EIGHTEEN YEARS IN PRISON (1967)
aka CHOUEKI JAHACHI-NEN
Limited Edition Blu-ray
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: A,B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes 39 Seconds
Audio: Japanese PCM 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Tai Kato
Cast: Noboru Ando, Tomisaburo Wakayama, Asao Koike, Shinobu Chihara, Reiichi Hatanaka, Minoru Hodaka, Shinzô Hotta, Ken Kawabe, Hôsei Komatsu, Masaomi Kondô, Michitarô Mizushima, Tsuyako Okajima, Shingo Yamashiro
Eighteen Years in Prison (1967) is directed by Tai Kato (The Ghost Story of Oiwa's Spirit), and is yet another thrilling slice of post-war Yakuza cinema debuting on Blu-ray from world cinema taste-makers Radiance Films. It's a prison epic starring Kawada (Noboru Ando, Graveyard of Honor) as a former captain of a WWII Kamikaze naval squadron who post-war has turned into a black market Robin Hood of sorts who redistributes resources to help those in need in his war-torn neighborhood. Early in the film he and his also ex-soldier black market partner Tsukada (Asao Koike, Sympathy the Underdog) are caught red-handed stealing supplies, and Kawanda ends up sacrificing his own freedom so that the injured Tsukada can make an escape - making him promise to use their black-market gains to open a shop and help their struggling post-war community to help those in need. Now incarcerated in prison Kawada faces challenges from violent inmates and a corrupt prison guard Hannya (Tomisaburo Wakayama, Big Time Gambling Boss) and various other deadly prison degenerates, but also allying himself with an honorable Yakuza lifer named Osugi (Michitaro Mizushima, Aim at the Police Van). Years into his sentence he gets word that his former partner has betrayed his solemn promise, opening not a market to aid the struggling community, but without Kawada;'s strict code of honor to guide him has turned into Yakuza gangster profiteering off of the misery of others, opening brothels instead of opening a market, resulting in the suicide of a woman important to Kawada. After receiving this news the noble and honor-bound Kawada vows to escape prison and stop his former partner.
The film is a visually interesting from start to finish with lots of low-angles and moody shots that establish tension and unease, it has plenty of style, and moment of prison violence that are truly stunning, there's a swallowing broken glass scene that made my throat hurt! Plus we get a terrific turn from real-life Yakuza-turned-actor Noboru Ando who delivers another in a long line of aggressively terrific performances as the honor-bound Kawada, who steadfastly refuses to water-down his moral code, even during changing times while incarcerated. His strict code of honor actually upsets quite a few people in process. We also a love interest of sorts for Kawada by way of Hisako (Hiroko Sakuramachi, Big Time Gambling Boss), a woman who lost her brother in a Kamikaze attacks during the war, of which Kawada is implicit. As he was the captain who sent him to his death it grieves him personally, which has the incarcerated anti-hero looking to atone for his dishonorable actions during the war. Her younger, thought-dead brother Shuichi aka King (Masaomi Kondo, Horrors of Malformed Men) eventually finds himself incarcerated at the same prison, sharing a cell with Kawada. Shuichi is a wild card prone to violent outbursts, but Kawada attempts to take him under his wing, and later takes steps to reunite him with his sister. On the outside his former partner turned gangster Tsukada, through his contact with the corrupt prison guard, attempts to use Shuichi's anger over his brother's death to have his former partner killed is prison, before he can be released.
While I am certainly no expert in prison or Yakuza films from Japan, though Radiance's output is inching me in that direction slowly but surely, this is a top ten prison flick for me, of all-time, from any country. This is a truly terrific prison epic with interesting characters and prison dynamics, plus we get a potent finale chock full of violence. I honestly have not seen a ton of these Japanese prison flicks, but this Toei produced entry is easily an all-timer prison-flick for me; and yet another in a increasingly long-line of fascinating Yakuza stories now on Blu-ray thanks to the careful curation of Radiance Films.
Audio/Video: Eighteen Years in Prison (1967) arrives on region-A/B Blu-ray from Radiance Films, transferred in high definition by Toei Co. Ltd. and supplied to Radiance Films as a high definition digital file, presented here in 2.39:1 widescreen in HD. This source looks solid, the only blemishes I noticed where tiny white speckles, the grain is well-resolved, and colors look good. It has an authentically thick look to it, a lot of these Japanese film of this era have the same sort of thick filmic look, with a slight green lean to it. Audio comes by way of Japanese PCM 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue and the sounds of violence come through clean, and the score from Hajime Kaburagi (Fairy in a Cage) has a nice showing in the mix.
Audio/Video: Eighteen Years in Prison (1967) arrives on region-A/B Blu-ray from Radiance Films, transferred in high definition by Toei Co. Ltd. and supplied to Radiance Films as a high definition digital file, presented here in 2.39:1 widescreen in HD. This source looks solid, the only blemishes I noticed where tiny white speckles, the grain is well-resolved, and colors look good. It has an authentically thick look to it, a lot of these Japanese film of this era have the same sort of thick filmic look, with a slight green lean to it. Audio comes by way of Japanese PCM 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue and the sounds of violence come through clean, and the score from Hajime Kaburagi (Fairy in a Cage) has a nice showing in the mix.
Extras include a 24-min Appreciation by critic and programmer Tony Rayns; a 17-min Visual Essay on Japanese prison films by author Tom Mes (2024); and the 3-min Original Trailer. Tony Rayns discusses in-depth the career of director Tai Kato while Tom Mes gets into prison films in Japanese cinema.
The single-disc release arrives in a clear full-height Scanavo packaging with a Reversible Sleeve of Artwork featuring both original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow and the striking original theatrical artwork. We also get Radiance's nifty Removable OBI Strip which leaving packaging free of certificates and markings if you so wish. Inside is a 24-Page Illustrated Booklet featuring new writing by Tom Mes by way of 'Years if Filming Dangerously' (2024), and an archival interview with Noboru Ando by Mark Schilling from 2002, as well as notes about the cast, crew, transfer, and release credits.
Special Features:
- Appreciation by critic and programmer Tony Rayns (2024) (24:17)
- A visual essay on Japanese prison films by author Tom Mes (2024) (16:57)
- Original Trailer (3:04)
- Newly translated English subtitles
- Appreciation by critic and programmer Tony Rayns (2024) (24:17)
- A visual essay on Japanese prison films by author Tom Mes (2024) (16:57)
- Original Trailer (3:04)
- Newly translated English subtitles
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
- Limited Edition 24-Page Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by Ivo Smits and an archival interview with Noboru Ando by Mark Schilling
- Limited Edition 24-Page Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by Ivo Smits and an archival interview with Noboru Ando by Mark Schilling
Screenshots from the Radiance Films Blu-ray:
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