Overview: The editor of a sports magazine grooms fashion model Reiko to become a pro golfer, while retaining exclusive rights to her likeness. Reiko’s popularity soars after she wins her first tournament and she becomes a media sensation, but when she and her manager (Yoshio Harada, Zigeunerweisen) cause a hit-and-run accident, the victim begins to blackmail Reiko, intruding further and further into her personal life.

This was Seijun Suzuki’s comeback film after being blacklisted by the film industry for ten years. Though adapted from a popular manga, the bold visuals and absurdist plot twists are vintage Suzuki.

Blu-ray Verdict: Being Seijun Suzuki’s first film following his blacklisting from Nikkatsu, it’d be easy enough to say that A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness happens to be a more normal film compared to his more borderline experimental work of the period - yet this film is also drenched in the same essences that made him one of the most distinctive filmmakers of that period in Japanese cinema.

Like his earlier forays into making color films, A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness visually pops out - in a manner that perfectly reflects the world of Reiko under the constant pressure to be a public face for people in Japan, but cannot live by her own terms.

On one hand, there’s a great commentary about the influence that men have in her life in here, because of the rather unscrupulous nature of her manager. But I think there’s also something interesting here, with how the film explores the power dynamics between higher class and lower class citizens, especially once her neighbor comes into the picture supposedly as a fan of Reiko’s before their worlds collide in a more sinister manner.

Maybe not the most comfortable watch, especially given the sort of films that Suzuki has been known for throughout his career, but it’s clear that Suzuki cares deeply about these people - and as a melodramatist, he’s very skilled at that. [J.R.]

Bonus Features:
High-Definition digital transfer
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Audio commentary by critic and author Samm Deighan (2025)
New interview with editor Kunihiko Ukai (2025)
Trailer
Newly improved English subtitle translation
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Smith
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp and an archival review of the film

www.radiancefilms.co.uk