[TsuiHark]

It's not a Samurai movie per se, althouth the setting is similar, but I would love to see a DVD edition of Fighting Tatsu, the Rickshaw Man (Tai Katô, 1964). It's a pure gem of a movie. Think Fukasaku's Street Mobster meets Okamoto's The Sword of Doom. The movie has never been released on home video worldwide as far as I know (and I've looked extensively, it doesn't even exist in Japan) and no copies are circulating the web. As far as I know, the movie has only been shown a handful of time in the past 20 years and only two times that I'm sure of : in the 90s, the Japan foundation circulated a copy through various Cinematheques (Paris, Rome, LA, ...) for a worldwide Tai Kato retrospective, and very recently, the movie was shown in Paris at the Japan Foundation for a Misumi/Kato retrospective (that's where I saw it). Their copy is in really good shape and would require little to no remastering. English Subs were burnt-in, but very readable from my recollection. I contacted several French distributors already, but most are leaving the Asian market completely (Wild Side refocused on the US and HK Video have closed shop for good) and others are unwilling to bet on an unknown movie (basically they'd rather distribute renowned directors such as Gosha than take a chance). I hope Arrow Drome will be interested.

Just to give you an idea of the movie : The main protagonist, Tatsu, has severe anger issues (he yells at and fights with just about everyone, even at the risk of his own life, that is, even when bare-handed and faced by 20 angry mobsters with guns). One day a beautiful rich girl gets into his rickshaw. He antagonises her by being his own aggressive self, and when she dares respond. he trows her, along with his rickshaw, over a bridge and into the river. Simple.as.that. And that's just one of the many crazy things you'll see him do. But the movie is not pure comedy, it blends comedy and tragedy with an ease I had seldom seen before. I'm dying to see it again just thinking about it.