing the same grisly hallmarks—leads Detective Takabe (Koji Yakusho) into a labyrinthine investigation to discover what connects them, and into a disturbing game of cat and mouse with an enigmatic amnesiac (Masato Hagiwara) who may be evil incarnate. Awash in hushed, hypnotic dread, Cure is a tour de force of psychological tension and a hallucinatory journey into the darkest recesses of the human mind.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• 4K digital restoration, supervised by cinematographer Tokusho Kikumura, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack
• New conversation between director Kiyoshi Kurosawa and filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi
• Interviews with actors Masato Hagiwara and Koji Yakusho
• Interview from 2003 with Kurosawa
• Trailers and teaser
• PLUS: An essay by critic Chris Fujiwara

[knives]

That seems like a lot of nothing for such a big wait.

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah, I'm glad people who aren't region free can finally own this on blu-ray, but a huge disappointment for anyone hoping to upgrade

[qw0aszx]

So Criterion did not include the new 80-minute documentary CORE OF CURE appeared in the Japanese blu-ray.

[Computer Raheem]

So Criterion did not include the new 80-minute documentary CORE OF CURE appeared in the Japanese blu-ray.

Anyone wanna bother Mulvaney? I'll draft the emails!

[bottlesofsmoke]

A couple of the titles this month seem pretty slim on extras, I am excited about the Kurosawa / Hamaguchi conversation, though. These director-interviews-director features have been some of my favorites, though I’m disappointed we didn’t get the reverse for Drive My Car.

[ryannichols7]

this is absolutely worth double dipping over the MOC for though, that uses an extremely dated master compared to this new 4K one. which, of course I'll add would've been really good in HDR to bring out all those shadows, but what can you do...

I'll email Mulvaney about the doc, i'd love to see that included. inspired pick having Hamaguchi on here since Kurosawa was his mentor!

[colinr0380]

Although I can understand having the interview take place with Hamaguchi, perhaps the even more appropriate pair up would have been if Kurosawa had been interviewed by filmmaker Koji Shiraishi, not just because Shiraishi has made a number of interesting films in the wake of Cure that focus on inexplicable serial killing and/or terrorism as their subject matter but also because his found footage sci-fi/horror/black comedy masterpiece Occult actually has Kiyoshi Kurosawa in a small cameo role as himself, in that archetypal role of the person who comes in to explain the lore!

Spoiler

(Occult is particularly amusing for the way that in the final act the bomber and his accomplice end up going to a screening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to kill time before he carries out his violent act. Not just because of the horror inherent in the notion that the fourth Indiana Jones film may potentially be the last film a person might see(!), but also because its final act turn into aliens only ends up ironically confirming the beliefs of the bomber that he is doing the right thing by his actions!)

[Finch]

If you email them about the documentary, you might as well ask them to reconsider a UHD. I did.

[ryannichols7]

Although I can understand having the interview take place with Hamaguchi, perhaps the even more appropriate pair up would have been if Kurosawa had been interviewed by filmmaker Koji Shiraishi, not just because Shiraishi has made a number of interesting films in the wake of Cure that focus on inexplicable serial killing and/or terrorism as their subject matter but also because his found footage sci-fi/horror/black comedy masterpiece Occult actually has Kiyoshi Kurosawa in a small cameo role, in that archetypal role of the professor coming in to explain the lore!

that would be a pretty good call actually too. Hamaguchi is just the guy of the moment though and I can see why they went that route.

If you email them about the documentary, you might as well ask them to reconsider a UHD. I did.

as I said in the other thread I totally did so, hopefully others can too. I know it may amount to absolutely nothing but no pain in asking. we have gotten stuff changed and additions added before!

is there anyone here who has read David Kalat's book on J-horror? I haven't really tapped into that side of his expertise (I'm usually not a horror fan) but I've been almost tempted to grab several Arrow releases of such titles just to hear him talk about them again. I wonder how much of a fan of Cure he is, and if he'd be willing to be involved here...but maybe I'm being ambitious since I already want a UHD upgrade and the doc included...

[Elmyr]

David Kalat on Cure

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I asked Criterion about Core of Cure and newly translated subtitles via email and the reply was a copy and paste of the announced extras adding "It does not appear that either new English subtitles or the documentary CORE OF CURE will be included in the upcoming Blu-ray release." I'm hoping someone updates the subtitles at least. I find it hard to believe they'd just port the ones from the HVE dvd.

[Computer Raheem]

I asked Criterion about Core of Cure and newly translated subtitles via email and the reply was a copy and paste of the announced extras adding "It does not appear that either new English subtitles or the documentary CORE OF CURE will be included in the upcoming Blu-ray release." I'm hoping someone updates the subtitles at least. I find it hard to believe they'd just port the ones from the HVE dvd.

If they were to reconsider (and that's highly unlikely), I'd give it a month before they'd announce something.

[diamonds]

Hamaguchi is just the guy of the moment though and I can see why they went that route.

They're also fresh off of collaborating on Wife of a Spy.

[ryannichols7]

Hamaguchi is just the guy of the moment though and I can see why they went that route.

They're also fresh off of collaborating on Wife of a Spy.

that too, a re-melding of the minds. Hamaguchi said in several interviews for DMC that Kurosawa was still his biggest teacher

didn't Criterion initially shoot down Filming Othello too and eventually gave in? hmmm. they didn't respond to my emails though!

[yoloswegmaster]

didn't Criterion initially shoot down Filming Othello too and eventually gave in? hmmm. they didn't respond to my emails though!

Pretty sure that's not what happened.

[ryannichols7]

didn't Criterion initially shoot down Filming Othello too and eventually gave in? hmmm. they didn't respond to my emails though!

Pretty sure that's not what happened.

that's fair, but there have definitely been some campaigns that have worked somewhere along the lines. I fully expect all of this to amount to nothing and I'll be picking up the disc exactly as announced today in 3 months time, but I can certainly hope Criterion will see it fit to make this edition as comprehensive and definitive as can be, something they sadly don't do as often as they should.

[Adam X]

So Criterion did not include the new 80-minute documentary CORE OF CURE appeared in the Japanese blu-ray.

Adam Torel of Third Window Films has said Japanese studios tend only to clear extras for the local release, so including a doco from the Japanese BD is more than paying a licensing fee. They would probably need to get clearance from everyone involved all over again in order to use it on an international disc, which Torel has suggested they’re usually unwilling to do.

Of course Criterion likely has more sway, and dollars, than TWF. But it’s obviously more than they just didn’t consider adding it.

[ryannichols7]

So Criterion did not include the new 80-minute documentary CORE OF CURE appeared in the Japanese blu-ray.

Adam Torel of Third Window Films has said Japanese studios tend only to clear extras for the local release, so including a doco from the Japanese BD is more than paying a licensing fee. They would probably need to get clearance from everyone involved all over again in order to use it on an international disc, which Torel has suggested they’re usually unwilling to do.

Of course Criterion likely has more sway, and dollars, than TWF. But it’s obviously more than they just didn’t consider adding it.

Drive My Car is a recent example. not to mention all those archival extras on Kurosawa discs. I appreciate the TWF dude but he's definitely put a lot of things out there about japanese studios that change what most perceptions are. the way he works with them and the way Criterion or Arrow work with him are certainly different, I'd say both labels have the pull, budget, and capability, something TWF lacks as we know

I definitely think there was either an oversight or they just didn't want to. much like how the DMC documentary is an edited version

[qw0aszx]

So Criterion did not include the new 80-minute documentary CORE OF CURE appeared in the Japanese blu-ray.

Adam Torel of Third Window Films has said Japanese studios tend only to clear extras for the local release, so including a doco from the Japanese BD is more than paying a licensing fee. They would probably need to get clearance from everyone involved all over again in order to use it on an international disc, which Torel has suggested they’re usually unwilling to do.

Of course Criterion likely has more sway, and dollars, than TWF. But it’s obviously more than they just didn’t consider adding it.

Drive My Car is a recent example. not to mention all those archival extras on Kurosawa discs. I appreciate the TWF dude but he's definitely put a lot of things out there about japanese studios that change what most perceptions are. the way he works with them and the way Criterion or Arrow work with him are certainly different, I'd say both labels have the pull, budget, and capability, something TWF lacks as we know

I definitely think there was either an oversight or they just didn't want to. much like how the DMC documentary is an edited version

I believe the interviews with Masato Hagiwara and Koji Yakusho in Criterion release are those from the new Kadokawa Japanese blu-ray, so yeah, I think it was likely that Criterion chose not to include the documentary. Since reportedly these interviews are complete versions that were used in the CORE OF CURE documentary. But I do know Japanese companies sometimes are difficult to deal with when licensing these extras, may be the copyright of CORE OF CURE is in the hands of director Mari Asato rather than Kadokawa.

[Finch]

I rewatched the MoC BD last night and it's so dated that even the CC Blu-Ray should be a significant improvement. The UK disc is worth holding on to though for the Kurosawa interview, the Newman interview (where he draws parallels between Cure and God Told Me To) and the Tom Mes essay.

[swo17]

Assuming you received a booklet with all the right pages included!

[Finch]

They did send me a replacement booklet across the atlantic.

[Finch]

Criterion got back to me saying they had no current plans (my emphasis) for a UHD release and to keep an eye out for future releases on the usual channels.

[swo17]

I got a slightly different generic response, though I had brought up more than just Cure:

We've noted your interesting regarding releasing titles in 4K, and we hope to present more titles in this format in the future: https://www.criterion.com/shop/browse/l ... k_ultra_hd