Radiance Films Blu-ray Synopsis: A television executive’s nine mistresses conspire with his wife to have him killed. When Miwako, one of the mistresses, tells him of the plot, he decides to fake his own death in front of them all. The women panic and deny that they were ever serious about the murder, while Miwako even takes her own life in remorse. But when they find out the man is still alive, they put their original plan back into action. Given complete creative freedom, Kon Ichikawa made this dark satire, one of the undiscovered gems of Japan’s cinematic Golden Age. Featuring a stunning cast of Daiei studio divas and striking monochrome photography by Setsuo Kobayashi (Blind Beast), this is a merciless dissection of social relations and gender roles in affluent post-war Japan. (103 Mins)

 

Views: Produced in 1961 by the popular Daiei Studios, Ten Women in Black (more widely known as Ten Dark Women) is the tale of a married television executive who feels his love-life needs to be as successful as his career. Unsuccessfully juggling nine mistresses while trying to keep his wife happy, Kaze's entourage of lady-loves have had enough of his polygamy and decide to do something about it! Joined by his wife, the ten women devise a plot to kill him – but it might not be just as straight forward as they had hoped. Double-crossings, murder, divorce, suicide, marriage; Ten Women in Black is an unhinged but often hilarious dark comedy that features a top cast of Daiei Studio's leading ladies, recently released on Blu-ray by Radiance Films with a stunning new 4K restoration...

 

Directed by the much loved and praised film-maker Kon Ichikawa; the prolific director who went onto form the Yonki-no-kai Production company with Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi and Keisuke Kinoshita. After making some animated shorts for children, Kon made a splash in 1947 with his first full feature A Thousand and One Nights with Toho. He would follow with a stream of hits including Passion Without End (1949), Koibito (1951), This Way, That Way (1952), The Burmese Harp (1956), The Crowded Streetcar (1957), and Fires on the Plain (1959) prior to this. But Ten Women in Black wasn't even his halfway point. Reaching almost 100 titles as a director, he went onto helm An Actors Revenge and Alone on the Pacific in 1963, The Inugami family (1976), The House of Hanging (1979), Princess from the Moon (1987), 47 Ronin (1994) and so much more, ending his film-making career with a modern remake of his 1976 classic with Murder of the Inugami Clan in 2006 at the age of 90; passing just two years after. Utilising many of his regular actors, Ichikawa delivers a great cast who help make Ten Women in Black hugely enjoyable. This starts with the lovely Fujiko Yamamoto, starlet of films such as Night Butterflies (1957), The Loyal 47 Ronin (1958), Equinox Flower (1958), The Demon of Mount Oe (1960), The Twilight Story (1960), and the Satan's Sword Trilogy (1960), does a great job as Kaze's cheated wife. She is joined by the prolific Kyoko Kishida – she of over 180 film and TV roles who even made an appearance in Ann Hui's underrated Zodiac Killers (1991) with Andy Lau and Cherie Chung. Holing an equally impressive filmography is Eiji Funakoshi, another one of the dark women, who also starred in classics such as A False Student (1960), The Old Temple Well (1961), Black Test Car (1962), Gamera: The Giant Monster (1965), Blind Beast (1969) and Kon's very own An Actor's Revenge (1963) among others. The beautiful Keiko Kishi joins in, another one of the vengeful lovers, and had already impressed for a good decade before – going onto star in films such as Kwaidan (1964), The Yakuza (1974), Hunter in the Dark (1979), and The Twilight Samurai (2002) to name but a few. All are joined by Jun Hamamura, Yuzo Hayakawa, Juzo Itami, Mariko Miyagi and Tamao Nakamura.

 

The film is beautifully shot by Setsuo Kobayashi, a regular cinematographer for Kon Ichikawa who also captured films like A Wife Confesses (1961), Super Express (1964), The School of Spies (1966), Blind Beast (1969), Yakuza Masterpiece (1970) and many more. Of course, these visuals are only made more beautiful thanks to the fantastic 4K restoration of this new release. Kon's wife, Natto Wada, who worked on many of his projects, delivers a fun, tight and enjoyable script. Interestingly, her original story would be adapted in 2016 for a 10 episode mini-series of this exact film, which proved to be quite well received. Aside from the stunning restoration, limited edition booklet and gorgeous presentation from Radiance Films, this new Blu-ray release also comes with a few bonus features. The first is a video appreciation by musician Yasuharu Konishi, a 21 minute piece where the founding member of Pizzicato Five talks about working with Kon Ichikawa and how he was the driving force behind the film's revival in the late 1990s. Shot in black & white, it makes for a fun watch! Next is The Kon Ichikawa Story, a 79 minute archival documentary on the director. Made in 2006, it follows the film-maker's life and career, as well as that of his wife Natto's and their journey together in the film world. A note at the beginning mentions how this has since been edited down from it's original 82 minutes due to copyright issues. It's an interesting piece – very art-house in it's approach and won't be for everyone – but still great to see. And finally, the unrestored 3 minute original theatrical trailer and 2 minute 1997 re-release trailer bring this release to a close; both of which are worth checking out as a comparison to the new restoration of the main feature!

 

Overall: Another wonderful piece of classic Japanese cinema, Ten Women in Black is slick, funny, and hugely enjoyable for all the right reasons!

 

Radiance Films Blu-ray Extras: 4K Restoration, Interview with Composer Yasuharu Konishi, Archival Documentary of Kon Ichikawa, Trailers