Pale Flower
Encyclopedia
Pale Flower is a 1964 Japanese crime film directed by Masahiro Shinoda
. The film is about Muraki (Ryo Ikebe
) a Yakuza
hitman just released from prison. At an illegal gambling parlor, he finds himself drawn to a mysterious young woman named Saeko (Mariko Kaga). Though Saeko loses large sums of money, she asks Muraki to find games with larger and larger stakes. The two become involved in an intense mutually destructive relationship.
's Les Fleurs du mal
while making the film. Shinoda chose the subject of yakuza
as he felt the yakuza world is the only place where a Japanese ceremonial structure is sustained.
. This led to a nine-month delay of the film's release.
have released a new DVD and Blu-Ray edition of the film.
Masahiro Shinoda
is a Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s.-Career:...
. The film is about Muraki (Ryo Ikebe
Ryō Ikebe
was a Japanese actor. He graduated from Rikkyō University and originally wanted to be a screenwriter, but ended up debuting as an actor at Tōhō in 1941. He did not achieve popularity until starring in a series of youth films in the late 1940s...
) a Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
hitman just released from prison. At an illegal gambling parlor, he finds himself drawn to a mysterious young woman named Saeko (Mariko Kaga). Though Saeko loses large sums of money, she asks Muraki to find games with larger and larger stakes. The two become involved in an intense mutually destructive relationship.
Production
Director Shinoda was influenced by Charles BaudelaireCharles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
's Les Fleurs du mal
Les Fleurs du mal
Les Fleurs du mal is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. First published in 1857 , it was important in the symbolist and modernist movements...
while making the film. Shinoda chose the subject of yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
as he felt the yakuza world is the only place where a Japanese ceremonial structure is sustained.
Release
When screenwriter Masaru Baba saw Shinoda's film focus on visual and sound, he complained to the managers at the company ShochikuShochiku
is a Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada...
. This led to a nine-month delay of the film's release.
Home video
Homevision released a Region 1 DVD of Pale Flower on November 18, 2003. The Criterion CollectionThe Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
have released a new DVD and Blu-Ray edition of the film.