Quote:
Based on the Chinese classic “Jin Ping Mei”. Original Japanese cut directed by Koji Wakamatsu and produced by Shochiku. Set in Song-dynasty China, Wu Song rises to fame and becomes a guard captain. He is captivated by his brother’s wife, Pan Jinlian, whose beauty also ensnares the wealthy libertine Ximen Qing. To possess her, Ximen Qing has Wu Song’s brother murdered. When the corrupt authorities refuse justice, Wu Song is imprisoned, escapes with the help of the Liangshan bandits, and joins their ranks. Ximen Qing descends further into decadence, but Wu Song eventually returns, leading an attack on the town.

The.Notorious.Concubines.1968.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC-mN.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 33 min
Size: 	7.11 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1920x804 
Aspect ratio:  	2.39:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	10.7 Mb/s
BPP: 	0.290
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch AAC LC @ 141 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/D222CB6CF078206/The.Notorious.Concubines.1968.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC-mN.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/D2DC87182304B5B/The.Notorious.Concubines.1968.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC-mN.srt

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Koji Wakamatsu – Kinpeibai AKA The Notorious Concubines (1968) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
One midsummer night, a ferry boat was heading to Onomichi pulling a corpse. The victim was Otoyo, a madam at the Onomichi bar “Iso Chidori.” The Onomichi Police Department organized an emergency investigation team with Chief Detective Oishi and others to solve this strange case. Toyo’s corpse had two keys. One was the key to the bar, and the other was the key to the apartment of Michiko, a young girl who worked at the same bar. The investigators pursued Michiko, and then Nakanishi, who had been in a relationship with her, but they were unable to find any clues. Eventually, Otoyo’s past came to light. It was revealed that Hongo and Tsuchida, who had been in a relationship with her, were from Mikasajima, just like Nakanishi, and that she had left her mentally disabled son at the island’s town hall and left for a remote island. Returning from Mikasajima, Oishi and his team discovered that the ferry boat was from Daikonjima, Michiko’s hometown. Oishi’s theory is that the crime was committed on Daikon Island, and the killer transported the body on a lighter boat and planned to bury it somewhere. Then, on the day of the crime, a mysterious phone call was made to “Iso Chidori,” and Michiko, who owed Otoyo 70,000 yen, was once again brought into focus. Michiko worked at a shipyard in Mukojima. Eventually, the detectives who were following her found Michiko approaching a young man. The young man was a shipwright from Daikon Island named Hori. He was seriously injured three months ago and had paid over 50,000 yen in hospital fees. The detectives were convinced that Michiko’s debt was used for Hori, but they could not find any proof. Meanwhile, Nakanishi, who was hospitalized and out of the investigation area, escaped from the hospital to Mikasajima, and Oishi pursued him and questioned him rigorously, forcing him to confess about an incident that occurred 20 years ago. The incident was that the islanders attacked a cargo ship that had been wrecked in a storm, killed the boatman, and stole the cargo. At the time, the village ignored the incident orchestrated by Nakanishi, and Otoyo’s husband was killed when he set sail to save her son who had a high fever. After this incident, Otoyo was driven off the island, and her child was raised in the village. Nakanishi confessed that Otoyo had planned to take revenge by putting her body on the line, and had planned to have the younger Michiko take over her own physical decline. Oishi was keeping an eye on Michiko on the ferry boat on his way to work, and by chance, Hori, who had jumped in to save a boy who had fallen into the sea, saw him suffer with his limbs tied up. Oishi captured the decisive moment when Michiko called out the name of the man she had stubbornly denied knowing.

Heat Wave Island 1969 HDTV 1080i AAC MPEG2-JPTVclub.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 43 min
Size: 	5.80 GiB
Video
Codec: 	MPEG-2
Resolution: 	1440x1080 ~> 1920x1080
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	Variable
Bit rate: 	Variable
BPP: 	
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AAC LC

https://nitro.download/view/1C8994ACCE02CE7/Heat_Wave_Island_1969_HDTV_1080i_AAC_MPEG2-JPTVclub.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/531A86CB940AB73/Heat_Wave_Island_1969_HDTV_1080i_AAC_MPEG2-JPTVclub.srt

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English, Japanese

The post Kaneto Shindô – Kagerô AKA Heat Wave Island (1969) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

A country girl visits Tokyo in search of her college heartthrob. Here she meets horny students, a psychology professor in search of the theory of shame, and Yoshioka who has become a campus nobody.

Bumpkin Soup.1985.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 22 min
Size: 	1.88 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1024x554 
Aspect ratio:  	1.85:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	3 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.221
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 1.0ch AAC LC @ 252 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/97B74625E89BF27/Bumpkin_Soup.1985.576p.BDRip-AVC.ZONE.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English, French

The post Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Do-re-mi-fa musume no chi wa sawagu AKA The Blood of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl Roars (1985) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
From the original manga by Kazuo Koike (Lone Wolf and Cub) and Kazuo Kamimura and the main inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, Lady Snowblood is a blood spattered Samurai masterpiece from the golden age of Japanese cult cinema!

Meiko Kaji (Female Prisoner Scorpion / Blind Woman’s Curse) is Yuki, a women raised from birth for one terrible, blood splattered purpose…To murder those who raped her mother and left her to rot in a stinking women’s prison, where she died in childbirth. Trained in deadly fighting arts and fatal sword play, Lady Snowblood is cursed to wander the lands in pursuit of her single purpose. She is a demon of vengeance, only sated by the crimson blood of those who stole her mother from her.

Then, in the exciting sequel – Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance – Yuki is caught up in the corrupt and murderous world of politics as she is co-opted into spying by the head of the secret police against anarchists and enemies of the status quo. Expect more outrageous revenge and fountains of blood.

Toshiya Fujita - Shura-yuki-hime Urami Renga AKA Lady Snowblood 2 Love Song of Vengeance (1974)-Criterion.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 29 min
Size: 	2.24 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1024x430 
Aspect ratio:  	2.40:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	3 199 kb/s
BPP: 	0.303
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 1.0ch AC-3 @ 384 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/B26C01121294669/Toshiya_Fujita_-_Shura-yuki-hime_Urami_Renga_AKA_Lady_Snowblood_2_Love_Song_of_Vengeance_(1974)-Criterion.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Toshiya Fujita – Shurayukihime: Urami koiuta AKA Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Review from clydefro.com
I wasn’t sufficiently acquainted with Kon Ichikawa’s work (and, truthfully, I’m still not), but the entire tone of his relatively obscure I Am a Cat caught me somewhat by surprise. I’d loved Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain, a deeply and darkly humorous look at the ridiculousness of war played against that looming seriousness that’s always prevalent in those kind of films. I was then ready for some kind of Japanese incarnation of Harry and Tonto. That’s really not what I got, though. I Am a Cat is definitely steeped in comic undertones, with Tatsuya Nakadai almost parodying himself, but it’s absolutely far removed from Harry and Tonto. Instead, we’re left with some odd tribute to Nakadai’s eternally grumpy protagonist and the stray cat who’s his only true confidante.

Nakadai is an English teacher at a local school. He’s put-upon like the patron figure of dozens of films and televisions shows. Viewers who are especially fans of Nakadai will appreciate how the actor comically rants about here. His home life is almost disastrous, with a ditzy (but attractive) wife, three young children, a loud school nearby that’s controlled by a corrupt businessman he loathes, and frequent visits from layabout friends. And the grey-furred, green-eyed cat! I was mistakenly under the impression that the cat narrates the film, but this is patently false. Only the very last portion, mere minutes, is told from the cat’s perspective. We instead get the ruminations of Nakadai’s decidedly upset protagonist.

As such, the film will appeal particularly to a pair of contingents – those fans of Nakadai and the cat lovers. I, with head hung in semi-shame, volunteer as a part of both. The feline aspect is an especially winning part of the film, though not the focus. Sure those susceptible to some whiskers and such will be satiated by the throwaway shots of the cat, but the film is pretty good otherwise, as well. Nakadai’s constant disbelief at everything around him is pure brilliance. Baseballs come flying across the fence from the school. Not just a stray one or two, but ball after ball. Nakadai blows a fuse and then ends up humiliated. Suddenly the actor is delivering pathos to this grumpy middle-aged man. The comedy is still there, but it’s now twinged with a bit of sadness. You realize the film is battling an entire shift in Japan society. Businessmen are corrupt and powerful. Their newfound wealth has lead to unearned snobbishness. And kids just don’t respect their elders. It may not be an entirely unique or profound message, but the point is made.

Let’s get back to the cat, though. Furry little guy. Ichikawa completely plays to the kinds of moments that feline foes will loathe. The cat-friendly viewer smiles when the screen is filled by the whiskered star doing basically nothing except living up to the film’s title. Sure it’s pandering and the era-specific synthesizer music doesn’t help, but there’s a quaintness at play that saves these detours from harming the film. The cat is an important element in the movie and he serves as Nakadai’s companion when not out competing with a larger male for the affections of a female cat. The other male cat, called simply “Black,” provides by far the biggest laughs in a recurring bit about a weasel and his flatulence. There are few bigger crowd pleasers in an arthouse cinema than hearing Nakadai, with utmost seriousness, discuss “the fetid fart of the weasel” and its relation to the pride of this local cat community.

As the film winds down, we’re again left with that tragicomic malaise. Nakadai’s character has suffered a break-in that Ichikawa delicately plays for humor. The teacher even takes the cat to spend a night away from his quarrelsome wife. Problems also persist at work. Things just aren’t turning out well for him. Silently (unwillingly, you might say) supporting him through it all is the nameless cat. He’s taken up with the creature just when he feels let down and frustrated with everyone else. Things are necessarily changed for both by the ending, and I don’t want to spell it out here, but it’s unclear whether we should expect the Nakadai character to alter his languid musings or general grumpiness. Eccentric melancholy rules the day. For better or worse, we all have some fart of the weasel in us.

I.Am.A.Cat.1975.DVDRip.x264-KG.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 55 min
Size: 	1.76 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	716x464 ~> 858x464
Aspect ratio:  	1.85:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	1 982 kb/s
BPP: 	0.249
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/D1223F77C2D1FEA/I.Am.A.Cat.1975.DVDRip.x264-KG.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/B43FE75DD0BF8DB/I.Am.A.Cat.1975.DVDRip.x264-KG.en.srt

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English srt

The post Kon Ichikawa – Wagahai wa neko de aru AKA I Am A Cat (1975) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

yoko Itakura returns as the government tax agent willing to tackle the toughest cases. This time she takes on a fanatical but lucrative religious cult run by a vile lecher.

Juzo Itami - (1988) A Taxing Woman's Return.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	2 h 8 min
Size: 	2.06 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	768x576 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	2 112 kb/s
BPP: 	0.199
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/E88E483BE4475F5/Juzo_Itami_-_(1988)_A_Taxing_Woman’s_Return.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Jûzô Itami – Marusa no onna 2 AKA A Taxing Woman’s Return (1988) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
The tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle-shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe, this rapturous “ramen western” by Japanese director Juzo Itami is an entertaining, genre-bending adventure underpinned by a deft satire of the way social conventions distort the most natural of human urges—our appetites. Interspersing the efforts of Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) and friends to make her café a success with the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster and glimpses of food culture both high and low, the sweet, sexy, and surreal Tampopo is a lavishly inclusive paean to the sensual joys of nourishment, and one of the most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.

Juzo Itami - (1985) Tampopo.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 54 min
Size: 	4.16 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1024x552 
Aspect ratio:  	1.85:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	4 978 kb/s
BPP: 	0.367
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 1.0ch AAC @ 215 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/4F75B9A65D721DA/Juzo_Itami_-_(1985)_Tampopo.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Jûzô Itami – Tampopo (1985) first appeared on Cinema of the World.