Posted on: September 9, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The Eclipse series of releases by the Criterion Collection allows viewers to purchase at a low price significant parts of directors’ libraries. This provides buyers with a look into the works of someone that they would not normally have watched, and the company provides viewers with an additional amount of featurettes on many of these releases to sweeten the deal.

The 28th release in the Eclipse Series, the Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara, may just be the strongest in this set. This five-DVD set contains 5 movies (Intimidation, The Warped Ones, I Hate But Love, Black Sun, and Thirst For Love), which comprise a great portion of Kurahara’s film. The collection starts out with 1960’s Intimidation, a film that breaks down conceptions of current criminals and the interaction between the hassled and the hasslers. From there, the black and white films continue with The Warped Ones, also from 1960. Where individuals felt that later generations would be considered “lost”, Kurahara’s look into an entire class of Japanese citizens showcases the ennui and boredom leading in to the sixties. 1962’s I Hate But Love is the only film in color, and focuses on an all-encompassing desire by the lead to bring a truck into a far-off village.

1964’s Black Sun and 1967’s Thirst For Love represent the last two releases in the Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara, and seem to be me to be Kurahara trying eir hand in two diametrically opposed genres of film. Never apologetic and never falling into the norms that society contains, Koreyoshi Kurahara created some amazing films during eir career. Kudos has to go to the Criterion Collection for capturing these pictures and providing them for a wider audience to enjoy.

Rating: 9.2/10

Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara (DVD Set) / 2011 Criterion / 446 Minutes / http://www.criterion.com

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