Elegant Beast Blu-Ray

In their simple two-room apartment, the Maeda family always seems so self-effacing—but their modest facade hides another truth. Their daughter Tomoko is the mistress of a wealthy author with deep pockets. Their son Minoru embezzles money together with his lover Yukie (Ayako Wakao, Red Angel), who has her own hidden agenda. And father Tokizo (Yunosuke Ito, Ikiru, Lone Wolf and Cub) is a former soldier who swears that he will never return to the poverty he experienced during the war, no matter what the cost. One by one, those affected by Maeda's plans show up on their doorstep. But these visitors all have their own double-sided agendas. With each knock on the door, the game reaches a whole new level. Elegant Beast is a film adaptation by Kaneto Shindo (Onibaba, Naked Island) from his own play. Director Yuzo Kawashima, mentor to Shohei Imamura and a major influence on the Japanese New Wave, uses magnificent widescreen in an apartment to deliver a violent satire on Japan's post-war economic miracle.

BONUS MATERIAL

New 4K restoration

Uncompressed mono PCM audio

Interview with film critic Toshiaki Sato (2023)

Appreciation by filmmaker Toshiaki Toyoda (2023)

Visual essay by critic Tom Mes on postwar architecture in Japanese cinema (2023)

Trailer for the film

New and improved English subtitles