Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Volume 1: Limited Edition – Arrow Video (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Dates: Japan, 1958 (Voice Without a Shadow, Red Pier), Japan, 1959 (The Rambling Guitarist)
Directors: Seijun Suzuki (Voice Without a Shadow), Toshio Masuda (Red Pier), Takeichi Saitô (The Rambling Guitarist)
Writers: Ryuta Akimoto, Seichô Matsumoto, Susumu Saji (Voice Without a Shadow), Ichirô Ikeda, Toshio Masuda (Red Pier), Gan Yamazaki (The Rambling Guitarist)
Cast: Hideaki Nitani, Yôko Minamida, Jô Shishido, Nobuo Kaneko (Voice Without a Shadow), Yûjirô Ishihara, Mie Kitahara, Masumi Okada, Sanae Nakahara, Shirô Ôsaka (Red Pier), Akira Kobayashi, Ruriko Asaoka, Sanae Nakahara, Misako Watanabe, Nobuo Kaneko, Kyôji Aoyama, Jô Shishido (The Rambling Guitarist)

Release Date: January 25th, 2016 (UK) / January 26th, 2016 (USA)
Approximate running times: 91 Minutes 45 Seconds (Voice Without a Shadow), 98 Minutes 50 Seconds (Red Pier), 77 Minutes 24 Seconds (The Rambling Guitarist)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (All Films)
Rating: 15 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Japanese (All Films)
Subtitles: English (All Films)
Region Coding: Region A,B (Blu-ray), Region 1,2 NTSC (DVD)
Retail Price: OOP

"Nikkatsu, the oldest film studio in Japan, inaugurated a star system in the late 1950s, finding talent and contracting to their Diamond Line for a series of wild genre pictures. This collection celebrates these Diamond Guys with three classic films from directors Seijun Suzuki (Branded to Kill), Toshio Masuda (Rusty Knife) and Buichi Saito (Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril).

An old hand at tough guy action roles, Hideaki Nitani (Tokyo Drifter, Massacre Gun) stars in Suzuki's Voice Without a Shadow. Asako, a former telephone operator once heard the voice of a murder suspect which has continued to haunt her. Years later her husband invites his boss, Hamazaki, over for dinner and she realises his voice is suspiciously like that of the killer. Before she can investigate further, Hamazaki is found dead and her husband becomes the prime suspect...

Next, 50s subculture icon Yujiro Ishihara (Crazed Fruit) stars in Masuda s Red Pier as Jiro the Lefty , a killer with a natural talent. Shortly after arriving in Kobe, he witnesses a man die in a crane accident which turns out to be a cover-up for a murder. Jiro soon finds himself on the run, tailed by a determined cop...

Finally, in Saito s The Rambling Guitarist, mega star Akira Koabyashi (Battles Without Honour and Humanity) stars as wandering street musician Shinji, who falls in with mob boss Akitsu after saving one of his henchmen in a bar fight. Tasked by Akitsu with evicting an offshore fishery, Shinji finds himself in the middle of a very unusual domestic dispute..." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5 (Red Pier, The Rambling Guitarist), 3.75/5 (Voice Without a Shadow)

Here’s the information provided about the transfers, “Voice Without a Shadow, Red Pier, and The Rambling Guitarist were transferred from original film preservation elements by Nikkatsu Studios in Japan. The films were delivered to Arrow Films as remastered files.”

Voice Without a Shadow, Red Pier, and The Rambling Guitarist come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.2 GB

Feature: 14.6 GB (Voice Without a Shadow), 14.6 GB (Red Pier), 13.4 GB (The Rambling Guitarist)

Though all of the sources are in very good shape, all of the films have some minor print debris, but fortunately nothing that is intrusive. Voice Without a Shadow and Red Pier were both shot in black and white, and The Rambling Guitarist was shot in color. The image looks crisp, the contrast and black levels are strong, and there are no issues with compression. The color saturation for The Rambling Guitarist is very good.

Audio: 4/5

Each film comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in Japanese, and removable English subtitles are available for each film. All issues related to background noise and distortion are minimal. Dialog comes through clearly, and range-wise, these audio mixes sound balanced.

Extras:

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include image galleries for Voice Without a Shadow, Red Pier and The Rambling Guitarist, theatrical trailers for Voice Without a Shadow (3 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), Red Pier (3 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Japanese with removable English subtitles) and The Rambling Guitarist (3 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), Diamond Guys Vol 2 theatrical trailers for Tokyo Mighty Guy, Danger Paws and Murder Unincorporated (11 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), an interview with Jasper Sharp titled Diamond Guy: Hideaki Nitani (10 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an interview with Jasper Sharp titled Diamond Guy: Yujiro Ishihara (15 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Included with this release are two DVDs that have the same content as the Blu-ray included as part of this combo release.

Other extras include reversible cover art and forty-page booklet with cast & crew information for each film, an essay titled Voice Beyond the Shadow written by Stuart Galbraith IV, an essay titled Tough Guy, Nice Girl, Hard Choice: Red Pier written by Mark Schilling, an essay titled North by Northwest: The Timeless Adventures of a Rambling Guitarist written by Tom Mes and information about the transfers.

Summary:

Voice Without a Shadow: A woman is reminded of a traumatic event from her past. When she recognizes the voice of one of her husband’s colleagues. Three years before, while working as a phone operator, she accidentally heard the voice of a murderer who has yet to be brought to justice.

Voice Without a Shadow was directed by Seijun Suzuki, a versatile and prolific filmmaker who is most remembered for directing Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill. The latter of these two films led to his being fired from Nikkatsu. Key collaborators on Voice Without a Shadow include screenwriter Seichô Matsumoto (The Castle of Sand, The Demon), cinematographer Kazue Nagatsuka (Branded to Kill, Massacre Gun), and composer Hikaru Hayashi (Onibaba, Blind Beast).

Content-wise, there are two clear influences on Voice Without a Shadow: Alfred Hitchcock and film noir. The narrative is a meticulously constructed whodunit, and there are even a few red herrings thrown in for good measure. As mentioned before, there is a clear Hitchcock vibe going on, and nowhere is this more evident than in the opening setup.

Another strength of Voice Without a Shadow is how it pulls away from the tension-filled opening for a few scenes and lets the characters establish who they are. From there, it does not take long for Voice Without a Shadow to hit its stride, and this occurs when the voice from the past moments arrives. Needless to say, Voice Without a Shadow does a superb job of building and maintaining tension.

When it comes to the visuals, Voice Without a Shadow does not disappoint. Seijun Suzuki perfectly infuses the film noir look with his own unique sensibilities as a filmmaker. The strongest moments visually revolve around the woman who is the key to discovering the killers’ identity. More specifically, the moments where her fragile state of mind is now in question.

Performance-wise, the entire cast is very good in their respective roles. With the standout performance coming from Yôko Minamida (Hausu) in the role of the protagonist. She delivers an exceptional performance that perfectly captures the state of mind of her character. Another performance of note is Jô Shishido (Gate of Flesh) doing what he does best, portraying a menacing character.

Red Pier: A notorious criminal's arrival in town puts him in law enforcement's crosshairs when it is discovered that he accidentally witnessed a murder.

Red Pier was co-written and directed by Toshio Masuda, whose other notable films include Rusty Knife, Gangster VIP, Shadow Hunters, and Shadow Hunters II: Echo of Destiny. Key collaborators on Red Pier include screenwriter Ichirô Ikeda (Youth of the Beast) and cinematographer Shinsaku Himeda (Never Give Up, Vengeance is Mine).

Though Red Pier starts off with a mysterious murder, the end result is far removed from the thriller genre. The bulk of the narrative is spent following Jiro as he tries to get closer to a young woman named Keiko. She also happens to be the sister of the man who died in the opening moments of the film. Other prominent characters include a detective named Noro who watches his every movement, and a secondary love interest for Jiro is a clingy nightclub dancer named Mami.

Content-wise, the first two acts play out like a melodrama, and it is not until the film’s final act that things start to get interesting. It is during this act that the gangster side of Jiro's character comes into play. Though they had let him be for the bulk of the film. Those responsible for killing Kieko’s brother don’t want to take a chance on Jiro turning on them. So they hire a hitman to take him out.

It is like Red Pier is comprised of two distinctly different halves. A more lighthearted side that takes place primarily during the daytime and a more sinister alter ego that comes out during the nighttime scenes. The first of these two halves focuses more on getting to know the characters, while the other half is more concerned with the characters past and their inability to free themselves from said past. Of course, it is always the darker side of humanity that proves to be the most compelling to watch.

From a production standpoint, there are not that many areas where Red Pier does not excel. The one area where things could have been improved was the narrative. And nowhere is this more glaring than in regards to pacing. Which tends to drag because of these lulls in the narrative. That being said, whatever Red Pier lacks when it comes to the narrative, it more than makes up for in areas like its visuals, which are filled with a tremendous amount of style. With the most striking moment visually being saved for its finale.

Performance-wise, the cast is all great in their respective roles. With the best performance coming from Yûjirô Ishihara (Alone on the Pacific) in the role of Jiro. Another performance of note is Mie Kitahara. They had both previously acted together in Crazed Fruit.

The Rambling Guitarist: The narrative revolves around a wandering musician who reluctantly accepts a job offered to him by a crime boss.

The Rambling Guitarist was directed by Takeichi Saitô, who is most known for directing Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril. Key collaborators on The Rambling Guitarist include screenwriter Gan Yamazaki (Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards, Gappa the Triphibian Monsters) and cinematographer Kuratarô Takamura (Tattooed Life, Hellish Love).

The main premise of The Rambling Guitarist has an air of familiarity to it. A stranger arrives in town and finds himself caught between two rivals’. And though this premise would be used in several samurai stories and countless spaghetti westerns, the premise is where the aforementioned similarities end, since the tone and level of violence in The Rambling Guitarist pale when compared to those films. That being said, though The Rambling Guitarist outwardly plays itself off a Japanese gangster film, it is not too hard to see the influence the western genre had on The Rambling Guitarist.

The look of The Rambling Guitarist is at times reminiscent of a Hollywood musical, and the leather jacket-wearing protagonist could pass off as Elvis Presley’s doppelganger. Other avenues the plot explores include a love story and redemption for something that happened in the protagonist's past.

From a production standpoint, not only does The Rambling Guitarist feature rock-solid visuals, but it also does a remarkable job when it comes to its use of color. The nightclub scenes are some of the best in regards to the use of color. Pacing is never an issue, as this film moves along at breakneck speed.

Performance-wise, the cast is all more than adequate in their respective roles. Surprisingly, the standout performance comes from Jô Shishido (A Colt Is My Passport) in the role of a hitman named Killer Joji. And though his role is not much more than a secondary one, he dominates every scene he is in. Another performance of note is that of Akira Kobayashi (Kanto Wanderer) in the role of Taki "The Rambling Guitarist".

Another solid release from Arrow Video that has unfortunately gone OOP, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer