Fantoma

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Theodore R. Stockton · #101 Post by **Theodore R. Stockton** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 4:08 pm

According to their website the Anger set is delayed until Jan '07. Let's hope this doesn't turn into a dead pigeon thing.

#102 Post by **Matt** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:30 pm

Theodore R. Stockton wrote:According to their website the Anger set is delayed until Jan '07.

Wow, I never saw that one coming.

Lino · #103 Post by **Lino** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:22 pm

Don't worry, Matt. At least it will now make a wonderful birthday gift for you.

Gordon · #104 Post by **Gordon** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 10:44 am

A pre-Christmas release was suspect, wasn't it. Ho-hum, what's another few weeks.

ltfontaine · #105 Post by **ltfontaine** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:37 pm

Fantoma's new DVD of Red Angel features a beautiful transfer of an excellent print, but even under lesser circumstances, this dark masterpiece would merit more attention than it's likely to get. This is, by far, the most formally austere Masumura film I've seen, and the closest in tone to those of Mizoguchi, with whom Masumura had served as an assistant director. The black and white widescreen frames alternately teem with writhing wounded soldiersâ€”or what's left of themâ€”and severely composed passages rendering the less animated private agony of Nishi, Okabe, Orihara, and others caught in a wartime nightmare, a vortex of disease, humiliation, sex and death. Masumura's representation of Nurse Nishi is especially fascinating, revealing herâ€”visually, physically and emotionallyâ€”only in restrained increments, initially frustrating our struggle to get a fix on this woman, until extraordinary circumstances and an unexpected force of character bring her into sharper focus. It's not an easy film to watch, but once started, it's impossible to look away, and I haven't yet stopped thinking about it.

#106 Post by **zedz** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:37 pm

Fantastic news! I bought this blind (on the basis of its reputation and Masumura's Giants and Toys) and haven't got around to watching it yet.

Murasaki53 · #107 Post by **Murasaki53** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:26 am

In many ways, I actually prefer Masumura to the more classical Japanese directors like Mizoguchi, Kurosawa and Kobayashi.

For example, I love the fact that there are virtually no exterior shots in Manji, none of the swirling fogs or sweeping vistas you get with the more traditional guys. Instead, it's just a fiendishly intense psychodrama that for my money is one of the best literary adaptations ever made.

What a pity Naomi isn't available on DVD with English subs!

Anyway, my reason for posting here is to try to find out more about Red Angel. I have the UK Yume R2 edition that lacks the liner notes of the Fantoma. Does Earl Jackson Jr's essay shed much light on the sources and inspiration for the movie?

Oh and thanks to Itfontaine for a wonderful single paragraph appreciation of the film.

#108 Post by **zedz** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:17 pm

Red Angel is an amazing film - highly recommended. A scathingly anti-war film that dodges the ambiguities of others of its ilk. Here war is exploitation, mutilation, and despair. Camaradarie is fraught and doomed. Even our meagre glimpse of combat is anti-cathartic.

Masumura is operating at a peak of creativity, on a parallel track to the Japanese New Wave - in its thematic concerns, the film is sort of equidistant from the Imamura of The Insect Woman and the Suzuki of Story of a Prostitute, but it has a style and tone all its own.

The most astonishing of a number of disorienting coups is when the armless man is begging his nurse to jerk him off and Masumura overlays the suggestive sound of a harsh rubbing rhythm and a man's wild screams - then reveals this to be an audio flashback to the earlier scene in which a man's leg is sawed off, without anaesthetic.

I know it may seem hard to believe after that description, but, despite its unflinching brutality, this is a film of considerable formal beauty and subtlety. Fantoma's transfer looks very nice.

(The liner notes are not especially substantial, so don't worry, Murasaki)

ltfontaine · #109 Post by **ltfontaine** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:14 pm

despite its unflinching brutality, this is a film of considerable formal beauty and subtlety

It's the tension sustained by Masumura between horrific, sordid content and unflinching discipline in the mise-en-scene that accounts for much of the film's mesmerizing power. Imagine a script by Fuller directed by Bresson, and you have a faint flavor of this movie. The initial conversations between the nurse and the amputee soldier, mentioned by zedz, for example, are excruciatingly frank, straining the characters' fragile dignity almost to the breaking point and shredding the viewer's sense of discretion in the process. Masumura's resolute gaze, however, demands that we countenance the humanity that at is passing between these â€œlovers,â€

What A Disgrace · #110 Post by **What A Disgrace** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 10:37 pm

Masumura's Black Test Car is up on Fantoma's page, with a street date of May 22. Typically barebones release, priced at $19.99.

-New Digital Widescreen Transfer (2.35:1)
-Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
-Theatrical Trailer
-Photo and still gallery
-Yasuzo Masumura Biography and Filmography

solaris72 · #111 Post by **solaris72** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:26 pm

Fantoma wrote:OF COURSE THERE'LL BE A VOLUME TWO!
We're hard at work on Volume 2 of THE FILMS OF KENNETH ANGER. It will contain the remainder of the Magick Lantern Cycle, including SCORPIO RISING and LUCIFER RISING. Look for it this Summer. More details soon.

#112 Post by **Matt** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:56 pm

Fantoma wrote:Look for it this Summer.

...and by "Summer" we mean December 2008.

What A Disgrace · #113 Post by **What A Disgrace** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:19 pm

And we'll get the gift-set conaining both volumes in May 2010.

Calendar...marked.

What A Disgrace · #114 Post by **What A Disgrace** » Sat May 19, 2007 8:58 pm

Does anybody know if Afraid to Die and Manji are out of print? I am considering buying his films in bulk come the DeepDiscount June sale, but I can only find Red Angel, Blind Beast, and Giants & Toys. Doing a search for Masumura yields no results at all. I even looked for the titles in question, and DVDPlanet lists them as out of print. DVDEmpire lists Manji, but not Afraid to Die.

BrightEyes23 · #115 Post by **BrightEyes23** » Sun May 20, 2007 5:20 pm

i'm not sure about OOP status, i picked both up a while ago from dvdplanet and Manji took about 4 weeks to ship...Afraid to Die isn't spectacular but well worth finding if you can.

dvdplanet doesn't have Black Test Car available for order and it was supposed to be released either this coming Tuesday or last Tuesday, depending on different etailers.

htdm · #116 Post by **htdm** » Sun May 20, 2007 10:24 pm

BrightEyes23 wrote:dvdplanet doesn't have Black Test Car available for order and it was supposed to be released either this coming Tuesday or last Tuesday, depending on different etailers.

It seems to be available though as DVD Savant just reviewed it here.

Ashirg · #117 Post by **Ashirg** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:37 pm

rwaits · #118 Post by **rwaits** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:39 pm

Had hoped for something a bit more clever, but I suppose they'll look nice together on the shelf.

#119 Post by **zedz** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:43 pm

rwaits wrote:Had hoped for something a bit more clever, but I suppose they'll look nice together on the shelf.

I suppose this is inevitable. It honestly hadn't occurred to me before that the cover image of Volume I related specifically to a film from Vol II.

Cold Bishop · #120 Post by **Cold Bishop** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:37 pm

So do we have reason to believe this won't be postponed another month?

#121 Post by **Matt** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:40 pm

Cold Bishop wrote:So do we have reason to believe this won't be postponed another month?

2 weeks from release and this is still not available for pre-order anywhere.

thethirdman · #122 Post by **thethirdman** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:44 pm

The street date is October 2nd.

Lino · #123 Post by **Lino** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:36 pm

Oh, fuck.

Everytime I see a new post on this thread, my heart sinks. It's like Volume 1 all over again.

Person · #124 Post by **Person** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 8:35 pm

All good things come to thems that wait, my Portugese pal.

mogwai · #125 Post by **mogwai** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:08 pm

Trailer for Kennenth Anger: Volume 2.