The Mad Fox (1962) (Arrow Academy) - June 23, 2020

[MifuneFan]

Arrow will be releasing Tomu Uchida's The Mad Fox (Koi ya koi nasuna koi ) (1962) on June 23rd.

In stark contrast to the monochrome naturalism of his earlier masterwork Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, visionary master director Tomu Uchida took inspiration from Bunraku and kabuki theater for arguably his strangest and most lavishly cinematic film, The Mad Fox. Amidst a mythically-depicted medieval Japan, a court astrologer foretells a great disturbance that threatens to split the realm in two. His bitter and treacherous wife conspires to have the astrologer killed, as well as their adopted daughter, Sakaki. The astrologer's master apprentice, Yasuna, who was in love with Sakaki, is driven mad with grief and escapes to the countryside. There, he encounters Sakaki's long-lost twin, Kuzunoha, and the pair meet a pack of ancient fox spirits in the woods, whose presence may be the key to restoring Yasuna's sanity, and in turn bringing peace to the fracturing nation. Finally available outside Japan for the first time, Uchida's stunning, wildly stylized widescreen tableaux - using expressionist sets and color schemes - are highlighted in a world premiere Blu-ray™ release.

Bonus Materials

• Brand new restoration by Toei
• High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
• Original uncompressed mono Japanese audio
• Optional newly translated English subtitles
• Brand new audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp, recorded exclusively for this release
• Original theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Ronald Cavaye and Hayley Scanlon

『�や������THE MAD FOX　予告編 - YouTube

[Al_The_Strange]

I misread the thread title as Mad Max, lol.

Since I have some time to myself coming up, it might be a good time to pop in Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, then see if I'd want this one too.

[DukeTogo84]

Excellent news. We have known that Arrow had at least one other Tomu Uchida film for awhile, so glad it's finally coming. I'm guessing they were waiting for Toei to restore this one.

Did this leak early? Arrow Academy hasn't made their official announcement yet.

[SpiderBaby]

So incredibly excited!

[Cremildo]

I hope this one is better than Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, which someone at another forum recommended enthusiastically (saying it was better than anything Kurosawa and Kobayashi had ever done) but I found quite disappointing.

[Telstar]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

I hope this one is better than Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, which someone at another forum recommended enthusiastically (saying it was better than anything Kurosawa and Kobayashi had ever done) but I found quite disappointing.

Well, I guess it depends on why you found Bloody Spear so disappointing. Mad Fox is certainly a much different sort of film than Bloody Spear, but much as I love stylish Japanese supernatural folktales (which Mad Fox certainly is), I found Mad Fox by far the weaker of the two. You may feel just the opposite.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

I hope this one is better than Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, which someone at another forum recommended enthusiastically (saying it was better than anything Kurosawa and Kobayashi had ever done) but I found quite disappointing.

If you're going with expectations of that level, disappointment is a given. If someone told you that they were certainly being hyperbolic. It's a very good film (elements of Kobayashi's Harakiri in the climax), but certainly does not top the best of those masters.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by Telstar

Well, I guess it depends on why you found Bloody Spear so disappointing. Mad Fox is certainly a much different sort of film than Bloody Spear, but much as I love stylish Japanese supernatural folktales (which Mad Fox certainly is), I found Mad Fox by far the weaker of the two. You may feel just the opposite.

Yes, I suppose that'll be the case. Given what the user had said about the Bloody Spear, I wasn't expecting a mostly lighthearted road movie, which is hardly the kind of stuff I usually go for. If Mad Fox is more like Kuroneko, I'm sure it'll hit my sweet spot. In any case, after checking Uchida's filmography on IMDb, he seems to have made some interesting films and the fact that Arrow is releasing another one is a welcome development.

Originally Posted by ravenus

If you're going with expectations of that level, disappointment is a given. If someone told you that they were certainly being hyperbolic. It's a very good film (elements of Kobayashi's Harakiri in the climax), but certainly does not top the best of those masters.

True. It was naïve of me to even entertain that notion.

[MifuneFan]

Someone posted this Japanese trailer (with English subs) of it in another thread. Not sure how it compares visually or thematically to Bloody Spear, but it looks good to me

『�や������THE MAD FOX　予告編 - YouTube

[Telstar]

I found Mad Fox to be pleasant enough viewing but (outside of the sporadic hyper-stylized sequences) ultimately pretty muddled and forgettable -- literally forgettable, as much of the film has faded from my memory in the few years since I've seen it, unlike Bloody Spear which features richly fleshed-out characters, themes and details that continue to stick with me.

And by the way, don't go into this expecting anything resembling the consistently elegant supernatural atmosphere of Kuroneko. Mad Fox is all over the map, and much of it feels almost campy (although it's uncertain if that's intentional or not).

[DukeTogo84]

If anyone wants this early, it's now in stock at Diabolik.

[DukeTogo84]

Just watched my copy. Overall, another solid release from Arrow. This one looks really good and I felt the film was very entertaining. Hopefully more Toei films from this era are on the horizon.

[SolidBlu]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Just watched my copy. Overall, another solid release from Arrow. This one looks really good and I felt the film was very entertaining. Hopefully more Toei films from this era are on the horizon.

does it have slip cover? thanks

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by SolidBlu

does it have slip cover? thanks

It does not.

[MifuneFan]

Finally watched this (via Arrow Player) and I really didn't care for it. It just got stranger as it went along, turning into a full-on Kabuki fever dream by the last act. Visually, it looks pretty great at times, with colorful sets, and costumes, but the story jumped from one thing to another, never really resolving the plots properly. It went from a story relating to an astrologer interpreting a scroll, and revolving around hte fate of the crown prince, to the main character going mad with grief, and eventually

[Show spoiler]living and bearing a child with some fox in disguise

?? It's just very messy, and unstructured. The kabuki singing/narration started to test my patience by the end, and I couldn't wait for it to be over. Maybe I just didn't get it, but I personally would recommend people rent/stream first before blind-buying.