Available on physical media from Radiance Films on 7/22/2025
A war photographer goes home and plans murders and robberies.
Written Shoichi Maruyama from a novel by Haruhiko Ôyabu, and directed by Tôru Murakawa, this post-war action drama takes a well-known story that has been adapted before but as a post-World War II story and not a post-Vietnam war story. Here, the way the story is approached is more modern and showing how a war that most do not think about involving Japan can has left issues for people who were involved directly and not so directly. The writing here is good and the direction works well with it. There is something disturbing here that runs deep and gives the characters complexity. There is also something here that will make most people want to see this film once, appreciate it, and not watch it again. Of course, there is a public for this, and it is a solid film to look for and see. It is, however, a really well-written piece of cinema that brings forth worthy issues that many should see and perhaps remember a bit better.
The cast here is solid with lead Yûsaku Matsuda, who plays war photographer Kunihiko Date, giving a performance that is all about the little things at times and the not-so-little things at others. His performance is nuanced and organic, giving his character both life and complexity. He is the star here and definitely is giving a star turn. He’s a solid center for the story and a great partner for anyone lucky enough to share scenes with him. Joining him and doing well are Asami Kobayashi as Reiko Hanada, Toshie Negishi as Yukie Hara, and Kôichi Iwaki as Youki, all of whom do quite well in their parts. The cast overall works well and gives the viewers performances that help them get into the film and its story.
Other great aspects of this film are the cinematography and the music by Seizô Sengen and Akihiko Takashima respectively. The film looks great here with careful framing and intentional lighting. The work by Seizô Sengen and team is great to watch and really helps highlight the right elements and right moments of each scene. This also applies to the score by Akihiko Takashima, music that fits the story, the characters, and the mood of the film. This score is solid and shows attention to detail without becoming overbearing.
The film overall is one that is quietly powerful, grabbing the viewer early on, giving them a few uncomfortable moments that are crucial to making the film work and connecting it to the viewer in the right way. There is a lot to unpack here, and the film does so quite well. It’s a solid post-war film about the damage of war on people near and far from it and how one may deal with their own damage in the worse ways possible.
This new release of The Beast to Die is one that looks fantastic with a 4k restoration by Kadokawa, uncompressed mono sound, and improved translation. This makes the film easy to watch and to get into. The extras here are high quality with some standing out above the rest. The two covers (reversible) are lovely but one is a bit misleading making the film look like it might be a dance one (?), the extras on the disc are really good with an interview with Toru Murakawa and another with Shoichi Maruyame, both of which filmed this year. The booklet has new writing by Tatsuya Masuto that is worth taking a look at. Overall, a solid new release with just one little hiccup when the Blu-ray player switches layer, there is a second of pausing, but it picks right back up (this happened on 2 different players).