Kino Video has opted to release famed Japanese director Seijun Suzuki's Taisho Trilogy - comprised of three films: Zigeunerweisen, Kagero-Za, and Yumeji - as either individual releases or collected into a boxed set. The only exclusive to the set is the box that the three discs come housed in, otherwise the discs and keepcase packaging are exactly the same as the single disc options.

The late Yusaku Matsuda (who has shown up alongside Sonny Chiba in Resurrection Of The Golden Wolf and Black Rain) plays a play-write named Shungo Matsuzaki who is well looked after by a wealthy patron of the arts who sponsors his writing and allows him to make a living at his craft. One day, while out for a walk, he is approached by a strange, albeit, very beautiful woman who asks of him the strange request that he accompany her on her trip to the hospital where she would like to visit a terminally ill friend of hers who isn't long for this world. The reason that she doesn't want to go to the hospital on her own is that she's scared of a strange older woman who hangs out there and sells 'Chinese lantern flowers.' Why would she be frightened of an old woman who sells flowers? Well, the local folklore implies that these plants are actually the harvested souls of Japanese women and as such, she doesn't really want anything to do with the lady.

Matsuzaki is a little baffled by the woman and as such he politely declines her request but soon after he's done that his mind starts to wander and he begins to dwell on her more and more to the point where his thoughts border on the obsessive. His thoughts become quite carnal in nature and he decides that he's going to go out and find her again to live out the fantasies he's conjured up between the two of them in his mind and to do this he will have to follow a trail of strange, cryptic messages that she's left for him that will take him across the country from Tokyo to Kanazawa where their reunion will be anything but joyful.

In order to enjoy Kagero-Za, you've got to be willing to forget about the rules of logic and narrative storytelling, as they don't apply to this film. More of a strange dream captured on film than a traditional story, the movie succeeds as a series of images and strange set pieces loosely connected by a sort of gothic soap opera ghost story that ties it all together. There's very definitely a point to all of this, but getting to it requires some flexibility on the part of the viewer as well as some interpretive skills. Kagero-Za is highbrow, it's pretentious, it's difficult, it's challenging, and it's very beautiful. Plenty of jump cutting and characters popping in and out of the frame at various intervals make it a bizarre looking film with a truly odd sense of flow (or lack there of) but the visuals are so interesting and so pretty in spots that you can't help but get sucked in by the film in spite of its convoluted tactics.

Those familiar with some of Seijun Suzuki's work know to expect the unexpected when it comes to appreciating his filmography and that rule holds very true here with Kagero-Za. Though we're treated to a lot of the bright color schemes and bold, striking compositions that he's known for we also delve into some moments of tragic romances, coupled with flat out lust, passion and wanton desire incarnate. The film is far more erotically charged than most of his work, at least that which has been made available in the west, and the results are as interesting as they are unusual. The period dress (the film takes place in the year 1926) and various locations used throughout the production give us a wide array of interesting things to look at while Yusaku Matsuda's performance does a fine job of making us care about his character even while we question the sincerity and real meaning behind his motives for wanting to track this strange woman down in the first place. She's obviously very beautiful and you can't blame him for wanting to be with her in the way he imagines, but the fact that he doesn't even know her and that she has such a strong hold on him regardless is really what's at the core of the film. Though Suzuki doesn't really try to explain his obsession with her he does demonstrate the depths to which it will go and the lengths to which he will go to complete his quest and make his dream a reality.

Video:

The 1.33.1 transfer on this DVD is solid, save for a couple of tiny flaws. The colors in particular look good here, which is always important when evaluating Suzuki's work, and each hue and tone is as vibrant and bold as the next and sometimes they appear to literally jump off of the screen at you. While there is some very moderate print damage noticeable in a few scenes, the picture has been cleaned up nicely as this is only really apparent if you're looking for it and it serves not to distract but to remind you that you're watching an actual film in the first place. There are no problems at all with mpeg compression artifacts and edge enhancement is never an issue either, though if you're looking for it you will pick up on some line shimmering here and there. Flesh tones look very lifelike and very natural despite some softness in the picture at times, and the black levels stay strong and consistent. The image has plenty of both foreground and background detail present throughout.