{"id":49693,"date":"2026-09-06T20:24:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T20:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=49693"},"modified":"2026-09-09T20:28:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T20:28:27","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-ten-women-in-black-1961","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=49693","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: TEN WOMEN IN BLACK (1961)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

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Last week, Radiance Films released a number of titles with a similar theme. They dealt with infidelity in relationships, and the danger that can occur when a man finds himself on more than he bargained for. The Magnificent Cuckold<\/em> from Italy was one of those pictures, as was The Hot Spot<\/em>, a steamy American neo-noir directed by Dennis Hopper. In addition, film enthusiasts can now make it a trilogy with the Japanese production, Ten Women in Black<\/em> aka Ten Dark Women<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This tale is a low-key black comedy and more subtle than the other pictures listed above, but no less impressive. In addition to an excellent transfer, the disc also contains a few lengthy bonus features that will impress fans of the films and those wanting to learn a little more about the movie\u2019s director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who haven\u2019t seen it, the plot follows the wife and mistresses of television executive Matsuyoshi Kaze (Eiji Funakoshi). The film begins with spouse Futaba Kaze (Fujiko Yamamoto) meeting with the nine mistresses, all of whom are frustrated and willing to take extreme measures to end Futaba\u2019s philandering ways. Through flashbacks, we see how the executive has managed to romance and manipulate them all. In fact, he appears to have a girlfriend in every department of the studio, acting cool while using the hectic environment, and nervous and inexperienced women, to his own ends.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He subtly tells whomever he\u2019s with that he is too busy with his job and that, while he could leave his wife, he simply isn’t the right material for a lasting relationship. Naturally, Futaba is manipulating them all, dangling hope for a lasting relationship, while never committing to anything. He doesn;t come across as a moustache-twirling villain, but is a bad guy, and unrepentant for his behavior. Early on, one can see that the situation makes the women snippy and competitive with one another. His wife is so annoyed that she would welcome a divorce, but knows he won\u2019t leave. Instead, she focuses on work, and even blames mistress number one for not being able to keep his eye from wandering further. The other ladies fight each other for scraps of his time. But soon, they all begin to realize that Futaba is the guilty party ultimately responsible for their misery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group gets together and plots to murder him. It leads to plenty of funny moments in which the ladies argue about how it might go and which method to use> But their decision leads to complications. One still hopes that she can convince the executive to finally leave his wife for her, and even tells him about the plot in order to earn his trust. But, it doesn\u2019t go according to plan. And suddenly, Futaba begins using his charm to get one individual to stage his own slaying in order to escape actually being killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It all plays out in a fascinating way, with a few characters questioning their decisions, leading to a tragedy. What occurs makes the group members focus and realize that they do have power over Futaba. The solution they ultimately come up with to get revenge and make an example of him is clever and serves as an effective finale, with Futaba ultimately left at the mercy of those he was previously taking advantage of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As noted, this is a low-key effort, but it does a great job of dealing with power dynamics in relationships, as well as the psychology of the cheater and the women vying for his attention. Despite there being ten females, all the ladies are distinctive. The conversations are also amusing, and were likely incredibly frank for the day, dealing with the film\u2019s subject in an honest way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On a technical level, the black and white widescreen photography is absolutely phenomenal, with some incredible images of the cast. In some respects, it\u2019s shot like a traditional melodrama, but there is a sharp satirical edge to the material, along with darker subject matter that serve as an interesting contrast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image comes from a 4K restoration provided by Kadokawa Pictures. It looks great, with shadowy scenes sporting inky blacks, while brighter moments look crisp and sharp. There are plenty of interesting angles (with the camera very low to the ground during one moment at a beach) and it all looks wonderfully presented. This is a fantastic-looking disc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As for extras, the big one is a feature-length documentary on director, Kon Ichikawa, telling his life story, his own marriage, and the many films he directed like The Burmese Harp<\/em>, An Actor\u2019s Revenge<\/em>, the award-winning documentary Tokyo Olympiad<\/em>, and The Ingumi Family<\/em> among many others. It is informative, but very artfully produced, meaning that there are long, flowery sections from Ichikawa and his wife describing their lives. At times, it feels more dramatized than the real experience it might have actually been. It\u2019s well-produced and you will learn interesting details watching it, but in truth, the facts about the man could probably be efficiently delivered in less than half the running time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there is an enlightening interview with the man who helped revitalize interest and attention on the film in the 1990s. He discusses his thoughts on the feature, focusing on some of the interesting ways the movie is photographed. The speaker talks about  meeting Kon Ichikawa and discusses the director\u2019s career. Viewers also learn how this interview subject helped audiences around the world rediscover the movie many years after its initial release. This actually might be the best and most compelling extra on the disc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A trailer for the movie is also included. The box sleeve contains reversible artwork based on original posters, and there\u2019s a booklet with an analysis of the movie and its significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten Women in Black<\/em> is a phenomenal satire of relationships and power dynamics between husbands, wives, and mistresses in the early 1960s, doing so in a clever manner that manages to entertain while making one think about the trials that women go through in relationships. As with their other titles, Radiance Films has done an excellent job bringing the movie to Blu-ray, with an incredible picture and notable extras.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is now available for purchase. Last week, Radiance Films released a number of titles with a similar theme. They dealt with infidelity in relationships, and the danger that can occur when a man finds himself on more than he bargained for. The Magnificent Cuckold from Italy was one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[90,2933,2939,10385,16584,24865,24864,24866,24863,24862],"class_list":["post-49693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-90","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-japan","tag-radiance-films","tag-ten-dark-women","tag-ten-women-in-black","tag-ten-women-in-black-blu-ray-review","tag-ten-women-in-black-film-review","tag-ten-women-in-black-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\/49693","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49700,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49693\/revisions\/49700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}