86 Yokohama BJ Blues

[Finch]

When his police detective best friend is killed, down-at-heel private eye and part-time blues singer BJ (Yusaku Matsuda, The Game Trilogy) gets the blame. He must start his own investigation to clear his name, but what he uncovers is a tangled web involving crooked cops, drug-dealing gangsters, the city’s underground gay and biker scenes, and even his own past. A loose remake of Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye that also draws from Visconti’s Death in Venice, this was Matsuda’s break with his action hero image. Samurai movie veteran Eiichi Kudo (The Fort of Death) relishes his chance at directing a neo-noir that captures urban Japan at the height of 1980s decadence.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

High-Definition digital transfer, world premiere on Blu-ray
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Interview with star Mari Hemmi
Interview with screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama
Interview with writer and Yokohama expert Toru Sano on the film and a look at the locations
Trailer
Newly translated English subtitles
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Dimitri Ianni on Toei Central Film, a subsidiary of Toei studios famed for releasing Pink Films and independent productions such as Yokohama BJ Blues and an archival review of the film
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

[What A Disgrace]

I wonder if Kudo is the Japanese director they're going to focus on. His 60s samurai films at Toei are what he's mostly known for.

[domino harvey]

This was initially announced as UK only but Radiance clarified it will actually be US/UK

[rapta]

I wonder if Kudo is the Japanese director they're going to focus on. His 60s samurai films at Toei are what he's mostly known for.

I think either Radiance or Eureka will get to Kudo's Samurai Revolution Trilogy eventually, but from what I've heard one of the three hasn't been restored yet (IIRC it might be The Great Killing AKA The Great Duel, so the second in the trilogy). Would be a bit daft to release the trilogy anyway only for a new master to become available. Anyway, I'm betting if Radiance don't do it, it'll be an obvious choice for MoC.

Either way, interesting to see Radiance go for some latter-period Kudo, though it is a well known one (I'd certainly come across it before, and it looks like it'll pair well with Radiance's curation). Perhaps we might see other Kudo films from this time in his career, such as Aftermath of Battles without Honour or Humanity or The Dropout.

[ryannichols7]

I had assumed that director was gonna be Oshima, but if there's plans for multiple deep digs into the Japanese catalog, then I'm sure there's room for both. Kudo fits in more with the ideal of Kato - an underappreciated director in the west who has basically nothing out on disc. Oshima may not have much out on disc, but I'd say there's a lot more awareness of his work in these circles. exciting times ahead either way, this movie sounds fascinating and I'm all in on any location tour extra, especially if it's a place I've been before!

[Finch]

I could have sworn AnimEigo had released his most famous Samurai films on DVD.