The good people at Radiance Films have announced their February Blu-ray releases, a fascinating mix of genres and countries of origin that includes Dominik Graf's heist thriller The Cat, Fukasaku Kinji's Hokuriku Proxy War, Tom Noonan's What Happened Was..., and a double bill of films from Patrick Tam, Nomad and My Heart is that Eternal Rose. Detials below.

THE CAT [DIE KATZ] (West Germany 1988)

Blu-ray | 24 February 2024 | £17.99

Two robbers hold up a bank and its employees demanding 3 million marks for their ransom. The police plot to storm the bank but are unaware the robbers have an accomplice on the outside, anticipating their every move.

Genre master Dominik Graf specialised in crime films and The Cat is one of his greatest. A heist film of the highest order, it grabs you from its opening scenes and doesn’t let go. Winner of Best Direction at the German Film Awards, The Cat is an undiscovered treasure and Radiance Films presents it on Blu-ray for the first time outside Germany.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• High-Definition digital transfer newly graded by Radiance Films and overseen by director Dominik Graf
• Interview with Dominik Graf (2024, 62 mins)
• Interview with screenwriter Christoph Fromm (2024, 31 mins)
• Interview with producer Georg Feil (2024, 31 mins)
• Select-scene commentary by Dominik Graf (2024)
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

HOKURIKU PROXY WAR [HOKURIKU DAIRI SENSŌ] (Japan1977)

Blu-ray | 24 February 2024 | £17.99

Loose-cannon gangster Kawada rebels when his two-timing boss forms an alliance with a major crime syndicate. The syndicate’s main rivals see Kawada as their perfect proxy, but his furious temper quickly rubs them the wrong way, leaving Kawada to face overwhelming forces.

Fukasaku Kinji's final yakuza film features some of the strongest women’s roles in his career, plus a raucous central performance from Hiroki Matsukata (Cops vs Thugs) and support from the legendary Sonny Chiba.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• High-Definition digital transfer
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• New interview with actress Yoko Takahashi (2024, 15 mins)
• New interview with screenwriter Koji Takada (2024, 19 mins)
• Yakuza film historian Akihiko Ito on the real-life Hokuriku Proxy War murder case (2024, 15 mins)
• Trailer
• Newly improved English subtitle translation
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring newly translated archival writings on the film
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Pre order Hokuriku Proxy War from the Radiance store here.

WHAT HAPPENED WAS... (USA 1994)

Blu-ray | 24 February 2024 | £17.99

Jackie (Karen Sillas) and Michael (Tom Noonan, Manhunter, also writer-director) are co-workers at a New York law firm who, after months of flirtation, agree to meet for a 'first date' at Jackie's apartment. Their initially charged and playful interactions eventually evolve into a long, dark night of the soul, as the two would-be lovers get to know each other properly for the first time, and discover that all may not be as it seems.

Winner of the Sundance Festival Jury Prize in 1994, What Happened Was... is a landmark work of American independent cinema anchored around two stunning performances, presenting an often hilarious, often bleak, but always excoriatingly honest exploration of dating in the big city. Radiance presents the film on UK home video for the very first time.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• 4K restoration by Oscilloscope Films
• Uncompressed stereo PCM audio
• Interview with director Tom Noonan and producer Scott Macaulay (2021)
• Interview with star Karen Sillas (2021)
• New interview about the film with critic Charles Bramesco (2024)
• Trailer
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Adam Nayman
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Pre order What Happened Was... from the Radiance store here.

NOMAD [LIE HUO QING CHUN] (Hong Kong 1982) +
MY HEAR IS THAT ETERNAL ROSE [SAT SAU WOO DIP MUNG] (Hong Kong 1989)

Blu-ray | 24 February 2024 | £25.99

An icon of the Hong Kong New Wave and mentor to Wong Kar-wai, Patrick Tam worked with icons including Tony Leung (In the Mood for Love), Leslie Cheung (Days of Being Wild), Kenny Bee (Armour of God) and others in these two inimitable classics.

In Nomad two couples, equal parts rich and working class, bond and experience the frolics of youth. The arrival of a Red Army deserter brings violence and disruption prompting incredible plot twists and inspired set-pieces. 

My Heart is That Eternal Rose finds Tam in the more familiar Heroic Bloodshed genre. A young couple are torn apart by a botched Triad job that forces Rick to relocate to the Philippines and Lap to become a gangster’s moll. Six years later they meet again but their reunion only reignites the danger that drove them apart. 

Stunningly shot by David Chung (Once Upon a Time in China) and Christopher Doyle (Chungking Express) both films are newly restored and made available on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

• K restoration of the Nomad director’s cut, 2K restoration of My Heart is That Eternal Rose, UK premieres on Blu-ray presented on two discs
• Interview with critic Tony Rayns on Nomad (2024)
• Interview with assistant director Stanley Kwan on Nomad (2024)
• Interview with Nomad producer Dennis Yu (2024)
• A visual essay on Patrick Tam and the Hong Kong New Wave by author David Desser (2024)
• Audio commentary on My Heart is That Eternal Rose by Frank Djeng (2024)
• Interview with producer John Sham (2019)
• Two episodes of C.I.D. directed by Tam (1976, 49 mins each)
• Trailer
• Newly improved English subtitle translations by Dylan Cheung
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring an archival career-spanning interview with Patrick Tam by Arnaud Lanuque and a new essay by Kambole Campbell
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Pre order Nomad + My Heart is that Eternal Rose from the Radiance store here.