First it started as a clue in one of Criterion’s monthly newsletters. Then it was confirmed to The Playlist a couple of weeks ago. Now, Criterion Collection’s massive, $400, 25-film Akira Kurosawa box set (timed to the emperor’s 100th birthday), entitled “AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa,” gets detailed (somewhat).
What we now know are the films that are included in this massive, on-every-geek’s-Christmas-and/or-Hanukkah-list. It’s a mix of Kurosawa films that have already gotten the full-fledged Criterion treatment (“Dodes’ka-den,” “Drunken Angel,” “The Hidden Fortress,” “High & Low,” “Kagemusha,” “The Lower Depths,” etc.), titles from the Eclipse box set “Post-War Kurosawa” (“Scandal,” “No Regrets for Our Youth,” “The Idiot,” “I Live in Fear”) with a handful of new titles. What’s new? Less than a half-dozen titles, disappointingly — old age drama “Madadayo,” wartime drama “The Most Beautiful,” kabuki adaptation “The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail,” and, for the first time in America, Kurosawa’s debut film “Sanshiro Sugata” (and its sequel, “Sanshiro Sugata, Part II”).
What isn’t known is what treatment these new films will have, special features-wise. It could go one of two ways — either these will be basic versions of the movies, with the deluxe special editions of “Seven Samurai” and other notable Criterion discs stripped of their special features (this is often the case for the Essential Arthouse discs and the Eclipse box sets and considering the sheer number of new titles, and the relative inexpensiveness of the box set, this scenario seems likely) or the other option is that all the new titles will be balls-to-the-walls special editions and that the previous versions will keep all their bells and whistles. (This would also be nice, since you could sell your older copies of the movie to offset the price of the new box set.)
We should know everything on September 15th, when Criterion officially announces the box set, along with “Che” and a couple other end-of-the-year titles (fingers crossed for Blu-ray of Guillermo del Toro’s “Cronos”) Look for “AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa” on store shelves December 8th.
After the jump, get the complete title rundown. Oh wait, blogger hasn’t figured that out yet, nevermind…
Movies in the “AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa” Box Set
Already Criterion-ized:
The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Dodes’ka-den (1970)
Drunken Angel (1948)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
High and Low (1963)
Ikiru (1952)
Kagemusha (1980)
The Lower Depths (1957)
Rashomon (1951)
Red Beard (1965)
Sanjuro (1962)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Stray Dog (1949)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Yojimbo (1961)
Scandal (1950)
I Live in Fear (1955)
The Idiot (1951)
No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
New to the canon:
Madadayo (1993)
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)
The Most Beautiful (1944)
Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
Sanshiro Sugata, Part II (1944)
Pre-order “AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa” now on Amazon for 30% off1 its $400 list price which makes it a more-reasonable $279.99. – Drew Taylor