A beautiful transfer of an almost 60-year-old Japanese thriller finally gets a Blu-ray release – Kinji Fukasaku’s The Threat is available from Arrow Video from 23rd September 2024.
In 2022, Arrow Video brought us a Japanese crime drama from the 1960s, A Fugitive from the Past, giving it its very first home video appearance outside of Japan. Two years later, and featuring the same wonderful lead actor (Rentaro Mikuni), Arrow have brought us The Threat, a home-invasion/kidnapping thriller also from the mid-1960s which is also its first release outside of its home country.
Mikuni plays Misawa, a respected sales manager whose salary allows him to have bought a modest new house in the suburbs where he lives with his wife Hiroko (Masumi Harukawa) and young son Masao (Pepe Hozumi). Their pleasant domesticity is suddenly upended though when two prison escapees enter their home one evening, and force the family into being part of their kidnapping scheme.
On the one hand, the story is a typical thriller style; there are good guys and bad guys, there is a definite feeling of jeopardy, and it’s not always clear how the situation is going to resolve.
But on the other hand, the cinematography elevates The Threat into something absolutely worth watching. Yoshikazu Yamazawa uses hand held cameras to get right into the middle of the fight scenes and create a sense of confusion. He also cleverly frames his characters as they walk through Tokyo’s streets and subway stations, brushing up against shoppers and commuters. These people are not extras, they just have no idea that they are part of a movie, with the result that these scenes authentically capture life in Japan’s capital in the mid-1960s. Combined with stirring music from Isao Tomita and some deft, rapid editing underlining Misawa’s confused state of mind under pressure, The Threat is a tense and highly enjoyable thriller
To be honest, it’s not great in the way it treats its (very few) female characters, but when watching films from this era it’s logical to expect some attitudes which are different from today – that doesn’t make them right, of course, but merely a reflection of society at the time.
That aside, this new transfer of previously unseen (outside of Japan) material is definitely worth a watch.
The Special Edition Blu-Ray from Arrow Video includes:
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original uncompressed mono audio
Optional newly translated English subtitles
Brand new audio commentary by Japanese film expert Tom Mes
Warning Warning Danger Danger, a brand new 20-minute video appreciation by critic and Japanese film specialist Mark Schilling
Original theatrical trailer
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Hayley Scanlon
Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
A beautiful transfer of an almost 60-year-old Japanese thriller finally gets a Blu-ray release – Kinji Fukasaku’s The Threat is available from Arrow Video from 23rd September 2024.
In 2022, Arrow Video brought us a Japanese crime drama from the 1960s, A Fugitive from the Past, giving it its very first home video appearance outside of Japan. Two years later, and featuring the same wonderful lead actor (Rentaro Mikuni), Arrow have brought us The Threat, a home-invasion/kidnapping thriller also from the mid-1960s which is also its first release outside of its home country.
Mikuni plays Misawa, a respected sales manager whose salary allows him to have bought a modest new house in the suburbs where he lives with his wife Hiroko (Masumi Harukawa) and young son Masao (Pepe Hozumi). Their pleasant domesticity is suddenly upended though when two prison escapees enter their home one evening, and force the family into being part of their kidnapping scheme.
On the one hand, the story is a typical thriller style; there are good guys and bad guys, there is a definite feeling of jeopardy, and it’s not always clear how the situation is going to resolve.
But on the other hand, the cinematography elevates The Threat into something absolutely worth watching. Yoshikazu Yamazawa uses hand held cameras to get right into the middle of the fight scenes and create a sense of confusion. He also cleverly frames his characters as they walk through Tokyo’s streets and subway stations, brushing up against shoppers and commuters. These people are not extras, they just have no idea that they are part of a movie, with the result that these scenes authentically capture life in Japan’s capital in the mid-1960s. Combined with stirring music from Isao Tomita and some deft, rapid editing underlining Misawa’s confused state of mind under pressure, The Threat is a tense and highly enjoyable thriller
To be honest, it’s not great in the way it treats its (very few) female characters, but when watching films from this era it’s logical to expect some attitudes which are different from today – that doesn’t make them right, of course, but merely a reflection of society at the time.
That aside, this new transfer of previously unseen (outside of Japan) material is definitely worth a watch.
The Special Edition Blu-Ray from Arrow Video includes:
The Threat will be released by Arrow Video on 23rd September 2024.
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