The Movie
Tough-as-nails Yakuza gangster Muraki (Ryô Ikebe) seems lost upon his release from prison, wrapping up a three-year stint for murder. Searching for his place in the world again, he tries to return to his old life but nothing seems to click until he meets a mysterious lady gambler (Mariko Kaga). Daring and unhealthy although not what most people would expect, their relationship is at the heart of Masahiro Shinoda's slow-burn drama Pale Flower (Kawaita hana).
It's a world of bad blood and the politics of organized crime, rather educational really if a tad quaint considering how nasty the world has become in the years since. Conflicted but ultimately honor-bound, Muraki volunteers for another hit, his target now the head of an encroaching new gang. He feels it's what he needs to set him right, even though it means going back to prison, in a perverse Jesus-like sacrifice that might well have inspired Sling Blade.
The Picture
A fresh print was struck from the original 2.35:1 camera negative for this new Criterion master, a high-bitrate AVC black-and-white beauty. It was probably extremely clean to begin with but was also digitally polished to remove virtually all blemishes. Blacks are deep and inky while we can also fully appreciate the fine weave of the Mad Men-era clothes, some patterns reminiscent of the SMPTE crosshairs. There are occasional shifts in quality and unfortunate flicker in tracking/panning shots, but such problems are quite rare here.
The Sound
The audio for Pale Flower was remastered at 24-bit-quality from a 35mm optical soundtrack print, cleaned and presented here as Linear PCM 1.0. There are no highs or lows to speak of, and the lack of sonic involvement during a fairly long car chase is rather conspicuous. (Then again, the last disc I reviewed was Le Mans, in 7.1, maybe I'm biased?)
I'm guessing that the dialogue is sufficiently clear, since I don't speak Japanese, but some has clearly been looped. It's also well-balanced against the sound effects, and with Toru Takemitsu's musical score when it appears: What more can one expect from true mono?
The Extras
This classy edition features an exclusive new 21-minute video interview with writer/director Masahiro Shinoda in HD, in Japanese with English subtitles. We are also given a select-scene audio commentary by expert Peter Grilli, president of The Japan Society of Boston and co-producer of the documentary Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu. He specifically discusses Takemitsu's work on Pale Flower, but other topics as well. These five chaptered sections total about 34 minutes, again in HD, but with Dolby Digital 1.0 audio.
Final Thoughts
An intriguing film from the Japanese new wave, Pale Flower is an effective crime drama that has been respectfully restored by The Criterion Gang for a whole new generation to enjoy.
Product Details
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