Hiroshima

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DarkImbecile
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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Hiroshima

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Apr 17, 2020 12:50 pm

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Hiroshima (1953) is a powerful evocation of the devastation wrought by the world’s first deployment of the atomic bomb and its aftermath, based on the written eye-witness accounts of its child survivors compiled by Dr. Arata Osada for the 1951 book Children Of The A Bomb: Testament Of The Boys And Girls Of Hiroshima.

Adapted for the screen by independent director Hideo Sekigawa (Listen to the Voices of the Sea, Tokyo Untouchable) and screenwriter Yasutaro Yagi (Theatre of Life, Rice), Hiroshima combines a harrowing documentary realism with moving human drama, in a tale of the suffering, endurance and survival of a group of teachers, their students and their families. It boasts a rousing score composed by Akira Ifukube (Godzilla) and an all-star cast including Yumeji Tsukioka (Late Spring, The Eternal Breasts), Isuzu Yamada (Throne of Blood, Yojimbo) and Eiji Okada (Hiroshima Mon Amour, Woman in the Dunes), appearing alongside an estimated 90,000 residents from the city as extras, including many survivors from that fateful day on 6th August 1945.

Hiroshima was produced and distributed outside of the studio system by the Japan Teachers’ Union following the mixed critical reception to Children of Hiroshima (1952), directed by Kaneto Shindo the previous year, the first dramatic feature to deal directly with the atomic bombing. Although sequences from the film were used in Alain Resnais’ classic of French New Wave cinema, Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), it has been effectively out of circulation in Japan and the rest of the world since its original release in 1953 due to the force and political sensitivity of its message. This new High Definition presentation is the complete version, restoring the footage from the international edit that was released in the United States in 1955.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
  • High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
  • Original uncompressed audio
  • Archive interview with actress Yumeji Tsukioka
  • Hiroshima Nagasaki Download (2011), 73-minute documentary featuring interviews with survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings now residing in the United States, with an introduction by the director Shinpei Takeda
  • New video essay by Jasper Sharp
  • Newly commissioned artwork by Scott Saslow
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mick Broderick

longstone
Joined: Mon May 13, 2013 1:38 am

Re: Hiroshima

#2 Post by longstone » Sat Jul 11, 2020 6:01 am

My copy of this arrived direct from Arrow, an interesting film I knew nothing about before so thanks Arrow , this and The Mad Fox in pretty much the same month, two Japanese films new to me, great stuff.
It doesn't mention it in the specs above but the booklet also contains a filmography of Hideo Sekigawa (I also confess to knowing nothing about the director) so I wonder if they plan to release more of his films? There is also a Jasper Sharp print essay not mentioned above in addition to the video essay.

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Aunt Peg
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Re: Hiroshima

#3 Post by Aunt Peg » Sat Jul 11, 2020 10:35 am

longstone wrote:
Sat Jul 11, 2020 6:01 am
My copy of this arrived direct from Arrow, an interesting film I knew nothing about before so thanks Arrow , this and The Mad Fox in pretty much the same month, two Japanese films new to me, great stuff.
It doesn't mention it in the specs above but the booklet also contains a filmography of Hideo Sekigawa (I also confess to knowing nothing about the director) so I wonder if they plan to release more of his films? There is also a Jasper Sharp print essay not mentioned above in addition to the video essay.
Glad to hear that. I blind-buyed both of them a couple of days ago.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Hiroshima

#4 Post by Orlac » Tue Jul 14, 2020 3:51 am

Ifukube's score for this is great - so great, he re-used it practically note-for-note in Godzilla the following year! Consequently, it is a little distracting as you start comparing Sekigawa's scenes of the aftermath to Ishiro Honda's.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Hiroshima

#5 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:52 pm

A must-have release. Devastating film -- and Jasper Sharp's video essay is quite informative.

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What A Disgrace
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Re: Hiroshima

#6 Post by What A Disgrace » Sat Aug 08, 2020 12:26 am

My copy shipped with The Game, Inferno of Torture and Czechmate, but only The Game was included in the package. Not sure what that's about - I was really excited to see the movie this weekend, but now I'm spending it waiting for Arrow to get back to me about missing items.

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