‘Underworld Beauty’ Blu-Ray Review – A Compelling Leap Forward For Seijun Suzuki

Retrieving the diamonds he stashed before his arrest, thief Miyamoto hopes to help his old partner Mihara, crippled during the heist. Their former boss, crime lord Oyane, offers to mediate with a foreign buyer, but secretly wants the stones for himself. The deal goes awry when gunmen appear on the scene. Mihara swallows the diamonds but dies in the chase, leaving a valuable corpse in the police morgue. Miyamoto forms an uneasy alliance with Mihara’s wildcat sister Akiko to keep the gems away from gangsters, cops and even Akiko’s greedy boyfriend. This wildly inventive early noir sees Seijun Suzuki (Branded to Kill, Tattooed Life) infectiously playing with genre rules and gender stereotypes.

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Video Quality

Underworld Beauty comes to Blu-Ray courtesy of Radiance Films sourced from a great 4K restoration provided by Nikkatsu in the original 2.39:1. The moody black-and-white photography shines in HD with an impressive command over the contrast. The highlights never bloom and the black levels are in respectable shape with some inviting depth to the image. The transfer preserves a consistent, natural grain structure that showcases the filmic qualities of the picture and brings out a reservoir of details in the background. A handful of shots reveal a slight bit of softness, but these are fleeting at worst. The most obvious downturn is during the implementation of opticals in the English scene that requires forced Japanese subtitles for the native audience. There is no lingering damage to be observed in this presentation. Radiance Films continues to be an ambassador for Japanese cinema domestically. 

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with an LPCM 2.0 mono track in the original Japanese (with optional English subtitles). One of the strongest elements of the picture is the score, and this element comes through well in relation to competing noises. This track is presented with fine fidelity and only a touch of hiss and brittleness in the peaks for a title of this vintage. The film features some bustling moments that handle the fallout with ease. The narrative is quite dialogue-driven and all exchanges come through clearly without getting overshadowed by environmental effects or the score. This is great work from Radiance Films.

Special Features

The first pressing of the Radiance Films Blu-Ray of Underworld Beauty includes a booklet featuring new writing by critic Claudia Siefen-Leitich and an archival review of the film. These provide a great examination of the film. The on-disc special features are as follows: 

• Mizuki Kodama: A new 15-minute interview with critic Mizuki Kodama in which she discusses where this falls in the career of Seijun Suzuki, how the filmmaker started to defy conventional choices, the unique portrayal of the female protagonist, the deeper meaning behind certain imagery in the film, and more. 

• Love Letter: A 40-minute film from Seijun Suzuki released in 1959 about unrequited and misplaced love. 

• • Audio Commentary by William Carroll

• • Trailer (2:54)

• Trailer (3:15)

Final Thoughts

Underworld Beauty is a pivotal leap forward for filmmaker Seijun Suzuki that captures some of what would make him such an important filmmaker for years to come. The dexterous tone brings a unique sense of playfulness to the crime genre that you may not have expected at this time. Everything is crafted with such care, and the narrative keeps you invested throughout. This is a good entrypoint for the legendary filmmaker. Radiance Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a great A/V presentation and a couple of wonderful special features. Fans of Japanese cinema should buy with confidence. Recommended 

Underworld Beauty will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on January 28, 2025. 

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.