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Throughout the 1980s, Shōhei Imamura (The Pornographers, Profound Desires of the Gods), a leading figure of the Japanese New Wave era of the 1960s, cemented his international reputation as one of the most important directors of his generation with a series of films that all competed at Cannes to great critical acclaim. This exclusive box set from Arrow Academy presents restored versions of three late career classics from the legendary filmmaker.

Based on an ancient folktale, The Ballad of Narayama (1983) was the first of two works from the director to win the prestigious Cannes Palme d'Or. Imamura's magnum opus depicts the members of an extended farming family eking out their existence in the mountainous north of Japan against the backdrop of the changing seasons before village lore decrees they make the sacrifice of abandoning their aged mother on the top of a nearby mountain when she reaches her seventieth year. Making its HD debut, Zegen (1987) takes a satirical look at Japan's prewar colonial expansion through the unscrupulous eyes of its flesh-peddler antihero as he establishes a prostitution enterprise across Southeast Asia. Finally, the harrowing Black Rain (1989) details the precarious existence of a household of atomic bomb survivors as, five years after being caught in the blast of Hiroshima, they struggle to find a husband for their 25-year-old niece.

These three works epitomize the director's almost documentary style of filmmaking, exposing the vulgar yet vibrant and instinctive underbelly of Japanese society through a sympathetic focus on peasants, prostitutes, criminal lowlife and other marginalized figures to explore the schism between the country's timeless premodern traditions and the modern face it projects to the world.

Media

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Bonus Materials

• Restored High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentations of all three films
• Original lossless Japanese PCM 1.0 mono soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles
• Brand new audio commentaries on all three films by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp
• Brand new, in-depth appreciations of all three films by Japanese cinema expert Tony Rayns
• Alternate color ending to Black Rain, shot by Imamura but removed from the film shortly before its release
• Archival interviews on Black Rain with actress Yoshiko Tanaka and assistant director Takashi Miike
• Multiple trailers and image galleries
• Original Japanese press kits for The Ballad of Narayama and Black Rain (BD-ROM content)
• Limited edition 60-page booklet containing new writing by Tom Mes
• Limited edition packaging featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella

Sales Points

• Shōhei Imamura is the only director from Japan to win two Palme d'Or awards.
• The three films in this collection have won 36 international awards with an additional 18 nominations, including the Cannes Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards.

Press Quotes

Shohei Imamura is among the most important artists of postwar Japanese cinema. Best known in the west for his award-winning 'The Ballad of Narayama,' Imamura has produced a body of work that is unequalled for its tumultuous energy and formal daring.

     —James Quandt, National Review

This is a sterling representation of Imamura's work, and as usual with Arrow releases, it's handsomely packaged, with generally solid technical merits and some outstanding supplements (the Jasper Sharp commentaries and Tony Rayns appreciations are all excellent). Highly recommended.

     —Blu-Ray

Arrow's handsomely packaged box set offers stunning new HD transfers of the films and a generous heaping of incisive extras... 5 out of 5 stars!

     —Slant Magazine