Beijing Watermelon – Kani (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Japan, 1989
Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi
Writer: Yoshihiro Ishimatsu
Cast: Bengal, Masako Motai, Yasufumi Hayashi, Haruhiko Saitô, Takashi Sasano, Hana Kino, Akira Emoto, Yugi Ogata, Ryô Ôkubo, Ryô Iwamatsu, Kazunori Hagiwara, Hiromi Oshima 

Release Date: June 25th, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 135 Minutes 35 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo Japanese and Mandarin
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $36.98

"Shunzo (Bengal) and his wife Michi (Masako Motai) run a beloved greengrocer on the outskirts of Tokyo. When Lee, a struggling exchange student from China, visits the shop but is unable to afford the produce, an uneasy relationship sprouts. Begrudgingly, Shunzo agrees to lower his prices. Soon, Lee’s classmates begin frequenting the shop. As Shunzo’s generosity sneaks up on him and strains his family’s welfare, he confronts his role as surrogate father to his newfound Chinese friends." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “This 2K restoration of Beijing Watermelon was commissioned by Shochiku from a 4K scan of the 35mm negatives, scanned at IMAGICA Lab Inc. in 2021 on a Lasergraphics Scanstation.”

Beijing Watermelon comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.1 GB

Feature: 35.8 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, and image clarity and compression are solid. Though most of the time the black levels are strong, there are a few darker scenes that are not as convincing as they should be.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in Japanese and Mandarin. The audio is in great shape; dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should. The English subtitles are removable, and they come in two colors: white when a character is speaking in Japanese and yellow when a character is speaking in Mandarin.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical teaser (47 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese and Mandarin with removable English subtitles), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 29 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese and Mandarin with removable English subtitles), a new theatrical trailer (2 minutes 33 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese and Mandarin with removable English subtitles), an interview with Chigumi Obayashi, daughter of director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi (19 minutes 5 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), a slipcover (OOP), and a 28-page booklet with an essay titled Beijing Watermelon Weaving Obayashi’s Cinema written by Aaron Gerow, pages from the script, and information about the restoration.

Summary:

A grocer's kindness to a struggling exchange student from China puts a strain on his finances and his relationship with his family.

When viewed through the lens of Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, there are only a few moments in Beijing Watermelon that bear resemblance to his most celebrated films. Where he is most known for his work in the fantasy film genre and coming-of-age films, Beijing Watermelon is a straight-forward drama that is based on true events. That said, most Japanese filmmakers make a name for themselves by finding a genre in which they excel, while Nobuhiko Ôbayashi films are a genre unto themselves.

It is the friction between the wife and the husband that drives the narrative. What starts off as a moment of kindness greatly expands when other Chinese exchange students get the grocer to help them out. The grocer's devotion to the Chinese exchange students creates a wedge between him and his family. His act of kindness puts a financial strain on his family. When a health emergency leaves the grocer unable to work, the Chinese exchange students help him out by paying it forward.

There is a naturalism that enhances the story as it unfolds. Bengal’s (Boiling Point) portrayal of the grocer is the performance that anchors Beijing Watermelon. Another performance of note is Masako Motai’s (Gemini) portrayal of the grocer's frustrated wife. That said, all of the performances are very good.

As mentioned before, Beijing Watermelon is as grounded a film as you will ever see from Nobuhiko Ôbayashi. Most of the narrative is based on reality, but Nobuhiko Ôbayashi infuses a few moments with his unique style. All of these moments happen in the last 30 minutes, and there are instances where the protagonist acknowledges the audience. In the first of these fourth-wall moments, the protagonist makes a comment about how they could not afford to go to Beijing, so a studio set is constructed instead. During production, the Tiananmen Square massacre prevented scenes from being filmed in Beijing.

At 2 hours plus in length, some might find the deliberate-paced narrative slow-moving. That said, how much you get out of Beijing Watermelon depends on connecting with the characters. Fortunately, the narrative is greatly aided by likable characters who are easy to empathize with. The characters are likable and easy for the audience to empathize with, which greatly aids the narrative. Ultimately, Beijing Watermelon is a heartwarming drama about removing barriers and making connections despite our differences.

Beijing Watermelon gets an excellent release from Kani that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a pair of insightful extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer