Kaneto Shindô breakthrough film The Naked Island comes to Blu-ray this June

Another week, another announcement from Eureka Entertainment for a Masters of Cinema release, this time just a Blu-ray title as the DVD has been out for a while.

We are big fans of Japanese cinema here, so the chance to get our hands on Kaneto Shindô's breakthrough film The Naked Island (aka Hadaka no shima) is a bit exciting. His other works include Onibaba and Kuroneko.

Arriving on 17th June, this comes with a newly restored 1080p transfer in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio, Japanese language track and optional English subtitles.

Extras will include a feature length commentary with the director Kaneto (yes you read that right) and composer Hikaru Hayashi. A video introduction by Alex Cox, and 24 page booklet with an essay by Acquarello, and reprinted interview by Joan Mellen.

The recommended retail price will be £19.99.

Synopsis and film clip follow...

Filmed on the virtually deserted Setonaikai archipelago in south-west Japan, this was made, in the words of its director, "as a 'cinematic poem' to try and capture the life of human beings struggling like ants against the forces of nature".

Kaneto made the film with his own production company, Kindaï Eiga Kyôkai, who were facing financial ruin at the time. Using one-tenth of the average budget, Shindô took one last impassioned risk to make this film. With his small crew, they relocated to an inn on the island of Mihari where, for two months in early 1960, they would make what they considered to be their last film.

This tells the story of a small family unit and their subsistence as the only inhabitants of an arid, sun-baked island. Daily chores, captured as a series of cyclical events, result in a hypnotising, moving, and beautiful film harkening back to the silent era.

With hardly any dialogue, Shindô combines the stark 'Scope cinematography of Kiyoshi Kuroda with the memorable score of his constant collaborator Hikaru Hayashi, to make a unique cinematic document.