Rarely am I devoting column space (whatever that means in virtual realms) to individual home-video releases––at least if they’re not likely to receive a complementary theatrical run. But I’m unusually elated seeing a favorite discovery get the upgrade most would rightly bet on never coming: Eiichi Kudo’s Yokohama BJ Blues, an ’80s Japanese anti-noir that only assumes genre form when its character tries (miserably) to solve a case. (It’s been billed a loose remake of The Long Goodbye, and to mind exceeds Altman’s film in every regard.) A masterclass in telling lackadaisical mystery that’s also suffused with wintry Japanese skies, Yokohama‘s passed around cinephile circles for years like an underground object. Radiance are spearheading a Blu-ray release on December 16 (available in the US from Diabolik), ahead of which is a trailer displaying some recent restoration work.
Here’s the official synopsis: “When his police detective best friend is killed, down-at-heel private eye and part-time blues singer BJ (Yusaku Matsuda, The Game Trilogy) gets the blame. He must start his own investigation to clear his name, but what he uncovers is a tangled web involving crooked cops, drug-dealing gangsters, the city’s underground gay and biker scenes, and even his own past. A loose remake of Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye that also draws from Visconti’s Death in Venice, this was Matsuda’s break with his action hero image. Samurai movie veteran Eiichi Kudo (The Fort of Death) relishes his chance at directing a neo-noir that captures urban Japan at the height of 1980s decadence.”
Watch the preview and find cover art below:
