
Radiance Films
Blu-ray Release: December 17th, 2024
Video: 1.78:1/1080p/Color
Audio: Japanese LPCM Mono
Subtitles: English
Run Time: 111:49
Director: Eiichi Kudo
When his police detective best friend is killed, down-at-heel private eye and part-time blues singer BJ (Yusaku Matsuda) gets the blame. He must start his own investigation to clear his name but uncovers a tangled web involving crooked cops, drug-dealing gangsters, and the city's underground gay and biker scenes. Samurai movie veteran Eichii Kudo (The Fort of Death) directs this loose remake of Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye as a neo-noir that captures urban Japan at the height of 1980s decadence.
Normally when I write these reviews, I write my own version of the film's synopsis for the opening paragraph, but in this case, I'm taking the synopsis straight off of the box copy. A 1980s Japanese riff on The Long Goodbye? Sounds like an incredibly cool overlooked gem ripe for rediscovery. Well, the description isn't wrong, but -- even if this is my own stupidity -- I wasn't expecting Kudo's surprisingly accurate evocation of Altman's impressionistic love of character minutia and observational filmmaking. It's not that The Long Goodbye isn't traditional Altman in that sense, it's just that it also manages to evoke things like The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep in terms of danger and cool. Yokohama BJ Blues is a film that I'm sure will speak to a niche audience in its specificity, but it also feels like Kudo cared more about the Altman part than the detective part.

One thing the movie certainly gets right is the atmosphere and other aesthetic touches. Most of Yokohama BJ Blues takes place in dingy bars and apartments (which all look incredible and burst with personality), lit by neon or natural lighting, with plenty of those long film noir shadows, beautifully captured by cinematographer Seizō Sengen. It's a very cool looking movie, both stylistically and temperature-wise, with the look likely to inspire memories of James Cameron's steely teal remaster of The Terminator. There's also Yûsaku Matsuda, who plays the protagonist, BJ. With his permanently suspicious eyes peering out from underneath long hair, sporting a scraggly beard, a perpetual cigarette, and wrapped up in a long coat and scarf, he manages to look simultaneously like an anime character archetype and exactly how one might picture a 1980s version of a private detective.
If there's a problem with the movie, it's the incomprehensible plot, which twists around and around, leading BJ slowly through a string of people whose relationship to one another becomes more and more muddled as the movie goes on. As mentioned in that box copy, the inciting incident (which occurs almost a half-hour into the movie, after BJ has hung around and performed in a few bars) involves the death of his childhood friend, a police officer, who is thinking about coming clean about snitching for the mob. His friend's partner immediately suspects BJ of helping that mob draw his friend out in order to kill him, and spends the rest of the movie chasing him in a manner that is so over-the-top as to become comedic, whether Kudo intends it to be read that way or not. That's about the only thread I can say I fully followed, as Kudo's attention is far more focused on the aforementioned atmosphere than storytelling. Other characters that drift in and out of the picture include an over-the-top gangster who may or may not have IBS, with a strange son who looks kind of like Data from Star Trek, with whom BJ has a vaguely homoerotic relationship, or three different women who BJ sees at different times.

As far as the film being a loose remake of The Long Goodbye, "loose" is definitely the right word for it. Now, to be fair, I couldn't recite every plot beat from Altman's film from memory, but having rewatched it jus a couple of months ago, I have a broad-strokes memory of what happens, and I had hoped, when it became clear that I was losing my grip on the web of characters in this film, that I could use it as a guideline to get my bearings, but I can't say that helped much, even if there was a scene it felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger could have popped up in. In particular, I was sort of waiting for Blues to end in the same way, but Kudo has his own ideas for wrapping up the story, and like the rest of the film, he goes for low-key and somewhat inscrutable instead of something a bit more punchy and direct. Taste is subjective, so others may be more enthralled by the unique rhythms of Yokohama BJ Blues than I was, and there's no question it's a film with a singular vision, but those who check it out should be prepared for that vision to be far more subtle than the summary makes it sound.
Video
Much like their recent release of Tattooed Life, the booklet for Yokohama BJ Blues isn't very insightful as to the source of the new video presentation on this disc, simply stating that it was provided by the Toei. While there's no question that this is an HD presentation, and it has enjoyable filmic qualities, it is also obviously dated and doesn't always provide the kind of clarity and detail that one might hope for, especially given that so much of the film takes place in low-light environments. This is a very soft-looking presentation, albeit in a pleasantly filmic way, offering little in the way of fine detail but providing adequate overall clarity. Color reproduction is fine, working with the film's stylized cool palette, which offers little in the way of pop but nonetheless looks nice. Occasionally, some reds and greens pop through, but for the most part, this is very teal-looking, seemingly by design. Print damage is common.
Audio
Sound is a LPCM Mono Japanese track. I expected this to be a little underwhelming, given it isn't even 2.0 stereo, but the aural presentation is surprisingly solid, offering dialogue, the various musical performances, and the occasional bit of action with an impressive dynamism. It's not exactly a showcase track, but it gets the job done. English subtitles are also provided.

Extras
Radiance has produced three very nice new video pieces for this release of Yokohama BJ Blues.
Interview with star Mari Hemmi (13:48) - Hemmi discusses returning to acting after a brief period away from the industry and wanting to work on her acting skills in order to be in musicals, being intimidated by working with an actor like Matsuda, the difference between stage acting and screen acting, his presence when he was "on" and when he was being himself, the impression that she was cast for her own presence, the ensemble cast (even the ones she didn't work with), a funny story about a miscommunication on set, and her love of the finished film. Hemmi is quite charming and seems genuinely enthusiastic -- an especially charming little chat.
Interview with screenwriter Shoichi Maruyama (22:13) - Maruyama talks about his history working on several previous projects with Matsuda, all while Matsuda became more famous in Japan, allowing for the opportunity to make Yokohama BJ Blues together, and the key role that William Friedkin's Cruising played in the development of the film (which is, perhaps, not what one might expect). The use of Marlowe as inspiration is touched upon, as well as the specific influence of The Long Goodbye in structuring the movie and developing the character for Matsuda. Maruyama explains how Yokohama was selected as the setting for the film and developing the motif of travel as a key element of the movie, the speed with which production suddenly ramped up, scoring Kudo as director and then casting the film. He uses the opening scene as an illustration of how Kudo approached his script and how he appreciated those changes, as well as external interpretations of certain parts of the movie (including one I myself made above, which he says was not the idea, but makes sense). He wraps up by talking a bit more about his relationship with Matsuda, and his impressions of his own work, including his love of Yokohama BJ Blues in particular. Frankly, watching this helped clarify several scenes in the movie that seemed a bit abstract in the moment -- although it is nice to see Maruyama chuckle a bit at the notion that the story is secondary to mood and atmosphere.
Location tour with writer and Yokohama expert Toru San (18:04) - As advertised, this is a piece with Toru San leading the viewer around locations from the film, providing both context for what the locations are meant to represent or be in the film, as well as real-world history of the buildings and places in the movie. Those who have dreams of traveling to Japan and visiting Yokohama couldn't ask for a better miniature tour of the city, as San is very informative and enjoyable to listen to.
Original Theatrical Trailer (3:05)
As is standard for Reliance releases, this one-disc release also comes with a paper card that wraps around the spine until the plastic wrap is removed, as well as reversible cover artwork. Inside the case, there is a 27-page booklet with writing by Dimitri Ianni, as well as a contemporaneous review by Satoshi Takahashi, newly translated from Japanese.

Conclusion
Perhaps I'm a victim of my own expectations here, but when I heard "1980s Japanese remake of The Long Goodbye," I pictured something a little different. To call Yokohama BJ Blues "character driven" seems a little overstated -- this feels more vibe driven, which left me yearning for a little more clarity and character development. Still, those looking for something unique will certainly get that out of the film -- worth a look for the adventurous, just to see if it lands on your exact wavelength, and whether it is or not, Radiance has produced a very nice disc for the film.
The images on this page are taken from the Blu-ray and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.
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