Radical Japan/Nothing is Sacred - 2 OOP Radiance Box Sets - Mint/Sealed

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Radical Japan/Nothing is Sacred - 2 OOP Radiance Box Sets - Mint/Sealed

10 Movies/2 Books - 6 Feature Length Documentaries - Interviews and more - see below

€159 + postage - open to offers for individual

Radical Japan: Cinema and State

The start of an ongoing series, this first volume of Radical Japan explores the films of new wave icon Nagisa Oshima (Cruel Story of Youth, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence). One of the most vital, challenging and admired bodies of work in cinema history, this boxset presents Blu-ray premieres of Oshima’s finest features across seven discs.

In The Catch (1961), a village in World War II is shaken by the capture of a pilot; in Death by Hanging (1968), a failed execution throws the justice system into disarray; Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1969) strikingly captures Tokyo’s 1960s counter-culture; Boy (1969) is a vivid portrait of a family surviving through scams; The Man Who Left His Will on Film (1970), Oshima’s reaction to the protest movement; The Ceremony (1971), a meditation on how traditions oppress the young; and Dear Summer Sister (1972), which questions Japan’s colonial relation to Okinawa.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES

4K restorations of Death by Hanging, Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, Boy, The Man Who Left His Will on Film and The Ceremony
High-Definition digital transfers of The Catch and Dear Summer Sister (exclusive to this edition)
Uncompressed mono PCM audio for each film
Audio commentaries by Samm Deighan on Death by Hanging, Tony Rayns on Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, and select-scene commentary by Jasper Sharp on The Ceremony
Introductions and appreciations of the films by film historians and scholars Luk Van Haute, Jennifer Coates, Rie Tsukinaga, and filmmaker Yang Yong-hi (2025, 13, 19, 23 and 21 mins)
After the Tokyo War - a new visual essay by scholar Julian Ross on the complex network of influences on The Man Who Left His Will on Film (2025, 17 mins)
Archival interviews with Oshima (1986 & 1995, 4 and 7 mins)
Interviews with actors Tadanori Yokoo and Kazuo Goto (2025, 19 and 20 mins)
Interview with critic and author Junichi Konuma on composer Toru Takemitsu (2025, 22 mins)
Extensive interview with critic Tony Rayns on Oshima’s life and career (2025, 46 mins)
Yunbogi’s Diary - Oshima’s short film about street children in Seoul (1965, 25 mins)
100 Years of Japanese Cinema - Oshima's documentary celebrating the centenary of cinema (1995, 52 mins)
Japanese Cinema: New Territories - a documentary by Hubert Niogret on the Japanese cinema of rebellion and renewal, charting the emergence of independent filmmakers of the 1960s to the 1990s featuring interviews with Oshima, Kiju Yoshida, Shohei Imamura and others (2011, 52 mins)
Newly improved English subtitle translation for each film
Reversible sleeves featuring original and new artwork based on designs by distributor ATG’s magazines
Limited edition 160-page book featuring new writing by Rea Amit, Espen Bale, archival articles by Donald Richie and Alexander Jacoby, plus writing by and interviews with Oshima
Limited Edition of 5000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Nothing is Sacred

From 1946 to 1965, Luis Buñuel directed 21 films in Mexico, the country that became his naturalised home. Towards the end of this period, the great master of surrealism would meet two of his most important collaborators - the husband-and-wife duo of producer Gustavo Alatriste and actress Silvia Pinal - and together they would create three of his most provocative and enduring works: Viridiana (1961), The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Simon of the Desert (1965). Presented here in new restorations, all three films are frequently hailed as some of the greatest of all time. All of what makes Buñuel one of the greatest of directors can be found within them: the startling imagery, the uncompromising surrealism, the wicked humour, the unapologetic eroticism, and the overwhelming disdain for contemporary boundaries of good taste.

In Viridiana, Pinal stars as a former nun who, believing she has been defiled by a relative, abandons nunhood and attempts to repent and lead a morally pure existence by turning a mansion into a shelter for vagrants. Hugely controversial on release, this brilliant satire remains shocking today, and was voted the best Spanish film of all time by Spanish critics in 2016.

The Exterminating Angel is one of Buñuel's most extraordinary and enduring works: after a night at the opera, a group of bourgeois party guests realise that they are inexplicably unable to leave the dining room they are sequestered in, and quickly descend into savagery. An influential blend of horror, comedy, drama and social commentary, the film was named one of the 200 greatest of all time in the 2022 Sight and Sound Critics Poll.

Simon of the Desert is a typically outrageous and provocative commentary on organised religion: a parable of Simon, the would-be saint who lives an ascetic life at the top of a ten foot pillar, the film features a memorable turn from Pinal as the Devil, and an unforgettably bizarre ending.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES
New 4K restorations of Viridiana and Simon of the Desert from the original negatives

A new restoration of The Exterminating Angel from a 4K scan by Radiance Films

Uncompressed mono PCM audio for each film

Newly filmed appreciations for each film and Buñuel by filmmakers Richard Ayoade, Alex Cox, Guillermo del Toro, and Lulu Wang (2024, 55 mins)

The Life and Times of Don Luis Buñuel - A BBC Arena documentary on Buñuel featuring contributions from Buñuel and collaborators including Catherine Deneuve, presented on Blu-ray for the first time (1983, 101 mins)

A Mexican Buñuel - A documentary directed by Emilio Maillé on Buñuel’s Mexican period (1995, 56 mins)

Buñuel: A Surrealist Filmmaker - A feature-length documentary directed by Javier Espada on Buñuel’s life and career, presented on Blu-ray for the first time (2021, 84 mins)

An interview with Buñuel from 1964 recorded for French TV’s Cinéastes de notre temps (1964, 48 mins)

The Other Trinity: Alatriste, Buñuel and Pinal - A visual essay on Buñuel in Mexico by Abraham Castillo Flores (2024, 34 mins)

Dinner and Other Rituals - A visual essay on The Exterminating Angel and the dinner party on film by critic and writer Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (2024, 17 mins)

Audio commentary on Viridiana by critic Michael Brooke (2024)

Galleries including production and behind-the-scenes images

Optional English subtitles for each film

Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sister Hyde

Limited edition 80-page book featuring new writing by Glenn Kenny, Justine Smith, Lindsay Hallam and David Hering, as well as archive material

Limited edition of 6000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings