Desperately Seeking Dodes' Ka-den

nopouk · 12-21-06, 08:35 PM

Does anyone know where I might be able to find a copy of Kurosawa's Dodes' Ka-den on DVD? It's the only Kurosawa film I have never seen! I see that Mei-Ah made a version but it is now out of print and I can't get hold of it anywhere. Any advice as to where I could find a second hand copy?

Reservoir · 12-22-06, 01:14 AM

The English subtitled disc has certainly disappeared. Nothing even on Ebay Hong Kong.

There are versions in Italy, France, Denmark and Holland but they're either redubbed or non-English subtitled.

That Danish disc might be your best bet as it has removable subtitles so you can add your own easy. Not sure about the others. I have [Americanized] English subtitles for Dodes'Ka-Den and you can get them here If you want to check those subs (or make them better English!) just right click and open with Notepad.

vili · 12-22-06, 02:50 AM

I think the finest quality release currently is the French one, but it comes with no English subtitles. The Mei Ah release is still available if you look for it, but I wouldn't really bother.

More information about the movie's availability on DVD (although in no manner complete) can be found here: http://kurosawa.vertebratesilence.co...d/dodesukaden/

Criterion has apparently worked on Dodesukaden at some point, but gave up for one reason or another. Or at least they put it on hold.

nopouk · 12-22-06, 01:03 PM

I really don't mind about getting a Mei-Ah disc if it is cheap... it can't possibly be worse than watching their version of "They Who Tread on The Tiger's Tail". I really have looked high and dry for it online though, even ordered it from one place but they had to cancel it because it is out of print. I would get the danish version and add subtitles if it weren't for the fact that I don't have a working DVD ripper.

I e-mailed the bfi and they said that they are considering releasing the film alongside "The Most Beautiful", "They Who Tread on The Tiger's Tail", "One Wonderful Sunday" and "No Regrets for Our Youth" in a kind of Rare Kurosawa boxset which would be awesome. No decision has been made yet though.

Thing is I'm so damned impatient to see this thing! Watched Kurosawa's Oscar acception speech on Youtube and it was my first glimpse of Dodes' Ka-den... I need more :-p

Reservoir · 12-22-06, 03:24 PM

Try here. They tend to come up with rare stuff.

If you are that desperate to see the film you'll need to get a program that allows you to add your own subtitles. Lots out there to choose from. www.videohelp.com

vili · 12-23-06, 03:41 AM

If you are really desperate but don't want to figure out how to add subtitles (although it's not that complicated), settle for a VHS version. eBay, for example, seems to have at least one copy of the movie on tape, with a "Buy It Now" price of $15. With English subtitles. Amazon has 12 of them available, but the price is double. With a bit of extra searching, you might be able to find it for a good price.

And thanks for the BFI news. I mentioned it also on my Kurosawa website -- I hope that's ok.

nopouk · 12-27-06, 03:52 PM

Cheers Reservoir! I've given them a go... Will see what happens in the next few weeks before I consider getting a VHS tape. Any idea how you track your order?

And vili, yeah no problem. Although I do feel I should give you the exact quote from Claire Cooke (in which she also mentions "The Lower Depths" which is my bet for the next bfi release)...

"We do have licenses for Dodeska'den, The Lower Depths, Men Who Tread on a Tiger's Tail, No Regrets for Our Youth, The Most Beautiful and One Wonderful Sunday - some of which will hopefully be released next year. Because most of these aren't as well known as Rashomon or Drunken Angel, and we are a small label which is part of a charity, we have to balance launching more blockbusterish titles (if you can call Bigger Than Life and The Innocents blockbusters!?!) with the highly specialist ones and consider carefully the likely profits to be generated from each release in relation to the time and effort put into creating them. A solution to this might be to create a boxset of early or unknown Kurosawas and release them all at once, nothing's been decided yet.

I hope that helps, keep your eye out for our 07/08 schedule to see any of the other Kurosawas pop up."

However, this was in August. My most recent contact with them was on 18th December where, in answer to a question about the Rare Kurosawas they replied "we have not current release date planned for these, but hopefully they shall be out within the next year."

I bet you a shiny nickle that Lower Depths would be separate from the Rare boxset though (especially given the "I Live in Fear" was in the Classic box). Here's hoping that we get them soon though!

vili · 12-28-06, 04:12 AM

Thanks, nopouk. I think I might write them as well. It would be great to have those films in good quality, finally.

nopouk · 12-31-06, 06:44 AM

Bah! www.bluelaser.com came up with the same as everyone else - "out of print". Apparently they just sold the last one (hmmm...) Any other suggestions before I go for the VHS option?

manicsounds · 12-31-06, 09:23 AM

If you want to just watch it, rent it from somewhere.
Isnt there a niche family owned video store in your area?

nopouk · 12-31-06, 09:37 AM

Absolutely nothing! I live near Manchester in England and pretty much every video store near me has gone out of business thanks to the local blockbuster. And the world cinema section of Blockbuster is pretty minimalistic - I doubt that they even have Seven Samurai.

vili · 12-31-06, 10:26 AM

Love-Film, which is supposedly UK's biggest online rental service, apparently has Dodesukaden in some format. I don't seem to be able to link to the item directly, as the forum sees the name of the company as spam. But if you go to Love Film dot com and do a search for Kurosawa, you are bound to find it.

They claim it to be a DVD, although it looks like the VHS cover to me. However, if they indeed do have it, you can as far as I can see make use of the "trial period" and get the film rented for free -- that is, if you return the movie before the 14-day trial period ends. Or, you can of course become a member. I have no idea if they are worth it, of course. Never heard of them before, but if DVD Talk thinks of them as spam, that at least isn't a recommendation to me...

12-21-06, 08:35 PM	#1
nopouk New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 5	Desperately Seeking Dodes' Ka-den Does anyone know where I might be able to find a copy of Kurosawa's Dodes' Ka-den on DVD? It's the only Kurosawa film I have never seen! I see that Mei-Ah made a version but it is now out of print and I can't get hold of it anywhere. Any advice as to where I could find a second hand copy?

12-22-06, 02:50 AM	#3
vili Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 137	I think the finest quality release currently is the French one, but it comes with no English subtitles. The Mei Ah release is still available if you look for it, but I wouldn't really bother. More information about the movie's availability on DVD (although in no manner complete) can be found here: http://kurosawa.vertebratesilence.co...d/dodesukaden/ Criterion has apparently worked on Dodesukaden at some point, but gave up for one reason or another. Or at least they put it on hold. __________________ Akira Kurosawa - Vertebrate Silence

12-23-06, 03:41 AM	#6
vili Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 137	If you are really desperate but don't want to figure out how to add subtitles (although it's not that complicated), settle for a VHS version. eBay, for example, seems to have at least one copy of the movie on tape, with a "Buy It Now" price of $15. With English subtitles. Amazon has 12 of them available, but the price is double. With a bit of extra searching, you might be able to find it for a good price. And thanks for the BFI news. I mentioned it also on my Kurosawa website -- I hope that's ok. __________________ Akira Kurosawa - Vertebrate Silence

12-27-06, 03:52 PM	#7
nopouk New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 5	Cheers Reservoir! I've given them a go... Will see what happens in the next few weeks before I consider getting a VHS tape. Any idea how you track your order? And vili, yeah no problem. Although I do feel I should give you the exact quote from Claire Cooke (in which she also mentions "The Lower Depths" which is my bet for the next bfi release)... "We do have licenses for Dodeska'den, The Lower Depths, Men Who Tread on a Tiger's Tail, No Regrets for Our Youth, The Most Beautiful and One Wonderful Sunday - some of which will hopefully be released next year. Because most of these aren't as well known as Rashomon or Drunken Angel, and we are a small label which is part of a charity, we have to balance launching more blockbusterish titles (if you can call Bigger Than Life and The Innocents blockbusters!?!) with the highly specialist ones and consider carefully the likely profits to be generated from each release in relation to the time and effort put into creating them. A solution to this might be to create a boxset of early or unknown Kurosawas and release them all at once, nothing's been decided yet. I hope that helps, keep your eye out for our 07/08 schedule to see any of the other Kurosawas pop up." However, this was in August. My most recent contact with them was on 18th December where, in answer to a question about the Rare Kurosawas they replied "we have not current release date planned for these, but hopefully they shall be out within the next year." I bet you a shiny nickle that Lower Depths would be separate from the Rare boxset though (especially given the "I Live in Fear" was in the Classic box). Here's hoping that we get them soon though! Last edited by nopouk; 12-27-06 at 03:54 PM.

12-28-06, 04:12 AM	#8
vili Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 137	Thanks, nopouk. I think I might write them as well. It would be great to have those films in good quality, finally. __________________ Akira Kurosawa - Vertebrate Silence

12-22-06, 01:14 AM	#2
Reservoir Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Puget Sound Posts: 531	The English subtitled disc has certainly disappeared. Nothing even on Ebay Hong Kong. There are versions in Italy, France, Denmark and Holland but they're either redubbed or non-English subtitled. That Danish disc might be your best bet as it has removable subtitles so you can add your own easy. Not sure about the others. I have [Americanized] English subtitles for Dodes'Ka-Den and you can get them here If you want to check those subs (or make them better English!) just right click and open with Notepad.

12-22-06, 01:03 PM	#4
nopouk New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 5	I really don't mind about getting a Mei-Ah disc if it is cheap... it can't possibly be worse than watching their version of "They Who Tread on The Tiger's Tail". I really have looked high and dry for it online though, even ordered it from one place but they had to cancel it because it is out of print. I would get the danish version and add subtitles if it weren't for the fact that I don't have a working DVD ripper. I e-mailed the bfi and they said that they are considering releasing the film alongside "The Most Beautiful", "They Who Tread on The Tiger's Tail", "One Wonderful Sunday" and "No Regrets for Our Youth" in a kind of Rare Kurosawa boxset which would be awesome. No decision has been made yet though. Thing is I'm so damned impatient to see this thing! Watched Kurosawa's Oscar acception speech on Youtube and it was my first glimpse of Dodes' Ka-den... I need more :-p

12-22-06, 03:24 PM	#5
Reservoir Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Puget Sound Posts: 531	Try here. They tend to come up with rare stuff. If you are that desperate to see the film you'll need to get a program that allows you to add your own subtitles. Lots out there to choose from. www.videohelp.com

12-31-06, 06:44 AM	#9
nopouk New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 5	Bah! www.bluelaser.com came up with the same as everyone else - "out of print". Apparently they just sold the last one (hmmm...) Any other suggestions before I go for the VHS option?

12-31-06, 09:23 AM	#10
manicsounds DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 1,592	If you want to just watch it, rent it from somewhere. Isnt there a niche family owned video store in your area? __________________ the standard-defs\|the hi-defs

12-31-06, 09:37 AM	#11
nopouk New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 5	Absolutely nothing! I live near Manchester in England and pretty much every video store near me has gone out of business thanks to the local blockbuster. And the world cinema section of Blockbuster is pretty minimalistic - I doubt that they even have Seven Samurai.

12-31-06, 10:26 AM	#12
vili Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 137	Love-Film, which is supposedly UK's biggest online rental service, apparently has Dodesukaden in some format. I don't seem to be able to link to the item directly, as the forum sees the name of the company as spam. But if you go to Love Film dot com and do a search for Kurosawa, you are bound to find it. They claim it to be a DVD, although it looks like the VHS cover to me. However, if they indeed do have it, you can as far as I can see make use of the "trial period" and get the film rented for free -- that is, if you return the movie before the 14-day trial period ends. Or, you can of course become a member. I have no idea if they are worth it, of course. Never heard of them before, but if DVD Talk thinks of them as spam, that at least isn't a recommendation to me... __________________ Akira Kurosawa - Vertebrate Silence Last edited by vili; 12-31-06 at 10:32 AM.