Tetsuo (Hideki Takahashi, Fighting Elegy), a low-level yakuza is double-crossed by his boss and attacked. His younger brother Kenji (Kotobuki Hananomoto, This Transient Life), an aspiring artist with no connections to crime, comes to his aid and kills Tetsuo’s assailant. Fearing repercussions from the yakuza they flee to Manchuria where they risk coming under suspicion of rival gangs. Seijun Suzuki (Branded to Kill) remains loyal to the conventions of the yakuza film, but Tattooed Life contains flashes of his later creative genius, including a final act of explosive visual excess that has become one of the director’s all-time classic scenes.

For thoughts on Tattooed Life, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:

Video Quality

Tattooed Life comes to Blu-Ray courtesy of Radiance Films sourced from a nice HD master provided by Nikkatsu in the original 2.35:1. The transfer preserves a consistent, natural grain structure that showcases the filmic look of the picture and brings out a treasure trove of details in the background. A few shots reveal a slight bit of softness, but these are momentary at worst. There is no egregious damage to be observed in this presentation with only a handful of instances of dirt and specks remaining in the image. Colors grace the screen favorably with standout hues in the costumes and production design. Black levels are in respectable shape with some welcome depth to the image. Radiance Films continues to delight fans of Japanese cinema.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with an LPCM 2.0 mono track in the original Japanese (with optional English subtitles). It is with great joy that we report that this track is presented with consistent fidelity and only the expected amount of hiss and brittleness in the peaks for a title of this vintage. The film features some kinetic moments near the end that control the chaos in grand fashion. The narrative is quite dialogue-driven and all exchanges come through clearly without getting buried by environmental effects or the score. The score comes through admirably in tandem with the competing noises. This is good work from Radiance Films.

Special Features

The first pressing of the Radiance Films Blu-Ray of Tattooed Life includes a booklet featuring new writing by Tom Vick and a newly translated archival review of the film. These provide a great examination of the film. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Audio Commentary: William Carroll, author of Seijun Suzuki and Postwar Cinema, provides a new commentary track that delves into the career of Suzuki, how this fits into his output, the unexpected directions he took common tropes, the themes of the narrative, and more.

Seijun Suzuki: A newly edited 11-minute piece from 2006 with filmmaker Seijun Suzuki who discusses his work with the studios, his background before movies, why he chooses to not make films only grounded in realism, the breakneck pace of production back in the day, and more.

Takeo Kimura: A newly edited nearly 12-minute interview from 2006 with the art director in which he discusses his collaborations with Suzuki, the early confused reactions to his films, working in his reality, and more.

Trailer: The three-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

Tattooed Life showcases the talents of filmmaker Seijun Suzuki quite well with a strong eye for composition that is best represented in the violent finale. The themes of brotherhood are explored in decent depth as you see our two main characters stick by one another even when circumstances test their bond. There are some messy story beats, but there is a lot to appreciate about this one. Radiance Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a couple of wonderful special features. It is a golden age for fans of Japanese cinema. Recommended

Tattooed Life will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on September 24, 2024.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Radiance Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.