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Eclipse Series 48: KINUYO TANAKA DIRECTS: Love Under the Crucifix (1962)

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TANAKA, Kinuyo (Japan) Love Under the Crucifix [1962] Eclipse Series 48 Blu-ray Kinuyo Tanaka’s final work as a director is a large-scale, sixteenth-century-set costume drama in the style of the golden age of Japanese cinema. Produced by the independent production company Ninjin Kurabu,  Love Under the Crucifix  centers on the forbidden romance between Ogin (Ineko Arima), daughter of a famous tea master, and Ukon (Tatsuya Nakadai), a married samurai. The ruling power’s prohibition of Ukon’s Christian faith forces the lovers to fight against the prejudices of an oppressive society while finding their way to mutual devotion. 101 minutes Color Monaural in Japanese 2:39:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2026 Directors/Writers Kinuyo Tanaka  was 53 when she directed Love Under the Crucifix . Screenplay by Masashige Narusawa . Based on the novel by Toko Kon . Other Tanaka films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 48: Love Letter (1953) Eclipse Series 48: The Moo...
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Eclipse Series 48: KINUYO TANAKA DIRECTS: Girls of the Night (1961)

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TANAKA, Kinuyo (Japan) Girls of the Night [1961] Eclipse Series 48 Blu-ray With  Girls of the Night,  Kinuyo Tanaka reunited with screenwriter Sumie Tanaka to explore Japan’s attempted reformation of former sex workers. The film follows Kuniko (Chisako Hara), who enters a rehabilitation center after the Prostitution Prevention Law prohibits her line of work. But creating a new life proves treacherous—wherever Kuniko goes, the past catches up with her. In once again taking on challenging subject matter, Kinuyo Tanaka paints an empathetic portrait of a fragile community of outcasts. 92 minutes Black and White Monaural in Japanese 2:35:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2026 Directors/Writers Kinuyo Tanaka  was 52 when she directed Girls of the Night . Screenplay by Sumie Tanaka . Based on the novel by Masako Yana . Other Tanaka films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 48: Love Letter (1953) Eclipse Series 48: The Moon Has Risen (1955) Eclipse Series 48: Fore...
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Eclipse Series 48: KINUYO TANAKA DIRECTS: The Wandering Princess (1960)

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TANAKA, Kinuyo (Japan) The Wandering Princess [1960] Eclipse Series 48 Blu-ray Kinuyo Tanaka’s first film in both color and CinemaScope is an epic about a woman caught in the torrents of history. Based on the memoirs of Hiro Saga,  The Wandering Princess  tells the story of Ryuko (Machiko Kyo), an aristocrat who, at the outset of World War II, enters an arranged marriage with Futetsu (Eiji Funakoshi), the younger brother of a soon-to-be-deposed monarch. With the story of Ryuko’s enmeshment in the Japanese colonization of Manchuria, Tanaka realizes with startling depth her ambition to relate a historical saga from a critical female perspective. 102 minutes Color Monaural in Japanese 2:39:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2026 Directors/Writers Kinuyo Tanaka  was 51 when she directed The Wandering Princess . Screenplay by Natto Wada . Based on the book by Hiro Saga . Other Tanaka films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 48: Love Letter (1953) Eclipse Series...
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Eclipse Series 48: KINUYO TANAKA DIRECTS: Forever a Woman (1955)

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TANAKA, Kinuyo (Japan) Forever a Woman [1955] Eclipse Series 48 Blu-ray Generally regarded as Kinuyo Tanaka’s masterpiece, as well as her first personal film,  Forever a Woman  tells the story of a recent divorcée (Yumeji Tsukioka) who is diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. In adapting the real-life story of poet Fumiko Nakajo, Tanaka and screenwriter Sumie Tanaka (a longtime collaborator of Mikio Naruse’s, though of no familial relation to Kinuyo) investigate issues of mortality, sexuality, and female independence with a frankness and audacity unprecedented in postwar Japanese cinema. 110 minutes Black & White Monaural in Japanese 1:37:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2026 Directors/Writer Kinuyo Tanaka  was 46 when she directed Forever a Woman . Screenplay by Sumie Tanaka . Other Tanaka films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 48: Love Letter (1953) Eclipse Series 48: The Moon Has Risen (1955) Eclipse Series 48: The Wandering Princess (1960) ...
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Eclipse Series 48: KINUYO TANAKA DIRECTS: The Moon Has Risen (1955)

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TANAKA, Kinuyo (Japan) The Moon Has Risen [1955] Eclipse Series 48 Blu-ray For her second film, Kinuyo Tanaka directed a script by legendary filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu, one of her mentors. Though informed by Ozu’s singular take on familial relationships,  The Moon Has Risen  also possesses Tanaka’s lively and elegant comic sensibility in its portrait of a widower (Chishu Ryu) who lives with his three daughters (Hisako Yamane, Yoko Sugi, and Mie Kitahara). Kitahara shines as the spirited youngest sister, whose matchmaking schemes force the family to confront—with amusing bewilderment—Japanese society’s rapidly evolving mores. 102 minutes Black & White Monaural in Japanese 1:37:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2026 Directors/Writers Kinuyo Tanaka  was 46 when she directed The Moon Has Risen . Screenplay by Yasujiro Ozu and Ryosuke Saito . Other Tanaka films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 48: Love Letter (1953) Eclipse Series 48: Forever a Woman (1955...
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Eclipse Series 48: KINUYO TANAKA DIRECTS: Love Letter (1953)

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TANAKA, Kinuyo (Japan) Love Letter [1953] Eclipse Series 48 Blu-ray Released a year after the American occupation of Japan ended, Kinuyo Tanaka’s directorial debut explores the professional and personal conflicts of Reikichi (Masayuki Mori), a repatriated veteran who searches for his lost love (Yoshiko Kuga) while translating romantic letters from Japanese women to American GIs. Adapted from a novel by Fumio Niwa,  Love Letter  depicts with incisive complexity Japanese soldiers struggling to adapt to a changed society, as well as the moral condemnation of Japanese women who became involved with the enemy. 98 minutes Black & White Monaural in Japanese 1:37:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2026 Directors/Writers Kinuyo Tanaka  was 44 when she directed Love Letter . Screenplay by Keisuke Kinoshita . Based on the novel by Fumio Niwa . Other Tanaka films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 48: The Moon Has Risen (1955) Eclipse Series 48: Forever a Woman (...
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#1322c: MILLS, Mike: C'mon C'mon (2021)

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MILLS, Mike (United States) C'mon C'mon [2021] Spine #1322c 4K Having excavated his past in  Beginners  and  20th Century Women,  Mike Mills looks toward the future with this compassionate, cathartic story about listening to and learning from the next generation. Shot by acclaimed cinematographer Robbie Ryan in luminous monochrome,  C’mon C’mon  follows radio journalist Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) as he volunteers to look after his sensitive nine-year-old nephew, Jesse (Woody Norman), while his mother, Viv (Gaby Hoffmann), Johnny’s sister, deals with a personal crisis. As Johnny’s work takes him across the country—from Los Angeles to New York to New Orleans—he forges a bond with Jesse that proves surprisingly transformative. Turning his own experience of fatherhood into soul-enriching art, Mills offers a graceful meditation on caretaking and the connections that sustain us. 109 minutes 5.1 Surround Black and White 1:66:1 Criterion Release 2026 Director/Writer...
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