18 Years In Prison Limited Edition Blu-Ray

Kawada (Noboru Ando, By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him) and Tsukada (Asao Koike, Sympathy the Underdog) try to survive in the ruins of post-war Japan and end up in conflict with the military police after stealing valuable copper wire. Kawada is arrested and sent to prison, but Tsukada uses his winnings to start a yakuza gang. Kawada faces violent inmates and a cruel prison warden (Tomisaburo Wakayama, Big Time Gambling Boss) and vows to escape and stop his former partner. Tai Kato directs this epic prison story with a distinctive visual sensibility, while gangster Ando gives a fantastic performance charged with the gravity of reality. As an exploration of the deep scars left by the war, this genre classic is also a clear precursor to Kinji Fukasaku's epoch-making Battles Without Honour and Humanity series.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY WITH SPECIAL FEATURES

High-definition digital transfer

Uncompressed mono PCM audio

An appreciation by critic and programmer Tony Rayns (2024)

A visual essay on Japanese prison films by writer Tom Mes (2024)

Original trailer

Newly translated English subtitles

Reversible cover with original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow

Limited edition booklet with newly written text by Ivo Smits and an archival interview with Noboru Ando by Mark Schilling