GOMORRAH: Season 5, Episodes 1-4, various directors/Arrow
The ever-enterprising Arrow Films have long scoured the globe to bring viewers accomplished foreign language film and television. Following the unprecedented success of the Danish dramas The Killing, Borgen, The Bridge and French title Braquo, Arrow has been responsible for the arrival of a host of new Italian shows to their roster, the key example being the acclaimed modern-day Italian gangster epic Gomorrah. Now we have Season 5, Episodes 1-4 with the violent saga of the Camorra crime syndicate set against Naples’ dark underworlds confronting total war. The Levantes are taking on the Camorra with chaos beckoning. The original concept of Gomorrah was based on an idea by Roberto Saviano, from his international best-selling book, and the film of the same name, directed by Matteo Garrone. The series focuses on the fierce Neapolitan crime organisation, and it’s unsparing. This season is possibly the most striking yet – kinetic, powerful, and acted by a formidable cast with panache.
ABASHIRI PRISON, Teruo Ishii, director/Eureka Masters of Cinema
There are multiple reasons to relish this striking transfer of a cult series, but for many it will be the presence of the charismatic star Ken Takakura that is the clincher – although the acting ensemble throughout is highly watchable, if larger than life. Built in 19th-century for political prisoners, the reputation of Japan’s Abashiri prison was malign indeed, and this first in a series of in-your-face Yakuza movies released between 1965 and 1972 demonstrates why the series has such a strong reputation. Apart from the impeccable transfer, another virtue of the issue is the informative contribution of Japanese specialist Jasper Sharp who puts the series in context with typical aplomb.
ARMY OF SHADOWS/L’ARMÉE DES OMBRES, Jean-Pierre Melville, director/STUDIOCANAL
What a privilege to see Melville’s dark and disturbing masterpiece about the Resistance in Nazi-occupied France. This is not easy viewing — the uncompromising refusal to celebrate the heroism of the Resistances is still shocking, but it is a film to be seen, not least for Simone Signoret’s devastating performance. Signoret apart, the impressive cast also includes Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse and Jean-Pierre Cassel, In 1942, French engineer and Resistant cell leader, Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura), is arrested and sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Managing to escape we follow Gerbier and his Resistance allies through operations, camaraderie and espionage, and witness the constant threat of capture, danger and the tough decisions that need to be taken to stay alive.
COLUMBIA NOIR 6: THE WHISTLER William Castle et al, directors/Indicator
The indicator label has already done strong service for the cult exploitation director William Castle with a handsome set featuring such distinctive Castle outings as Homicidal and Mr Sardonicus. The director is most celebrated (and most notorious) for his outrageous showmanship and publicity gimmicks which are probably better remembered than the films themselves. But that is a real shame, as Castle’s funhouse horror movies are almost invariably lively and entertaining, delivered with an irresistible mix of straightfaced seriousness and tongue-in-cheek hucksterism. And now Indicator has issued its sixth journey into Columbia Pictures’ film noir output, this time exploring Castle’s earlier films as director, firmly in the crime field, although the narrator of this series, the enigmatic ‘Whistler’, may be a supernatural figure. The new set features all eight films in the ‘B’-movie cycle, which was adapted from a long-running radio series. The films all star the reliable (if stolid) Richard Dix as a man caught up in devastating turns of fate – and the source of the material includes such classic noir writers as Cornell Woolrich. Oh – and don’t miss Kim Newman’s video essay on William Castle.
DARBY AND JOAN SERIES 1, various directors/Acorn Media
Two charismatic stars, Emmy award-winning Greta Scacchi (known for her coruscating turns in White Mischief, and, more recently Bodies) and Emmy-nominated Bryan Brown (Cocktail), team up in the warmly entertaining Darby and Joan. This Aussie mystery series follows two unlikely strangers whose lives unexpectedly collide and who embark on the adventure of a lifetime as they hit the Australian open roads for a variety of sleuthing encounters. Cosy crime? Certainly, but enjoyable fare.
