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Nov
20
2007

Japanese ‘Sukiyaki Western Django’ DVD Released February 6th 2008.

Posted by logboy at 1:43am.

Posted in DVD News , Thriller, Cult, Drama, Action, Western, Asia.

Those who pick up film magazines in England might have spotted the full-page mention for Miike’s ’Sukiyaki Western Django‘ which states due 2008 for a western release.

Few things generally conspire against them though, one is the already mentioned likelihood that all territories outside of Japan will have a slimmed-down version of the film - it’s said to be losing 25 minutes for international distribution, american distribution at least, post-festival screenings at which it was criticized for being a wee bit too long. The Japanese DVD Specification released so far state the Japanese DVD will see the original 121 minute cut of the film, and not a rejig.

Remember, considering all you options in taking in contemporary or classic films from other countries, for those outside the bubble of the american market - the one which gives the illusion of ”all you need” rather than ”all you might want” - you’ll likely now have your eye on this disc as the better version, all other aspects completely out the window if your eye is on the film. More importantly, the idea that it’s hard to have faith in what you might get beyond the domestic borders for a film, particularly with regards how far-reaching any USA distribution might actually be, but also when you’ll actually get it as 2008 is a full 12 months or so in length, and America is not going to prioritize this, Tarantino or not, because it’s not domestic product and it’s not part of their wider picture.

You may see two alternative packages with additional discs for Japan ultimately getting listed when pre-orders appear in more places - I’m seeing only what appears to be the more special one mentioned right now (Product Code is GNBD-1430 for the Special Edition; GNBD-1429 for the Standard Edition, both seem to have English and Japanese Dubs, but only Japanese Subtitles) - and this one certainly comes with a making-of, mini feature on special effects, footage from VIFF and TIFF screenings. And yes, a first of all firsts! Japanese Subtitles!!!

Miike at Venice Coverage & Sukiyaki Western Review by Tom Mes.

MidnightEye contributor Jason Gray’s Review at his Blogspot Is also worth a nose.

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Reader Comments

  1. Ard Vijn 11/20/2007 @ 2:02am

    Cool, Japanese subs! cheese

    Hope they don’t assume we can understand the kind of English spoken in this film, and add English subs as well…

  2. Kurt Halfyard 11/20/2007 @ 6:16am

    Contrary to what you might think, the English is good enough to watch the film without subtitles.  I stopped reading them about 1/3 of the way into the film.

  3. crazybee 11/20/2007 @ 11:03am

    Considering I just bought the Premium Edition of Miike’s Ryu ga Gotoku, which doesn’t have English subs, I think it’s a safe bet that I’m incredibly excited for this one.

    I just hope there’s a possibility of a Bluray hitting Japan on the same day.  It was released by Sony after all, and they’d be missing an opportunity.  I can only dream of Miike’s surreal imagery in 1080P, and that stunning score in PCM uncompressed audio.

  4. ChevalierAguila 11/20/2007 @ 11:36am

    So, who was the genius who decided to cut the film for international audiences? Just curious.

  5. logboy 11/20/2007 @ 12:02pm

    i can’t remember who decided upon the cut, but let’s not jump to the automatic opinion it was a distributor (even though it’s most likely) rather than miike making that decision himself.... i suppose, if you want, you can try searching the variety asian news archives for the full story.

    as for the other miike films on dvd in japan, i noticed it’s almost a full year since ‘sun scarred’ hit dvd there, and still no companies are forthcoming in saying they’re putting a subbed release out - waru, ryu ga gotoku, and any others i’ve missed also. i would plump for a BR or ‘sukiyaki western django’ from japan quite happily, as i’ve a USA PS3 i can play these things on.

  6. Caterpillar 11/20/2007 @ 2:25pm

    Japanese subs are nothing new or special. Kitano’s BROTHER had them too, for example.

  7. Rhythm-X 11/20/2007 @ 3:56pm

    I’ll see it and attempt to have an open mind about it, but I think releasing this in sync-sound English totally kills the mood.  It should have been dubbed in English in Italy… y’know, like a Spaghetti Western.  There weren’t very many Spaghetti Westerns that used sync-sound, I can only think of one or two offhand, out of hundreds.  I really hope that it doesn’t come out here in the States sounding like it does in the trailer.  Send it to Rome and get it dubbed.

  8. crazybee 11/20/2007 @ 6:15pm

    Rhythm-X, I thought it would have been an awesome idea for them to do two versions.  One, as it is now, and the other as you stated - dubbed like the classic Spaghetti Westerns.

    Maybe we’ll see something like that done on the eventual US release?

    Either way, it’ll be nice to own the original version regardless.

  9. Peter K. 11/20/2007 @ 10:00pm

    I consider the phonetic English as another example of cultural appropriation the film is exploring, while creating the Spaghetti Western feel. The fact that many of the actors have no clue what they are saying encourages more consideration of Miike’s discourse on the trans-nationalization of a national genre.

    Still, a post-sync dub would still be cool for the camp value.

  10. logboy 11/21/2007 @ 2:05am

    of course, caterpillar, japanese subs aren’t anything new per se at all, but they’re certainly a refreshing site on this film - shot in english as it is - because it will be the first time i’ve seen where a japanese film, in it’s original form (i.e without switching to the japanese dub track) will have to be watched by the japanese audience with subs in order that they understand it. complicated, but i suspect there’s some irony to it. and although the delay in any announcement for many of miike’s recent projects getting subbed releases has me eyeing-up japanese ubsubbed discs, this ‘sukiyaki western django’ disc is likely my first japanese miike dvd. cool.

  11. Kurt Halfyard 11/21/2007 @ 6:06am

    “consider the phonetic English as another example of cultural appropriation the film is exploring, while creating the Spaghetti Western feel.”

    Hey Peter, I know we had this conversation at while in line at TIFF this year, and it is an interesting point, are you a fan of Jim Jarmush?  This (cultural appropriation) seems to be one of his main motifs as well, particularly in Ghost Dog.

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