Third Window Films has announced the September individual Blu-ray release of two films by Tetsuo, Bullet Ballet and Tokyo Fist director Tsukamoto Shinya, the superb 2004 Vital, and his latest feature, Shadow of Fire [Hokage].

SHADOW OF FIRE [HOKAGE] (Japan 2023)

Blu-ray | 30 September 2024 | £24.99

Shinya Tsukamoto’s latest examines the desperate lives of Japanese citizens in the immediate post–World War II period through the story of a child dealing with unimaginable adversity.

Part of his war trilogy, which includes Fires On the Plain and Killing, Shinya Tsukamoto’s latest examines the lives of Japanese citizens in the immediate post–World War II period. Part chamber drama, part road movie, Shadow of Fire finds its throughline in the story of a small boy coming of age amid unimaginable hardship.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Tom Mes feature audio commentary
• The Reality Of Violence video essay by Robert Edwards
• Shinya Tsukamoto and author Kota Ishii talk event
• Director and cast cinema stage greetings
• Trailer
• Slipcase with artwork from Ian MacEwan (limited to 2000 copies)

VITAL (Japan 2004)

Blu-ray | 30 September 2024 | £24.99

A young man named Hiroshi (Asano Tadanobu) awakens in the hospital after an accident wipes his memory. Fascinated by a textbook full of drawings of dissections, Hiroshi is drawn to a medical school where he catches the eye of a fellow student. But it’s another who becomes his obsession, the dead woman on the cadaver table.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Making of Vital
• Archival Interview with Shinya Tsukamoto
• Video essay – An Assault on the Senses
• Tom Mes Audio Commentary
• Music Clips
• World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival
• Special Effects Featurette
• Trailer
• Slipcase with artwork from Ian MacEwan (limited to 2000 copies)

Read our review comparing the earlier Tartan UK and Japanese Happinet DVD releases here.