PROFOUND DESIRES OF THE GODS Blu-ray Review

Masters of Cinema:

The culmination of Shôhei Imamura's extraordinary examinations of the fringes of Japanese society throughout the 1960s, Profound Desires of the Gods [Kamigami no fukaki yokubô] was an 18-month super-production which failed to make an impression at the time of its release, but has since risen in stature to become one of the most legendary -- albeit least seen -- Japanese films of recent decades.

Presenting a vast chronicle of life on the remote Kurage Island, the film centres on the disgraced, superstitious, interbred Futori family and the Tokyo engineer sent to supervise the creation of a new well -- an encounter which leads to both conflict and complicity in strange and powerful ways.

A tragic view of a passing epoch that teeters on the edge of grotesque farce, Imamura's merciless gaze combines with spectacular colour 'Scope photography to create a mythic saga convulsing with earthly impulses. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present this unforgettable work in an exclusively restored high-definition 1080p transfer on Blu-ray only.

Profound Desires of the Gods isn't for everyone.  This loving look at primitivism on Okinawa in the late 60's is languidly paced, perhaps a bit too much so at times. However, for those with a bit of a heartier constitution for three hour films with minimal action, you will come out rewarded. 

Imamura had a well documented fascination with anthropology, so much so that he made a series of anthropological documentaries and even went so far as to give many of his narrative films explaining them as anthropological studies.  This film is no different, and is, perhaps, the closest to a true narrative anthropological study as there has ever been.  He observes the lives of the islanders with great delicacy, often from a distance, so as not to influence their behavior, much in the same way a documentarian might do.  In addition, he never condescends to his subjects, he views these people with their simple lives as noble, and the intrusion of modernity as something to be mitigated, rather than embraced.

The film seems to have an overarching plot about modernizing the island, but that is really only a framework through which many more interesting subplots meander. There are stories of love, loss, jealousy, revenge, disaster, victory, and defeat, and all are treated with great care.  The primitives in Profound Desires are the heroes, and the ones who come to help them modernize, provide little apart from an imposition to their lives, which have been led in much the same way for centuries.  It isn't the plot that grabs you, it is the characters and their relationships.  The relationships with each other, with their deities, and with the island itself are marvelous to watch.  Each of those three types of relationships takes equal effort and has equal space in their hearts.

I really loved Profound Desires of the Gods.  The film is beautifully shot, and never flashy, but makes a solid visual impression.  The characters are given room to breathe and evolve, and if that takes three hours, so be it.  There is a bit of a melancholy ending, but I think that reflects Imamura's feelings toward his subject matter, and could just as easily have been made today.  This is a wonderful film that has been all but lost to English speaking audiences, but Masters of Cinema have done a wonderful job bringing it to light.

The Disc:

Masters of Cinema have done it again.  I won't go into too much detail, but only because there are no faults to discuss.  The image is perfect and tack sharp.  There are numerous occasions where Imamura used avant garde lighting setups and those colors are brilliantly displayed.  The DTS-HD MA audio is also brilliant.  It isn't fancy, but it suits the film and sounds wonderful.

The extras are typically good for an MoC release as well.  One would presume that anyone willing to sit down with a film this long wouldn't have a problem with the wonderful 44 page booklet included.  It is filled to the brim with brilliant writing on and from Imamura, and is every bit as engaging as the film itself.  Also included as an extra is an 11 minute introduction from Japanese film expert Tony Rayns, which is awesome.  Rayns helps to explain the film's place in Japanese history and where it fits into Imamura's oeuvre, as well as providing a little bit of very helpful background that will allow the viewer to slip more easily into the film that if he'd gone in blind and had to figure things out. 

Masters of Cinema have yet to put a foot wrong and this release won't be the one to change that.  Highly recommended!

Masters of Cinema's Blu-ray release of Profound Desires of the Gods is locked to Region B.