Show notes
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 episode, David and Trevor discuss Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System, four films (three early, one mid-career) that help provide a well-rounded understanding of one of Japan’s greatest directors and cultural iconoclasts.About the films:One of the most important filmmakers to emerge from Japan’s cinematic golden age, Masaki Kobayashi is remembered in great part today for his three-part epic The Human Condition (1959–61), but that is just one of the blistering films he made in a career dedicated to criticizing his country’s rigid social and political orders. He first found his voice—rebellious, angry, engaged—in the fifties, following his life-altering experiences as a soldier in World War II; the four films collected here, made during the same period as The Human Condition, reflect Kobayashi’s coming into his own as an artist. He fought to get these powerful dramas made at a studio more oriented at the time toward quiet family melodramas, and they are unforgettable depictions of a postwar Japan troubled by identity crises and moral corruption on scales both intimate and institutional.Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes.Timeline for the podcast:Introduction/Background (The Thick Walled Room (I Will Buy You (Black River (The Inheritance (Conclusion (Buy The Box Set On Amazon:Episode Links:Director Overview:Biography of Masaki Kobayashi on Answers.comKobayashi obituary (1996) in The Independent by James KirkupExplore Kobayashi on the Criterion Collection websiteKobayashi page on Strictly Film School by AcquarelloBox Set Reviews: David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series reviewSlant Magazine review by Jordan CronkPopMatters review by Michael BueningCageyFilms review by Kenneth George GodwinDVD Savant review by Glenn EricksonLos Angeles Times review by Dennis LimThe Thick Walled Room:Criterion Confessions review by Jamie S. RichJ!-Ent Online review by Dennis AmithMondo 70 review by Samuel WilsonI Will Buy You:Criterion Confessions review by Jamie S. RichCinema Talk review by Jake SavageFilm|Captures screenshotsBlack River:Criterion Confessions review by Jamie S. RichSenses of Cinema review by Adam BroinowskiRomancing the Screen review by Sean HespellSilver Streak Media review by Hunter SheafferJapan Cinema review by DeckThe InheritanceCriterion Confessions review by Jamie S. RichMaksquibs Cinematheque review by MAKNippon-Kino review by Nippon-Kino (in German)Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 30: Sabu! Contact us:TwitterEmail: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.comDavid Blakeslee ( Twitter / Website )Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )