This is largely a bit of house-keeping on this post.
I see that relatively recently Criterion added two more Mizoguchi films to their collection: A Story from Chikamatsu and The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum. I was definitely debating ordering these, but then I dug around and saw that it does appear these came out years and years ago on Artificial Eye. I basically own everything Artificial Eye put out from Mizoguchi including a box set of 4 films. What is interesting is that 3 of the 4 films from Criterion's Mizoguchi's Fallen Women box set are covered by Artificial Eye, but not Women of the Night. As tempting as it is, there is just too much overlap (to order that set as well). I must have borrowed Women of the Night from the library, and indeed it is still available, so I probably should just borrow it again before I begin any march through Mizoguchi. I may see if I can borrow the recent Criterion titles just to see if the extras are interesting.
It does not appear that Naruse is any better served by Criterion or even Artificial Eye/Eureka/BFI than he was 10 years ago. Criterion still only has the Silent Naruse box, which I did watch, and When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, which I have not.
However, there does seem to be some slight improvement for Ozu. On Criterion, in 2016 they released The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice and paired it with What Did the Lady Forget? This is convenient, as BFI pairs it with Early Summer, which I already have from Criterion. A few years back, I would have leapt at the chance to get this release. Now I would like it, but I will poke around and see if it happens to be at BMV or if I can find a used copy elsewhere. In the meantime, it is available at the library. In terms of what BFI have been up to, they have a blu-ray set that combines Record of a Tenement Gentlemen, A Hen in the Wind and Dragnet Girl. Unfortunately, I already have Dragnet Girl on the BFI Gangster set. Still, I decided to go ahead and buy this. (What would have made this an almost perfect set is if they included The Munekata Sisters in the place of Dragnet Girl. As far as I can tell, The Munekata Sisters doesn't exist on any physical media and you have to watch it online through the Criterion Channel or Kanopy, which is a total drag.) I was sorely temped by another blu-ray with significant upgrades to I Was Born But and There was a Father. However, I have the Criterion box set, and I have never gotten around to watching this, so paying for an upgrade, however justified, is just not on the cards right now.
I remember back in the day, I ended up getting 3 Imamura sets from Eureka. I pondered but ultimately passed on Profound Desires of the Gods and The Ballad of Narayama. Of course, which are the ones that are now OOP and very pricey... Nonetheless, I suspect these are movies I would watch once and never again.
I don't remember borrowing this - Eclipse Series 21: Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties - from the library back in the day, though I likely did. It looks like Robarts has a copy.
In terms of somewhat obscure movies that I did order back in the day (back when the exchange rate wasn't so terrible and shipping wasn't extortionate...), I have Ichikawa's The Makioka Sisters and Kawashima's Bakumatsu Taiyô-Den and need to get around to watching both. (It sounds like the second one should be paired with Mizoguchi's Street of Shame.) Bakumatsu Taiyô-Den is now completely unavailable, so I guess in this case, I picked a good one to pick up.
I'm going to end with a Chinese director. I finally got around to seeing Edward Yang's Yi Yi in the theatre. It was good though a bit exhausting by the end. It looks like there is a 2 disc set of his out from Criterion with the films A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong. This certainly looks pretty interesting, though I am not sure I would watch the films more than once.
It doesn't appear that either TPL or Robarts has this set. I might be able to at least suggest that Robarts pick up a copy. What makes it worse is that this is only coming out on blu-ray! Anyway, I don't often go into the video area of BMV, but I will keep an eye out for this and a couple of other things, like Ozu's Green Tea Over Rice and maybe Howl's Moving Castle, when I am there again.
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