Tadashi Imai’s Cruel Tale Of Bushido Getting 4K Upgrade

Eureka Entertainment are once making sure fans of Japanese cinema will have another great year to look forward to. In March they will release Tadashi Imai‘s award winning Cruel Tale Of Bushido. The ambitious, multi-generational epic presented from a breathtaking 4K restoration by Toei. Making its  Blu-ray debut as part of the Masters of Cinema Series.

Best known for dramas such as Until We Meet Again and An Inlet of Muddy Water, the Japanese filmmaker Tadashi Imai was also the director of Revenge, a highly accomplished and brutal jidaigeki picture. These two sensibilities come together in the film that might just stand as Imai’s masterpiece: Cruel Tale of Bushido.

Kinnosuke Nakamura (Miyamoto Musashi) stars in multiple roles, playing seven generations of men belonging to the same family. In the modern day, salaryman Iikura is devastated by his wife’s attempted suicide. To distract himself, he begins working through his recently discovered family records. As he traces his personal history across 350 years, he discovers tale after tale of men who have suffered, debased themselves and made untold sacrifices in the name of bushido, or the moral code of the samurai.

Featuring Eijiro Tono (Seven Samurai) and Masayuki Mori (Rashomon) in supporting roles and boasting a foreboding score by the celebrated composer Toshiro Mayuzumi, Cruel Tale of Bushido won the Golden Bear Award at the 1963 Berlin Film Festival for its uncompromising deconstruction of the all-too-often romanticised concept of bushido.

Check out the film’s official Trailer…

“A downbeat, ruthless, and sobering film…a fantastically brutal jidaigeki that still manages to shock today. Essential viewing…” – Asian Movie Pulse

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
Limited edition of 2,000 copies | Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Tony Stella | Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Japanese cinema expert Hayley Scanlon | 1080p HD presentation from a 4K restoration by Toei | Original Japanese mono audio | Optional DTS-HD MA 5,1 audio | Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release | Telling a Cruel Tale – new interview with film critic Tony Rayns | Years of Honour – new video essay on Cruel Tale of Bushido and Japanese history by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of Japan | Trailer | * All extras subject to change

1963 | JAPAN | 122 mins | SAMURAI/HISTORICAL DRAMA  | 2.35:1 OAR | Language JAPANESE 

Cruel Tale Of Bushido will be released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on 23rd March (UK), 24th March (North America)[order now].