17 March 2008

Fans of classic Japanese cinema and particularly Kenji Mizoguchi have been spoiled in recent months with the release of three DVD double bills of Mizoguchi's work from Eureka's Masters of Cinema label. Now they have announced the fourth and final set in the collection, pairing Mizoguchi's final film Akasen Chitai with the lesser known rarity Yokihi, made a year earlier and one of only two Mizoguchi films made in colour, but being released on UK DVD for the first time.

Akasen Chitai [Red Light District, aka Street of Shame] – sadly, the very last film by Kenji Mizoguchi (Sansho Dayu, Ugetsu Monogatari) – presents a vivid portrait of prostitution in 1950s Japan.

In a Tokyo brothel named Dreamland — an obvious irony given the faded hopes of those who work there — the lives of five prostitutes intersect. Each has a very different story for how they entered the profession, but what they share is the struggle to make sense of the red light district and its cycle of exploitation.

Filmed shortly before the Japanese government's introduction of an anti-prostitution bill, Akasen Chitai is a compelling study of women torn between financial necessity and questions of conscience. It was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 1956 Venice Film Festival and inspired French critic Jean Douchet to describe it thus: "For me, along with Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux and Renoir's Le Règle du Jue, the greatest film in the history of cinema."

Set many centuries earlier, Yokihi [Imperial Concubine Yang, aka Yang Kwei Fei] recounts the Chinese legend of the title. In eighth century T'ang China, widowed Emperor Hsüan-tsung (Masayuki Mori) reigns alone, having devoted his life to the composition of music. When he meets and falls in love with a beautiful young woman (Machiko Kyo) who will become his imperial concubine, a tale of political intrigue and rival dynasties is set in motion, with ultimately tragic consequences.

Sumptuously filmed in colour, Yokihi is the most ancient of Mizoguchi's costume dramas, yet its central themes of passion, sorrow and the conflict between love and power remain timeless. Like Akasen Chitai, Yokihi was also nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice.

This 2-disc special edition contains new transfer of both films and the following features:

• New and improved English subtitles;
• Full length commentary on Akasen Chitai and a video discussion about Yokihi by acclaimed Japanese film expert, critic, festival programmer and filmmaker Tony Rayns;
• Original theatrical trailers;
• 64-page booklet featuring writing by Keiko I. McDonald (author of Mizoguchi), Mark Le Fanu (author of Mizoguchi and Japan), Masako Nakagawa (author of The Yang Kuei-fei Legend in Japanese Literature), ninth century poetry (A Song of Unending Sorrow) by Po Chü-i, and rare production stills.

Akasen Chitai and Yokihi will be released on UK DVD by Masters of Cinema on 26th May 2008 at the RRP of £24.99.