Blood and Bones (Chi to Hone) (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio Gallery-Image Theatrical Trailer Trailer-The Eel; Hana Bi; Violent Cop; Dolls; Sonatine
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	144:10 (Case: 140)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (83:24)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Yoichi Sai
Studio Distributor	Madman Madman Entertainment	Starring	Takeshi Kitano Hirofumi Arai Tomoko Tabata Jô Odagiri Kyoka Suzuki Mihoko Suino Shigemori Matsu Yûko Nakamura
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Tarô Iwashiro

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) Japanese dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Blood and Bones (Chi to hone) portrays the life of Kim (Takeshi Kitano), a Korean immigrant who has resided in the slums of Osaka from a young age. His most basic personal nature is one of violence, and not only in the physical sense. Kim has a way of going about his business that doesn't consider the needs or feelings of others, be them family, friends or strangers. Words cannot do justice to how repulsive an animal this man is; rape, violence, torture, kidnapping and murder are second nature to him and he even eats rotten, maggot infested meat like it's a delicacy. If someone disagrees with him or gets in his way, they are removed from the equation, plain and simple. His wife lives in a state of perpetual fear, as do his children, colleagues and acquaintances.

    After eluding conscription in the war, Kim hatches an idea to open a fishcake factory. Not surprisingly, the entire family is forced into labour with little recompense. When a group of overworked labourers at the factory approach Kim for overtime payment, they are violently put in their place. The business is a roaring success and Kim's newfound wealth leads him into a new career path: loan sharking. Needless to say, this is an occupation that suits his character down to the ground. Then a son arrives named Takeshi, claiming to be the product of a rape Kim committed years before. He is a headstrong young bloke with a new wife in tow and his own way of doing things, so to say the father and son don't get along is an understatement. Their differences collide in an evening of brawling after Takeshi approaches his father for a loan.

    This harrowing tale is told from the perspective of Kim's younger son, Masao. Masao and his sister, Hanako, endure some unbelievable abuse at the hands of this monster, Hanako trying to poison herself unsuccessfully in an attempt to end it all. She finally finds her escape by wedding a slightly less abusive husband and bearing a daughter. Meanwhile, Kim yearns for another son of his own and takes in two new wives. First Kyoyo, a young, pretty war widow who begins seeing the brute while she is yearning to die. Kyoyo fails to bear him children, then suffers a debilitating tumour of the brain and Kim is forced to care for her night and day. The novelty soon wears off and she is neglected, so another wife is fooled into caring for her while simultaneously bearing children for Kim.

    The film follows Kim's life as his health unravels all the way until the bitter, cold, lonely end. By his time the viewer couldn't possibly have any remaining empathy for the man.

    Director Yoichi Sai and star Takeshi Kitano have produced an amazing film. Kitano's is an amazing performance, one that must have been quite an ordeal for a sane man to portray. Based on novel Chi to hone by Sogiru Yan, I can't say this is a pleasurable experience, but it is certainly a moving one that leaves you feeling rather numb.

Video

    This video transfer is PAL, but it is not especially sharp. The image is generally clear easy on the eye, with bold colours, realistic skin tones and good shadow detail. A particularly dark scene at 16:05 shows excellent depth in figures in both the foreground and background. Where the image is let down is the MPEG bitrate. Compression noise and grain are a recurring issue, limiting the level of fine detail overall. Expanses of shaded colour, such as the white hospital bed at 127:00, show a constant shimmering of compression blocking.

    The transfer is presented in the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.75:1, complete with 16x9 enhancement. A thin black border surrounds the frame, however this is not likely to be an issue to viewers with displays that overscan the image.

    A removable English subtitle stream is included and is comprised of a yellow font with a black outline. The text is easy to follow and I noted only a few small typing errors, missed letters and the like.

    This disc is dual layered, with the transition placed slightly after a break in scenes, at 83:24. There is quite a bit of crowd noise at this moment, so the break might be noticeable on some players. I didn't notice it during normal playback and had to find it manually.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are three soundtracks accompanying this film on DVD, all of which are presented in the film's original languages - in this case a blend of Japanese and Korean. The default soundtrack is Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s). Soundtracks in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (224Kb/s) and dts (768Kb/s) can be selected manually or on the fly. All three soundtracks were mistakenly labelled as English during the disc authoring process. I listened to the default soundtrack in its entirety and sampled the others at key moments in the film for comparison.

    The dialogue is crystal clear and easy to discern in the mix. The film's ADR is seamless and I didn't note any audio sync issues at all.

    The surround channels are very active for a drama such as this - I was quite surprised in fact. At 12:40 some military planes fly from front to rear with great effect. I also noted thunder, rain and some elements of the score in the rear channels. Voices are generally confined to the front centre channel throughout the film.

    In comparing the soundtracks, I found the dts noticeably louder, with a cleaner, crisp feel to the score. The overall depth is also superior, especially in effects that utilise the LFE channel. The stereo soundtrack is a waste of disc space in my opinion, space that would have been better utilised improving the video bitrate.

    The score by Taro Iwashiro is orchestral and grand, with a distinct air of romanticism woven throughout. The beautiful, haunting melodies provide an interesting counterpoint to the film's unrelenting violence.

    The subwoofer is used sparingly to accentuate some Foley effects and the like. The crashing waves during the film's opening are particularly well served in this area.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Gallery (4:11)

    A scrolling montage of stills taken from the film, with a couple of shots behind the scenes as well. A portion of the memorable score plays in the background.

Theatrical Trailer (1:48)

     This trailer successfully conveys the feel of the film without giving too much away.

Madman Trailers (5)

    Trailers are included for Shoei Imamura's brilliant drama The Eel, and several of Takeshi Kitano's other works; Hana Bi, Violent Cop, Dolls and Sonatine. None are 16x9 enhanced.

    As you would expect, a Region 2 NTSC Japanese Special Edition exists and is spread over two discs. Additional features include a making of featurette, cast & crew interviews and footage captured at the film's premiere. This edition is quite expensive (it is listed for more than $70AU on some retail sites).

    Our local product is ideal for those who would just like to check out the film. If you're after some more substantial extras it might pay to shop around a bit.

    The video transfer is good, but would have benefited from a higher video bitrate.

    The audio transfer includes a great dts option.

    The extras include some trailers and a gallery.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall