Fukasaku, Bellocchio, Milland and Truffaut from Radiance in November
9 August 2024
Radiance Films has announced a quartet of Blu-ray titles for November, which consists of Fukasaku Kinji's yakuza drama Japan Organised Crime Boss, Marco Bellocchio's political thriller Slap the Monster on Page One, Ray Milland's post-apocalypse drama Panic in Year Zero, and François Truffaut's dark costume drama, The Story of Adele H. Details below.
JAPAN ORGANISED CRIME BOSS [NIHON BORYOKU-DAN: KUMICHO] (Japan 1969)
Blu-ray | 18 November 2024 | £17.99
Two major yakuza factions from Tokyo and Ōsaka battle over control of Yokohama, using local gangs as their proxies. Amid this violent struggle, Tsukamoto (Tsuruta Kōji, Big Time Gambling Boss), the head of one of the local gangs, is released from an eight-year prison sentence. The feud forces him into action, but he learns that those pulling the strings have political connections and that he is up against overwhelming forces.
A predecessor to and blueprint for Fukasaku Kinji's Sympathy for the Underdog,Japan Organised Crime Boss also signals the director's first collaboration with Sugawara Bunta, the later star of Battles Without Honour and Humanity, as well as with Wakayama Tomisaburō (The Bounty Hunter Trilogy) and gangster-turned-movie star Andō Noboru (Eighteen Years in Prison).
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
New 4K restoration by Toei Company
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Archival interview with Fukasaku Kinji
Interview with yakuza film historian Ito Akihiko (2024)
Visual essay on Tsuruta Kōji's collaborations with Fukasaku by yakuza cinema expert Nathan Stuart (2024)
Trailer
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Stuart Galbraith IV 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
SLAP THE MONSTER ON PAGE ONE [SBATTI IL MOSTRO IN PRIMA PAGINA]
(Italy/France 1972)
Blu-ray | 18 November 2024 | £17.99
Days before a general election a young girl is raped and murdered. Bizanti (Gian Maria Volonté, The Working Class Goes to Heaven), the editor of a right-wing newspaper uses the story to help the conservative candidate his paper supports.
The tumultuous time of Italy's 'Years of Lead' are captured in Marco Bellocchio's powerful political drama which directly addressed topics of its day and even prefigured the creation of the right-wing paper Il giornale, which came into being two years after this film. In an age of media manipulation Slap the Monster on Page One has never been more relevant and stands proudly alongside such Italian activist classics as We Still Kill the Old Way and The Mattei Affair.
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
4K restoration of the film from the original negative by Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Surf Film and Kavac Film, under the supervision of director Marco Bellocchio
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Archival interview with Marco Bellocchio (21 mins)
Newly filmed interview with critic and author Mario Sesti (2024, 25 mins)
Appreciation by filmmaker Alex Cox (2024, 10 mins)
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Wesley Sharer
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
PANIC IN YEAR ZERO (USA 1962)
Blu-ray | 18 November 2024 | £17.99
When Harry Baldwin (Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend) takes his family on a fishing trip, their holiday is brutally interrupted as a catastrophic atomic war breaks out, destroying their suburban Los Angeles home. What remains of the United Nations announces on the radio that society has broken down, and the Baldwins realise that they must quickly learn how to navigate this new 'year zero', and do whatever it takes in order to survive.
Milland stars alongside teen idol Frankie Avalon as well as directing this bleak and visceral apocalypse thriller, described as 'the most expressive on-the-ground nightmare of the cold-war era' (Village Voice).
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
Mastered in HD from the 35mm fine grain positive by MGM
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Audio commentary by critic Richard Harland Smith (2016)
New interview with Kim Newman (2024)
Ray Milland archival interview (1972)
Atomic Shock! – an interview with filmmaker Joe Dante (2016, 9 mins)
Trailer
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by film critic Christina Newland
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
THE STORY OF ADELE H. [L'HISTOIRE D'ADÈLE H.] (France 1975)
Blu-ray | 18 November 2024 | £17.99
The year is 1863. Adele Hugo (Isabelle Adjani, Possession) is the daughter of the legendary poet and novelist Victor Hugo. After falling in love with the British soldier Lt. Pinson (Bruce Robinson), Adele sails by herself to Nova Scotia, intending to persuade Pinson to marry her. Pinson callously rejects her advances; unperturbed, she continues to pursue him, and her obsession becomes wilder and more desperate, leading her to become increasingly outcast from society.
The Story of Adele H. is a handsomely mounted costume drama that is nevertheless one of François Truffaut's darkest and most psychologically complex works, with a legendary, Oscar-nominated central performance from the then 20-year-old Adjani.
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
High-Definition digital transfer
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Interview with Francois Truffaut (1975)
Interview with Isabelle Adjani (1980)
Footage of the premiere in Lyon with Truffaut and Isabelle Adjani (1975)
Interview with cinematographer Nestor Almendros (1986)
Interview with critic Phuong Le (2024)
Trailer
Optional English subtitles
Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
