• List Price: $39.95  
• Your Price: $39.95
• In Stock: 466

You must login to place orders.




Not purchasing for a business? See our consumer site.

A young woman from the countryside (Miyuki Kuwano of Oshima's Cruel Story of Youth) falls in love with a handsome hoodlum (Mikijiro Hira, Sword of the Beast), who pushes her into a life of prostitution. When his sleazy superiors catch sight of her, she finds herself trapped inside the gaudy maze of city nightlife. Directed by Noburo Nakamura, a veteran of the Shochiku studio's signature Golden Age family dramas, The Shape of Night was made as a reaction to the radical film styles of the Japanese New Wave. With its lush cinematography full of saturated colours, a lyrical tone and its story of love leading to inescapable tragedy, it has been compared to the films of Douglas Sirk, while also acting as a precursor to the work of Wong Kar-wai.

Media

Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

• LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
• High-Definition digital transfer
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• Visual essay on the artistic upheavals at Shochiku studios during the 1960s by Tom Mes
• Trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Chuck Stephens
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
• More to be confirmed!

Sales Points

• For fans of Wong Kar Wai, Nagisa Oshima, Shohei Imamura, and Bong Joon Ho
• Director Noboru Nakamura is a National Treasure of Japan, nominated for a Golden Bear, a Golden Lion, and festival prizes at Cannes
• First time on Blu-ray

Press Quotes

★★★★★ A lyrical, nearly Wong Kar-wai-like counterpart to ardent work by Oshima or Imamura

     —Film Comment

Kept me continually gripped and often surprised

     —David Bordwell

The camera angles and movements, the colour scheme and editing all work brilliantly to illustrate her constant sacrifice and lead us to emotionally internalise the gaudy city as a dazzling parade that always leads her back to her situation. Stylistically

     —Nick James, Sight & Sound

Radiance’s blu-ray disc is wonderful and this frequently overlooked masterpiece is a feast for the eyes when it isn’t a neon flickering dagger through the heart.

     —Andrew Kotwicki, The Movie Sleuth