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This special limited edition Blu-ray comes with a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (designed by Steak Mtn.), includes a 40-page perfect bound book, and is limited to 4,000 units. It is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.
The 1970s through 1990s saw a boom in transgressive genre filmmaking throughout Asia, but particularly in Japan where the "Pinku Eiga" became one of the most popular types of films produced in the country. With young filmmakers seizing an opportunity to hone their craft, countless soon-to-be celebrated directors created work which were more daring, unusual, and often shocking than just about any of the other genre cinema ergering across the globe. Pink Line will present exclusive new restorations of select works from key Asian erotic filmmakers, with a focus on Japan's Pinku Eiga genre.
Between his earliest films in the mid 1980s and his 1990s "golden age," Hisayasu Satô consistently developed and honed his cinematic voice. Drawing on contrasts in his work across radically different career stages, these three films offer a range of insights into the artist's most compelling and recurring obsessions.
One of his earliest features, SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME (1986), Satô offers a meta-reflection on learning his craft through the story of two former film students facing the world and their own troubled relationship, through video-voyeurism and sex work. When violence manifests within sexual situations, a sense of fatalism threatens to take the lovers to darker places. A profound meditation upon loneliness and especially distance, both physical and perceived, Satô begins his visual experiments involving rephotographed video textures and discordant dialogue.
In SURVEY MAP OF PARADISE LOST (1988), an investigative reporter gets wrapped up in a story about phone sex clubs, and a sex worker named Midori who worked in one. Unexpectedly thrust into a world of sadomasochism, isolation, and suicidal musings, he struggles to fulfill his job responsibilities. But when it emerges that a recent death involving a sex worker was videotaped, and the reporter obtains the tape, they can hardly avoid becoming more deeply involved. Maintaining his obsession with the poetry of loneliness, Satô weaves a story of characters obsessed with death and exploring the most violent sides of pleasure.
As the theatrical heyday of Pink films was winding down, SOFT SKIN (1998) shows Satô's lens turning to the absurd and comedic, eschewing the cynicism and unhappiness experienced by the characters in his earliest work for something more whimsical. When Minako, a lonely housewife neglected by her busy, self-centered husband and adult children, finds a suitor, they concoct a false kidnapping narrative to tease her family. Meanwhile, a young woman responsible for a series of chainsaw murders is also on the run. While television news (including Minako's daughter as a newscaster) devours these sensational stories, all manner of bizarre interactions unfold as Minako contemplates her future.
directed by: Hisayasu Satô
starring: Moeko Izawa, Toru Nakane, Junko Asahina, Tomomi Kuribayashi, Kiyomi Itō, Rio Yanagawa, Bunmei Tobayama, Ai Kobayashi, Yutaka Ikejima, Hiromi Kuronuma, Kenji Mizuhashi
1998 (SS), 1986 (StLDfM), 1988 (SMoPL) / 88 min (SS), 60 min (StLDfM), 65 min (SMoPL) / 1.85:1 / Japanese 1.0 Mono
Additional info:
Overall rating: 4.715517 / 5 from 116 reviews.
This Blu-ray collection features Hisayasu Satô's films with exceptional restoration work, offering crisp visuals and sound. The release is highly praised for its effort, quality, and the inclusion of insightful interviews. The packaging and transfer quality are also appreciated, making it a valuable addition for fans of the director's work.
Review topics: ["quality","looks","packaging","work","effort","texture","style","set","corners","film","release","collection","restoration","sato","transfer","movie","presentation","line","volume","plot","director","cinema","interview","feature","addition","viewing","story","essays","sense","picture"].
"It seems implausible we'd get even a few of Satô's works just a few years ago, now we're four (going on five and six as I write) of some of the greatest the medium has to offer. I'm in it without reservation to the end of the line."
"An incredible release featuring some of Hisayasu Sato's most unique and compelling works. The visual quality and presentation are outstanding for underground Japanese cinema. Highly recommended for fans of pinku eiga and extreme film history!"
"Gotta catch them all... didn't see everything yet.. but really enjoyed this line"
"I can't stop getting these Sato collection packs. The box sets are always gorgeous. The stories are absolutely bonkers, and often times quite disturbing. Nobody does it like Hisayasu Sato!"
"Another great Sato set! Ordinarily I would be irritated with the preoccupation with a single filmmaker, but these set are so good, that I want the Sato releases to continue."
"The Films of Hisayasu Satō: Volume Four is another fascinating dive into Satō’s dark, transgressive, and unmistakably strange corner of Japanese cinema. Bleak, provocative, and often unsettling, it’s a challenging collection that further proves there really isn’t anyone quite like Satō."
"The chronological range makes this perhaps the most revealing Satô volume yet. Save the Last Dance for Me and Survey Map of a Paradise Lost expose his early fascination with mediated images, loneliness, and violence, while Soft Skin revisits related concerns through a later, unexpectedly comic sensibility. Together, they trace a genuine evolution without suggesting that Satô ever abandoned his central obsessions. The director-approved restorations are excellent, and the contextual supplements are unusually valuable."
"Another solid set and easy choice if you have the others. Two early films similar in style to the other sets and one later film thag is more of a comedy."
"He may be crazy, but his film are fantastic and disturbing at the same time. And volume 4 is just as crazy and wonderful as the rest. I say no more."
"Yet another fantastic set of Sato films, beautifully presented. If you liked any of the other VS Sato sets, I think purchasing this one is really a no-brainer. Looking forward to other editions in this line that feature different directors."
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