The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 52 – Nikkatsu Noir [Part 1]

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:44:25 — 96.1MB)

This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this first episode of a two-part series, David and Trevor are joined by Pablo Knote to discuss three films (I am Waiting, Rusty Knife and Take Aim at the Police Van) from Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir.

About the films:

From the late 1950s through the sixties, wild, idiosyncratic crime movies were the brutal and boisterous business of Nikkatsu, the oldest film studio in Japan. In an effort to attract youthful audiences growing increasingly accustomed to American and French big-screen imports, Nikkatsu began producing action potboilers (mukokuseki akushun, or “borderless action”) that incorporated elements of the western, comedy, gangster, and teen-rebel genres. This bruised and bloody collection represents a standout cross section of what Nikkatsu had to offer, from such prominent, stylistically daring directors as Seijun Suzuki, Toshio Masuda, and Takashi Nomura.

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Episode Links

Nikkatsu Studio

• Official Site / “About Us”
• A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Noir

Box Set Reviews

• AV Club
• Cineaste
• Deep Focus
• DVD Savant
• DVD Talk
• PopDose
• PopMatters
• Seanax
• Slant

I am Waiting

• David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
• Criterion Confessions
• Edinburgh Film Guild
• J-Film PowWow
• Japanese Culture Reflections
• Mondo 70
• Screen Anarchy
• Streamline (FilmStruck)

Rusty Knife

• David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
• CineSlice
• Criterion Confessions
• J-Film PowWow
• Japanese Culture Reflections
• Mondo 70
• Screen Anarchy
• Unseen Films

Take Aim at the Police Van

• David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
• Criterion Confessions
• Infini-Tropolis
• J-Film PowWow
• Mondo 70
• Movies in the City
• Screen Anarchy
• VCinema

Pablo’s Must-Read Recommendations

• No Borders, No Limits by Mark Schilling
• The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films by Mark Schilling
• Gun And Sword: An Encyclopedia of Japanese Gangster Films by Chris D.

Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 17: Nikkatsu Noir [Part 2] 

Contact us

• Twitter
• Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com
• David Blakeslee ( Twitter / Website )
• Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )
• Pablo Knote ( Introducing Pablo [mini-bio] / Eastern Kicks  / Nippon-Kino [German] / World Cinema Paradise / Taste of Cinema )