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Released by: Radiance Films
Released on: September 24th, 2023.
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Cast: Hideki Takahashi, Masako Izumi, Yuji Odaka
Year: 1965
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Tattooed Life – Movie Review:
Directed by the legendary Seijun Suzuki, 1965’s Nikkatsu Studios production of Tattooed Life tells the story of a man named Tetsu Murakami (Hideki Takahashi). He’s a reasonably new addition to a Yakuza gang and winds up getting screwed over by the gang’s boss. After Tetsu is attacked, his younger artist brother, Kenji (Kotobuki Hananomoto), who has no aspirations of living the life of a criminal at all, jumps in to defend his older brother and winds up killing Tetsuo’s attacker.
Knowing full well that Tetsu’s former gang isn’t going to take this lightly, they decide to high tail it to Manchuria and wait things out. They get conned out of their money on the way there and, with no other option, take jobs working on a tunneling project. While there, they soon realize that the local Manchurian gangs aren’t going to look too kindly on their presence in their territory, all while the gang that Tetsuo once belonged to give chase and the authorities start closing in.
Complicating matters further? The fact that Tetsu falls for his new employer’s sister-in-law, Midori (Masako Izumi), while Kenji starts developing feelings for their boss Tsunekichi (Kaku Takashima)’s wife, Masayo (Hiroko Itô).
While not as unconventional as some of the films that Suzuki would make in only a few short years, Tattooed Life is a more than solid Yakuza picture that hits all the right notes at all the right moments. The film’s pacing is tight and the story engaging, building nicely to a very satisfying, if slightly predictable, conclusion where all bets are off and the movie really goes for it. The script, credited to Kei Hattori, Ai Kennedy and Kin'ya Naoi, has a good amount of depth to it and it does a nice job of exploring the ties between the two brothers and contrasting them to Tetsu’s ties to his gang, as well as how difficult it can be to escape one’s past. As such, there’s a bit of satisfying food for thought here, in addition to the action set pieces and countless scowling gangsters skulking about looking tough as nails and cool as ice.
Stylish without overdoing it, Suzuki’s direction is aided immensely by Kuratarô Takamura’s impressive cinematography. The lighting work on display in the film is impressive and there’s good use of color on display throughout the movie as well. The score from Masayoshi Ikeda is also very good, dramatic without being melodramatic and complementing the storytelling on display in the production.
Acting is strong across the board. Hideki Takahashi and Kotobuki Hananomoto both do really solid work as the two leads in the film, while supporting work from Kaku Takashima, Masako Izumi and Hiroko Itô) is all easy enough to appreciate. There aren’t any weak links in the cast, everyone done a great job.
Tattooed Life – Blu-ray Review:
Tattooed Life arrives on Blu-ray from Radiance Films in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer provided by Toei framed at 2.35.1 widescreen on a the Region A/B locked 50GB disc. Like all of the Radiance discs representing vintage Japanese films thus far, it looks pretty solid. There is some softness inherent in the photography but generally speaking, the image is crisp. Some small white specks show up now and again but that’s about it as far as print damage goes, while colors are reproduced accurately, as are black levels and skin tones. The image always looks like proper film, preserving natural grain and showing no problems with noise reduction or edge enhancement. All in all, a solid job.
The only audio option on the disc is a 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono track in Japanese with optional subtitles provided in English only. This is a fairly dialogue heavy film despite frequent scenes of intense action, but the track handles everything well, giving things some punch when the movie calls for it and doing a very nice job with the score and foley effects. No problems with any hiss or distortion and the levels are balanced nicely. The subtitles are clean, clear, easy to read and free of any noticeable typos.
An audio commentary by William Carroll, author of Seijun Suzuki and Postwar Cinema starts off the extras. He goes over the film's release history, the juxtapositions that are employed early in the film and how he hides the protagonists faces in the opening, the state of Suzuki's career at this period in time and his relationship with Nikkatsu, how the director was able to take sometimes rather pedestrian films into interesting and unexpected directions, details on the cast and crew that worked on the picture with Suzuki, the state of Japanese cinema when the film was made, the themes that the film explores, the emotional shifts that occur in the picture, the use of color in the movie and the lighting techniques on display and, of course, the film's finale.
Up next is a newly edited archival interview with director Seijun Suzuki that was originally recorded in 2006. This eleven minute talk goes over how he came to work for Nikkatsu, the response to his work, the state of Japan in the 1960s, how his background and upbringing shaped his work, why he doesn't feel that he's good at realism, influences that worked their way into his filmography, how busy he and the cast were during this period in time, memories of some of the actors that he worked with and how they would exchange ideas for their collaborations, the art direction in his movies and how his work has been reevaluated since it was made decades back.
A newly edited archival interview with art director Takeo Kimura is also included on the disc. Also originally recorded in 2006, this eleven minute featurette sees Kimura speaking about what it was like working with Suzuki, how he got into the film business in the first place, how his relationship with the director evolved over time, critical and audience response to their work together, the abstract nature of the director's style and specific memories of some of the projects that they worked on together.
A trailer for the feature is also included on the disc.
As to the packaging, Radiance supplies, with the first pressing, some really nice reversible sleeve artwork featuring newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow on one side and art from the original Japanese theatrical poster on the reverse. This release also comes packaged with a limited edition full-color booklet featuring an essay on the film titled ‘Cutting It Close’ by Tom Vick as well as an archival review from the November 1965 issue of Kinema Junpo by Tetsuya Fukasawa along with cast and crew notes, credits for the Blu-ray release, notes on the transfer and some archival imagery.
This limited edition first pressing is being pressed in 3,000 copies and comes with a removable Obi strip, which is a nice touch.
Tattooed Life - The Final Word:
Tattooed Life is worth seeing just for its fantastic conclusion, but the build up to get there is impressive as well. Radiance Films has done a nice job bringing this Seijun Suzuki Yakuza film to Blu-ray with a great presentation and some illuminating extra features as well. Recommended!
Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized Tattooed Life Blu-ray screen caps!
