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| Vengeance Is Mine was one of Criterion's most striking laserdisc sets of the early 1990s, with its full-color cover of Ken Ogata sitting calmly before a presumably dead naked woman. This new DVD has a much-improved enhanced image (and no disc-flipping required) and a bounty of extras. Michael Atkinson's essay aligns director Imamura with 'sardonic objectivists' like Fritz Lang and Claude Chabrol. Imamura speaks, is interviewed and writes about his film in a number of other text and filmed extras. The original trailer shows Shochiku's unusual promotional approach for its 'shocking' movie. Disc producers Kim Hendrickson and Alexandre Mabilon put a crime map on the back cover of the fat insert booklet, showing Iwao Enokizu's various movements and killings by date and location.
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Vengeance Is Mine rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Interview with director Imamura, trailer, teaser, booklet with essays by Michael Atkinson, interviews with the director and essays by him on the making of Vengeance is Mine.
Packaging: Keep case |
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| | | | | The release date for this DVD is May, 2007. |
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| | | | SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Excerpts from a video interview with Shohei Imamura, produced by the Directors Guild of Japan
- Theatrical trailer and teaser
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- LUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Atkinson, a 1994 interview with Imamura by writer Toichi Nakata, and writings from Imamura on Vengeance Is Mine and his approach to filmmaking
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ABOUT THE TRANSFER:
Vengeance Is Mine is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1. On standard 4:3 televisions, the image will appear letterboxed. On standard and widescreen televisions, black bars may also be visible on the left and right to maintain the proper screen format. This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit 2k Datacine from a new 35mm low-contrast print made from the original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. To maintain optimal image quality through the compression process, the picture on this dual-layer DVD-9 has been encoded at the highest-possible bit rate for the quantity of material included.
The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from a 35mm optical track print, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle. The Dolby Digital 1.0 signal will be directed to the center channel on surround sound systems, but some viewers may prefer to switch to two-channel playback for a wider dispersal of the mono sound. |
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