Shunji Iwai -- "Love Letter" headed to blu-ray (FINALLY!!!) 3/22/2013

[Dr_Bedlo]

I was searching for another title today from one of my favorite Asian on-line ordering sites and was stoked to see one of my favorite flicks is making its way to blu-ray!!!! Love Letter has been on the top of my wishlist for a while now.

http://www.k2dvd.com/shop/p_detail.a...=Comedy/Drama#

[Zen_Amako]

Great news. I still have the Korean DVD but I might double dip. I hope they release April Story as well.

[mimurph1]

great news for a monday afternoon!

[Yami]

Terrific news! Hopefully more Iwai on Blu w/ English subtitles isn't far behind...

[lateralspin]

It might be region all and not Region A. I have to wait and find out.

[Zen_Amako]

My copy arrived yesterday, and it's a strong upgrade from the DVD. I think the director and cinematographer intended the film to have a soft, dreamy look, so the picture is not what you would call razor sharp - nor should it be. At times, the blacks looked more like dark gray, as in many Japanese transfers. The English subtitles are good aside from a few typos here and there.

Note that the book included with the LE is completely in Korean, as is the menu on the Blu-ray (you might need to play the movie and use the "subtitle" button on your remote to switch on the English subtitles if you can't read Korean).

The movie is in a clear Blu-ray case that comes with a slipcover. The slipcover fits into a larger slipbox with the book.

Upon revisiting this movie, I was struck by how much Iwai was clearly influenced by The Double Life of Veronique.

[Dr_Bedlo]

My copy is on its way. Can't wait for it to arrive. So glad that long rumored American remake never saw the light of day!

[mimurph1]

Originally Posted by Zen_Amako

My copy arrived yesterday, and it's a strong upgrade from the DVD. I think the director and cinematographer intended the film to have a soft, dreamy look, so the picture is not what you would call razor sharp - nor should it be.

can't wait for my copy, i had peppermint candy in the same order so i probably have a bit longer to wait

[Geode]

Originally Posted by Zen_Amako

My copy arrived yesterday, and it's a strong upgrade from the DVD. I think the director and cinematographer intended the film to have a soft, dreamy look, so the picture is not what you would call razor sharp - nor should it be. At times, the blacks looked more like dark gray, as in many Japanese transfers. The English subtitles are good aside from a few typos here and there.

Note that the book included with the LE is completely in Korean, as is the menu on the Blu-ray (you might need to play the movie and use the "subtitle" button on your remote to switch on the English subtitles if you can't read Korean).

The movie is in a clear Blu-ray case that comes with a slipcover. The slipcover fits into a larger slipbox with the book.

Upon revisiting this movie, I was struck by how much Iwai was clearly influenced by The Double Life of Veronique.

My Korean DVD of this title had the best menu I think I ever enountered on a DVD, and it was in English. Too bad they didn't use the same menu again for the blu-ray version.

Is the animated storyboard included in the blu-ray version?

[van1]

Originally Posted by lateralspin

It might be region all and not Region A. I have to wait and find out.

Can you or anyone else confirm if the Korean 3 blu ray set is region locked to A. looking to pick it up but need Region B to work

[Zen_Amako]

Love Letter looked pretty good to me - certainly better than the DVD. My (Korean) DVD version came with the soundtrack CD, however. Too bad they didn't include that with the BD as well.

I would love to have April Story on BD too.

[Flack999]

Is the Korean LE a digipack or a normal bluray case?

I have all the other Iwai BDs from Japan and they all look pretty great to me (lots of specks on Swallowtail though). Sadly they don't have any english subs on them

[Zen_Amako]

I wonder why the English subtitles were dropped from the Swallowtail BD, since the DVD included them. Many of the other Iwai DVDs had English subs as well.

The Korean release of LL is a regular BD case with a slipcover. That goes into a larger box with a book.

[mimurph1]

here's some pics

[Show spoiler]

[mimurph1]

got around to watching this for the first time on blu, it was beautiful

[Dr_Bedlo]

It is quite an enjoyable film....and I'm very happy with the blu-ray release!

[Phesstve]

Can someone please post screen caps and give feedback about the picture and sound quality ?

[e_d]

Is there a way to check region coding on a computer? I have this Korea set, I can let you know. It does say A on the back covers though.

[PGW]

For what it's worth, I have a multi-region player. I selected Region B and it played the disc.

[Zen_Amako]

Fans of this movie and director Shunji Iwai shouldn't sleep on his latest film, Last Letter. A Hong Kong Blu-ray release is available now with English subtitles, and both the picture quality and the quality of the English subtitles are very good. I just watched my copy last night, and it felt like a reunion movie for Shunji Iwai (or a spiritual sequel). It stars Takako Matsu (April Story), and both Miho Nakayama and Etsushi Toyokawa (who both were in Love Letter) turn up in small parts. The movie is very much in a similar vein to Iwai's Love Letter and April Story, with nostalgic high school memories and wistfulness for those bygone days. Matsu is excellent here, and Suzu Hirose (who was in Kore-eda's My Little Sister) also is very good as both her niece and the younger version of her late sister in flashbacks to their high school days. The Blu-ray is only in 7 collections on this site, and I know there are other fans of Shunji Iwai's films here, so I wanted to make sure Iwai fans are aware of this release.



https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Last-...lu-ray/278900/