{"id":30374,"date":"2024-12-24T21:32:39","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T05:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=30374"},"modified":"2024-12-24T21:32:39","modified_gmt":"2024-12-25T05:32:39","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-yokohama-bj-blues-1981","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=30374","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: YOKOHAMA BJ BLUES (1981)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is\ncurrently available for purchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As the year comes to an end, I\u2019ve realized that it has been\na great privilege catching up with amazing international fare thanks to various\nboutique Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD distributors. It truly has been an education\nand one of the great companies out there is Radiance Films. Once again, they\nhave recently released another notable cult title on Blu-ray that has been hard\nto get in this part of the world.  As with all of their discs, they have\ndone their best to give viewers the best transfer possible, as well as include\ninteresting bonus material that sets up the importance of each movie and why it\nis so beloved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yokohama BJ Blues<\/em> is a Japanese film that falls into\nthis category. It\u2019s an eccentric and odd yet fascinating movie set in a gritty\narea outside Tokyo, Japan (at least, it was a grimy place back in the day). The\nmovie is notable for its unusual mix of detective movie elements and music.\nWhile the central mystery does keep the plot moving, this story relies more on\natmosphere, as well as its charismatic leading man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BJ (Yusaku Matsuda) is a nightclub blues singer struggling\nto make ends meet. In fact, in between gigs he works as a private investigator.\nEarly on, a mother asks him to find her grown son, who disappeared after moving\nto the area. BJ very quickly finds the figure working for an underworld boss\nand is told that the recruit is not interested in returning to a normal life.\nNot long after, a police investigator friend announces that he is going to quit\nthe force. In the middle of a discussion with the lead, the man is\nassassinated. BJ is determined to find out who killed his buddy and why. Of\ncourse, he is considered the main murder suspect by the police. The trail leads\nhim through the music world and criminal underground. As events progress, the\nlead also discovers that there may be a loose connection between his two cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As mentioned, this is really all about mood rather than the\nmotivations of the criminal acts. The Yokohama backdrop is visually\ninteresting, as are the breaks into clubs and performances by the lead (which\nsometimes tie into the mood and feeling of the tale being told). As you might\nexpect, Matsuda is a charismatic lead and it’s entertaining to see the\ndowntrodden figure traverse this unique environment. He also has a good voice\nand appears to be actually performing the songs in the film. There are impressive\nshots of the region and amusingly odd exchanges between the characters. It\u2019ll\nalso make you think twice before visiting an eye care specialist. And while\nthis is a low-key effort that doesn\u2019t always try to excite or thrill,\neverything is ultimately made clear and the final chase and showdown in the\nChinatown district is memorable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another interesting element is that this early 80s picture\ndoes feature a lot of gay characters. The main gangster makes no apologies for\nhaving relationships with and lusting after some of his employees, including\nthe young figure whom BJ is initially out to find. The lead\u2019s brotherly\naffection for the young character is interesting to see as well as his concern\nfor their safety. Overall, this is an effective thriller with enough unique\nelements to make it stand apart from many of its contemporaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The image quality here is, admittedly, not reference\nmaterial, but it\u2019s still as good as this film is going to look. There is a fair\namount of grain present, but that is simply because so much of the film is shot\non the streets at night and in many cases lit with what appears to be a lot of\nnatural sources. Sure, there is more lighting than just what\u2019s present on the\nstreets, but the intent here is to capture an authentic and gritty look for the\narea, and the film accomplishes this easily. The image is representative of the\nintent of the filmmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several interesting bonuses that help give context to the picture, how it came about, and what it was trying to accomplish. There is a lengthy discussion with the screenwriter on the project. He recalls working on the TV series The Detective Story<\/em> that made Yusaku Matsuda a star and befriending him. It seems that just about every studio wanted to make a picture with the extremely popular actor and thus, he had the power to dictate what kind of movie he wanted to appear in. The two talked about various films they liked, and both were impressed by the Robert Altman picture The Long Goodbye<\/em> and the main detective characters from that title. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When it came time to put pen to paper, they incorporated some elements and also put their own spin on the story. He and Matsuda remained friends and worked together on several projects, but the writer thinks that Yokohama BJ Blues<\/em> was their most effective collaboration. The writer isn\u2019t sure about the gay subtext in the film, but that could easily have been an addition made by the director.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-star Mari Hemmi is also interviewed for the disc. She\nplays the widow of the police officer who is murdered, and talks about being\ncast, as well as her association with the music industry. The performer\nremembers that, upon first meeting star Matsuda, she was a bit intimidated and\nfound him distant. Just after, they crossed paths at the hotel. She had found a\nscarf he left behind and he was very sweet and appreciative of it being\nreturned. This suggested to her that he was already in character at the meeting\nand that the front was a bit of a fa\u00e7ade. The actress notes that they got along\nwell and that he was nice to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also a fun location tour with a Yokohama expert who\nvisits the film\u2019s famous sites and notes how they have changed. While some\nspots can still be easily recognized, it is clear that the area has become more\nupscale and fashionable since the early 80s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This disc also includes a trailer. You\u2019ll also get a booklet\nwith lots of writing on the film by a Toei Studios expert and an archival\nreview of the movie. It all comes together nicely and makes for an intriguing\npresentation and informative background information on a movie I had little\nknowledge about prior to this release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matsuda would have a long career before his untimely passing\nat the age of 40 due to cancer. He appeared in well-regarded Japanese films\nlike The Family Game<\/em> and made a big impression with western audiences in\none of his last roles in the 1989 Ridley Scott feature Black Rain<\/em>. Yokohama\nBJ Blues<\/em> offers viewers in this part of the world an opportunity to check\nout the actor in an early and impressive leading role. It\u2019s a disc worth\npicking up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is currently available for purchase. As the year comes to an end, I\u2019ve realized that it has been a great privilege catching up with amazing international fare thanks to various boutique Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD distributors. It truly has been an education and one of the great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":30377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[113,2939,10385,16584,24617,24618,24619],"class_list":["post-30374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-113","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-japan","tag-radiance-films","tag-yokohama-bj-blues","tag-yokohama-bj-blues-blu-ray-review","tag-yokohama-bj-blues-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}