Three more Director's Company titles from Third Window in May-June
2 April 2024
Third Window Films has announced the release of the second set of a series of films from the legendary 1980s Japanese production collective, The Director's Company, all presented with brand new digital restorations, Sōmai Shinji's Luminous Woman, The Crazy Family, and Love Hotel.
LUMINOUS WOMAN [HIKARU ONNA] (1987) | Blu-ray | 20 May 2024 | £29.99
A burly hulk of a man (pro-wrestler Keiji Muto) makes his way from Hokkaido to the decrepit trash heaps of outer Tōkyō in a quest to find his beloved fiance, but meets a nightclub diva who has lost the ability to sing. When he finds himself pulled into the gladiator pits of a Tōkyō nightclub, the mountain man agrees to fight in exchange for information on his lost love, yet also finds himself drawn to the various pulls of the big city.
An unconventional love story that employs powerful imagery in a daring attempt to visualize the contrast between people who live in concert with nature, and those who live in urbanized civil society. This strange work from Sōmai Shinji (Typhoon Club) is presented with a brand new 2K restoration from the original negatives.
BLU-RAY FEATURES:
Making-Of (50 minutes)
Deleted Scenes (50 minutes)
Trailer
Slipcase with artwork from Gokaiju
'Directors Company' edition featuring insert by Jasper Sharp – limited to 2000 copies
THE CRAZY FAMILY [ISHII GAKURYŪ] (1984) | Blu-ray | 17 June 2024 | £29.99
From the director of Electric Dragon 80000v, Crazy Thunder Road and Burst City.
The Kobayashi family finally are able to move out of their tiny, cramped Tokyo apartment to the suburban house of their dreams. But things are not as perfect as they seem: the house is infested by termites and the family starts going crazy: Son Masaki is studying so obsessively for his exams that he's losing his mind; daughter Erika is oblivious of all but her forthcoming record company audition, grandfather Yasukuni starts getting World War II flashbacks and father Katsuhiko is so worried about his family's "sickness" that he thinks can only be cured by group suicide. As the Kobayashis' house begins to crumble, so does the sanity of its inhabitants. Katsuhiko takes it upon himself to keep them from the asylum…at any cost.
BLU-RAY FEATURES:
Director approved remaster from the original negatives
Feature length audio commentary by Tom Mes
Director Ishii (exSogo) Gakuryu interview
The Crazy Family: Sogo Ishii's Wild Child – Video essay by James Balmont
Slipcase with artwork from Gokaiju
'Directors Company' edition featuring insert by Jasper Sharp – limited to 2000 copies
LOVE HOTEL [RABU HOTERU] (1985) | Blu-ray | 22 July 2024 | £29.99
After mainstream success, Sōmai Shinji (Typhoon Club) returned to his Nikkatsu roots for this mournful Roman Porno scripted by Ishii Takashi (writer of Evil Dead Trap and director of Gonin).
After Tetsuro loses his business, the yakuza collect his debt in the most violent, shocking way imaginable. Honorably, he divorces his wife and becomes a taxi driver. Existing bereft of meaning or support, he eventually encounters Nami, a part-time prostitute who has undergone similar tribulations. An existential study of two lonely and tortured souls, Somai's melancholic roman porno follows the pair as they kindle a newfound friendship amid the chaos of their broken and dispirited lives.
BLU-RAY FEATURES:
Feature length audio commentary by Jasper Sharp
Shinji Somai at the Director's Company – video essay by Josh Slater-Williams
Archival interview with actor Terada Minori and assistant director Enokido Koji
Original Trailer
Slipcase with artwork from Gokaiju
'Directors Company' edition featuring insert by Jasper Sharp – limited to 2000 copies
