I, the Executioner

A man brutally murders a woman after forcing her to write the names of four others. As the murders pile up, the police investigate the links between the victims and how they may be connected to the suicide of a young boy in the same building. Directed by Tai Kato (By a Man’s Face Shall You Know Him), a former apprentice of Akira Kurosawa better known for his yakuza films, I, the Executioner is a pitch black neo noir that makes the serial killer the central character. Sensationally photographed with claustrophobic close ups, Kato’s film evokes both Hitchcock’s Psycho and the films of Nagisa Oshima, while also prefiguring the Italian giallo.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

• High-Definition digital transfer
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• A Serial History - a visual essay on Japanese serial killer films by Jim Harper and Tom Mes (2023, 16 mins)
• Appreciation by filmmaker Kenta Fukasaku (2023, 20 mins)
• Trailer
• Newly translated English subtitles
• Reversible sleeve featuring original newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Tony Rayns and a new translation of archival writing on the film
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings 

This item is included in the multi-month Bundle Package "2024 Bundle", customers who ordered this package will automatically receive this release.

See also our book on Tai Kato by Tom Mes, the first extended writing dedicated to this genre master, this new book provides a guide to a sensationally overlooked filmmaker to accompany a series of Tai Kato releases from Radiance Films.

Cert: 18
Format: Blu-ray
Region: B
RAD042BDLE
EAN: 5060974680788
Release date: 29/01/24

Press & Awards:

“up there with Oshima's Violence at Noon and Imamura's Vengeance Is Mine as one of Japan's most disturbing anatomies of a serial killer.” - Tony Rayns

"Tai Kato, best known for his yakuza and period films, pulls out all the stops in this visually arresting, nihilistic modern-day tale of a man on a brutal murder and rape spree, using extreme close-ups and unusually low-angle shots to make his rage viscerally palpable." - Museum of Modern Art