Two Faces Of Tai Kato (BLU-RAY)

Double feature of Japanese master Tai Kato's BY A MAN'S FACE SHALL YOU KNOW HIM and I, THE EXECUTIONER, released for the first time ever in HD in North America. BY A MAN'S FACE SHALL YOU KNOW HIM: WWII veteran Dr. Amamiya (played by real life former yakuza Noboru Ando) runs a clinic in a downtrodden Japanese neighborhood. When an accident victim brought to him for treatment turns out to be his ethically Korean war buddy he recalls the criminal strife that practically ripped their town apart and changed their lives forever just some years earlier right after the war. Flashbacks reveal the brash and contentious Korean gang that tried to take over the local market and turn it into a red light district. While fueled by innate prejudice from the native Japanese residents, the hoodlums’ ruthless methods lead to unspeakably treacherous acts. As both sides’ anger escalates to the brink, Dr. Amamiya takes things in his own hands to try and control this untenable conflict. Director Tai Kato’s groundbreaking feature takes on controversial sociopolitical issues with his distinct cinematic aesthetic in a seamless blend of melodrama and action that is exemplary of his “superb craftsmanship and personal style” (Los Angeles Times). I, THE EXECUTIONER: As the police investigate a sudden rash of brutal murders whose victims are all women the unscrupulous killer’s murky motivations remain hauntingly elusive. A labyrinthine character study slowly unfolds implying that the targets of these unspeakable acts may be culpable in their own shocking demise. Although director Tai Kato worked within the studio system mostly on genre films, his distinctly bold and somber style proved him a maverick auteur, with I, the Executioner one of his most incendiary masterpieces. Kato matches the film’s bleak narrative themes to its innovative aesthetics, “with blown out negatives, extreme close-ups, and deep focus mixed with his characteristic low angle composition to add to the sense of noirish dread which paints the modern city as an inescapable hellscape” (Haley Scanlon - Windows on Worlds).