New Kichiku dai Enkai 2 disc set from Artsmagic DVD - Gore!

Duane

The following is a press release from ArtsmagicDVD:

With the release of Kichiku dai Enkai, Artsmagic celebrates a new first for the company....it's first 2 DVD set. Unlike certain 2 disc releases, this isn't just a gesture. We had so much material that we couldn't fit it onto a DVD9. The film itself runs for about an hour and three quarters, and when we toted up all the rest of the things we had, we found out it came to about two and a half hours. As with the Dutch release we have a "Making of..." and an awards ceremony, but we've also had exclusively shot interviews with the director, his co-producer and cameraman not to say lead actor, and four members of the cast.

And there's a huge gulf between the film itself, which has been called the goriest film of all time, and the people who made it, who are astonishingly light hearted and young in the nicest way. A lot of the feel of being part of this movie comes through in the "Making of..." which is not just a warts and all view, but also a farts and all view of filmmaking. Incidentally, any would-be film maker could do worse than sitting through it, and seeing how a low budget film can be put together and turned into something that wins international acclaim.

It's reasonably well known that Kichiku dai Enkai was a graduation piece of work. But it's obviously not just any kind of graduation offering. Maybe the reason for this is the dedication of the crew and the actors....most of the latter being hauled in by being promised either that they had the star role, or that they'd only be needed for a short scene, and their involvement was unlikely to interfere with anything else. What emerged was a project that took a year to shoot, with people taking odd jobs to subsidise it, and even failing to graduate partly because of the time dedicated to it. Not that they're afraid to criticise their director, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri. In fact, there's considerable speculation as to what perverse career or lifestyle he might have followed had he not managed to find a place in the film industry. Then again, one of the cast who speculates about this admits that one of his pastimes wasn't just chatting up the girls in town but stealing their knickers from the washing line! All agree that Kumakiri did a good job in keeping the cast together and attempting to look after them, but even here his efforts fall far short of perfection. When they're all famished, not having been able to afford to buy food, he goes off to get them a McDonalds. As they tuck in, one of the cast complains that his cheeseburgers cold, whilst another comments that his offering tastes distinctly odd, at which point Kumakiri confesses that all the food has been rescued from the bin at the back of the McDonalds. There really is enough material to form the basis of a film about the making of Kichiku Dai Enkai.

We doubt that there's ever been a DVD put together with such strong contrasts within it. But of course, the main thing is the film itself, the bleakest and bloodiest look at fringe politics that is ever likely to appear on any screen.
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Duane L. Martin Webmaster - B-Movie Central Editor / Webmaster / Staff Writer - Rogue Cinema