. . . according to the Criterion site, in January we will see new DVDs of Seijun Suzuki's YOUTH OF THE BEAST and FIGHTING ELEGY, as well as Akira Kurosawa's KAGEMUSHA (must be part of their deal with 20th Century Fox) . . . I have not seen the two Suzuki films, but the Kurosawa is, in my opinion, a fine film from near the end of a very long career that opened my eyes to the world of films made in Asia; this will be a very nice way to start the new year . . .

Home Vision Entertainment released both of the Suzuki films on VHS about six or seven years ago.

YOUTH OF THE BEAST aka BEAST OF YOUTH is similar to his work in TOKYO DRIFTER and BRANDED TO KILL, while FIGHTING ELEGY is a very good political film.

I highly recommend both.

Great news...but why isn't anyone putting out Suzuki's "Taisho Trilogy" ZIGEUNERWEISEN, KAGERO-ZA, and YUMEJI on English-friendly DVD? :(

. . . you are correct, Michael, I dug around in my old tape collection (gathering dust) and discovered I had both of these - I remember loving YOUTH OF THE BEAST (after looking at the cover - you might not be able to tell a book by its cover, but a film is another matter); horror upon horror, I think I filed FIGHTING ELEGY away, never watched it, and lost it in the stack . . . well, I suppose I will continue not watching it as I await the anamorphic DVD and pass it on to the library (the new home of my old tapes as I find them), or to some technologically challenged friend . . .

Having only seen YUMEJI, I don't think that one would make any money since it's pretty nonsensical even for Suzuki and has no "action". Maybe the could market it as: "The movie that brought you the soundtrack to IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE! (In giant letters of course)".

:) John