From auteur Tsukamoto Shinya, director of the infamous 1988 cult classic Tetsuo: The Iron Man, comes the 2004 psychological drama Vital! International superstar Asano Tadanobu (Zatoichi, Ichi the Killer) stars in the film as Takagi Hiroshi, a comatose man who suddenly wakes up, only to find out that he's suffering from amnesia. Upon returning home with his mother and father, Hiroshi discovers a stack of medical books in his closet and remembers that his parents wanted him to attend medical school. Although still suffering from memory loss, Hiroshi decides to go to medical school anyway. After taking the required exam and gaining acceptance to the university, Hiroshi slowly begins to remember his true feelings about medical school. Even more dramatic, he starts to recall that he had a girlfriend named Ryoko (Tsukamoto Nami), and that she was in the car with him when he had his tragic accident. But things only get worse when it comes time for the dissection part of an anatomy course. Hiroshi's memory floods back to him in shocking detail when he realizes that the girl on the slab is none other than his beloved Ryoko!

Praise for the first edition:
"...A thoughtful and carefully researched account."--The New York Times
"Napier draws a rather complete picture of Japanese animation as a legitimate art form, and uses anime as a key to the culture that creates it."--Entertainment Weekly

Rinko falls prey to the forces of nature that release "A Snake of June" on one fateful day. A voyeur who peeks into her home and takes photos of her making love to herself takes advantage of the situation and forces her to engage in obscene activities with him. However, unexpectedly the tables turn in advantage to the at first helpless female protagonist.

From Tetsuo: The Iron Man to Tokyo Fist, Japanese cult director Tsukamoto Shinya has built his career on subverting and shocking through grotesque subject matters, graphic images, and over-the-top violence. His films take viewers on lush, surreal journeys to the root of human nature, however ugly and disturbing that may be. Based on an Edogawa Rampo story, his 1999 film Gemini, a.k.a. Soseji, considered by some to be the director's best work, departs from the modern industrial landscape of his previous films for a late Meiji period setting. The film stars Motoko Masahiro (The Bird People in China) in dual roles, caught in a fatalistic battle with inner and outer demons.
Country doctor Yukio (Motoki Masahiro) couldn't ask for much more from life. Well respected in the community, he has a flourishing practice and a beautiful wife (Ryo), albeit one who can't remember her past. Yukio prefers to associate with the upper class, and his disdain for the less fortunate causes him to turn away from those in need. But soon his storybook life begins to fall apart, with the murder of his parents and the appearance of a dangerous man who looks exactly like him and is intent on taking over his life.

Rebel filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto, Japan’s cyberpunk dimestore philosopher, here returns to fetishist territory exploring, like the films of David Cronenburg, the effects new technologies have on the human form. At times confusing, Bullet Ballet opts for image over narrative in a frenetic mesmerizing cannonball of technique.

Shot in sumptuous black and white, Bullet Ballet follows a tormented Tokyo designer named Goda after his fiancé kills herself with a pistol he didn’t know she had. Living in the now empty apartment with the bullet hole from her death boring down on him, he becomes obsessed with purchasing the same model of the gun she used to kill herself with.

Based on a novel that’s been called Japan’s Gone With the Wind, Hiroshi Inagaki’s acclaimed “Samurai Trilogy” is a sweeping saga of the legendary seventeenth-century samurai Musashi Miyamoto (powerfully portrayed by Toshiro Mifune) set against the turmoil of a devastating civil war, and follows Musashi’s odyssey from unruly youth to enlightened warrior. The Criterion Collection is proud to present The Samurai Trilogy, Hiroshi Inagaki’s epic tale of combat, valor, and self-discovery, now available for the first time in a specifically priced gift pack.

Somewhere between nightmare and a techno-fetishist's ultimate fantasy, this extraordinary film from Shinya Tsukamoto caused a sensation when it was first released, and spawned a companion piece, Tetsuo II: The Body Hammer. Concerning itself with a young man's gradual mutation into a metal-being, the film takes a surreal journey into a dark and disturbing world where D.I.Y. body transformations and post-human women with deadly robot arms form the fabric of a strange new reality. Likened to the work of Lynch and Cronenberg, Tetsuo molds explosive violence, bizarre sexual imagery and jet-black humor into a cinematic experience like you've never seen before.

In this free-jazz gangster film, reformed killer “Phoenix” Tetsu drifts around Japan, awaiting his own execution, until he’s called back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang. Seijun Suzuki’s “barrage of aestheticised violence, visual gags, [and] mind-warping color effects” got him in more trouble with Nikkatsu studio heads, who had ordered him to “play it straight this time.” Instead he gave them equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller, and Nagisa Oshima. Criterion presents the DVD premiere of Tokyo Drifter in a lush color transfer from the original, glorious Nikkatsu-scope master.

Today’s animation is much more than kids’ stuff. Increasingly complex subject matter has produced a corresponding increase in artistic interest, and forms once specific to certain cultures have crossed borders to enjoy international popularity. Japanese animation has been particularly successful in the United States, and among the most celebrated Japanese animation artists is director Mamoru Oshii.

This book is an analytical survey of Oshii’s cinematic works from the early years of his career through his 21st-century productions, including Beautiful Dreamer and the acclaimed Ghost in the Shell. The author examines these and other Oshii productions in relation to the Carnivalesque movement, technopolitics and the director’s post-robotic vision. Oshii’s films are particularly significant in their defiance of the premises of Western animation and their presentation of a highly personal commentary on both individual and collective identities in the 20th and 21st centuries. Special emphasis is placed on Oshii’s revolutionary film techniques, including the stylistically and thematically diverse features of productions ranging from animation to live action to Original Video Animation (OVA), a format Oshii invented. A complete filmography is included.

A comprehensive guide to writing screenplays by an experienced screenwriter and a respected writing teacher. Along with sections on the sreenwriter's craft, basic storytelling, and the parts and objectives of a screenplay, the book is distinguished by detailed analyses of sixteen successful films' screenplays, including the likes of E.T., Some Like It Hot, North by Northwest, Citizen Kane, and Annie Hall. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A central thesis of this book on the cognitive neuroscience of attention is that attention is not a single entity, but a finite set of brain processes that interact mutually and with other brain processes in the performance of perceptual, cognitive, and motor skills.

This tutorial takes photographers beyond the quick tips and gimmicky effects of many digital photography books. Author Katrin Eismann -- an internationally acclaimed artist, bestselling author, and gifted educator -- offers high-profile work, including her own, as examples for teaching photographers how to use the digital medium to create, edit, and output images that reflect their true vision.

Digital photographers can now attain the enduring beauty of black-and-white photography in their own work! There’s more to monochrome than just discarding the color in Photoshop, but many books simply treat it as an afterthought. Not this one! John Beardsworth teaches every major method of making a color picture black and white, and explains what kind of images are best, and why. Both ambitious newcomers and advanced enthusiasts will learn how to achieve the richest tonal depth and balance, use black and white to interpret the subject for the viewer, reproduce historic and darkroom processes, add creative and special effects, and produce exhibition-quality prints.

Kaneto Shindo’s Kuroneko — released to great acclaim in 1968 — is a sparse, atmospheric horror story, ascribing to the director’s philosophy of using beauty and purity to evoke emotion. Eccentric and more overtly supernatural than its breakthrough companion piece, Onibaba (1964), Kuroneko revisits similar themes to reveal a haunting meditation on duty, conformity, and love.

In this magnificently eerie and romantic film — loosely based on the Japanese folktale The Cat’s Return — a mother and daughter-in-law (Nobuko Otowa & Kiwako Taichi) are raped and murdered by pillagers, but return from the dead as vampiric cat spirits intent on revenge. As the ghosts lure soldiers into the bamboo groves, a fearless samurai, Gintoki (Kichiemon Nakamura), is sent to stop their reign of terror.

Kuroneko remains a standout film of the kaidan eiga genre of period ghost stories often based on old legends or kabuki plays. Marking Shindo’s first use of wire work as Yone and Shige battle against samurai blades, the film is subtly complimented by Kiyomi Kuroda’s award-winning chiaroscuro cinematography, Hikaru Hayashi’s vibrant score, and riveting performances from many of the greatest actors of Japan’s Golden Age of film. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Kuroneko on DVD for the first time in the West.

Film: A Critical Introduction, 2nd edition,provides a comprehensive framework for studying films, with an emphasis on writing as a means of exploring film’s aesthetic and cultural significance.

This book’s consistent and comprehensive focus on writing allows the reader to master film vocabulary and concepts while learning to formulate rich interpretations. Part I introduces the reader to the importance of film analysis, offering helpful strategies for discerning the way films produce meaning. Part II examines the fundamental elements of film, including narrative form, mise en scène, cinematography, editing, and sound, and shows how these concepts can be used to interpret films. Part III moves beyond textual analysis to explore film as a cultural institution and introduce the reader to essential areas of film studies research.