ZIGEUNERWEISEN: Visually astonishing and eternally haunting, this film represents the director's break from his characteristically campy yakuza flicks, delving into material that addresses the mysteries of death and desire. While on vacation, somber professor Aochi encounters his childhood friend, Nakasago, a handsome drifter down on his luck. Both men fall in love with Koine, a geisha, and though they go on to marry other women, their passions for Koine grow into all-consuming obsession. Suzuki's film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the 1981 Japanese Academy Awards, and is the first in his revered Taisho Trilogy.

KAGERO-ZA: The second of director Seijun Suzuki's wildly daring and much-acclaimed Taisho Trilogy, KAGERO-ZA, like its predecessor ZIGEUNERWEISEN, is set in Tokyo in the early 1920s. The haunting, episodic narrative follows a playwright and his growing obsession with a beautiful woman who floats in and out of his life. He first encounters her when she asks for his company on her way to the hospital, as she is afraid of the Chinese Lantern Plant vendor--the plant is said to contain female souls. He refuses, but his desire for the woman gradually overpowers him, so that by the time he realizes she is luring him to his demise, it is too late to stop her.

YUMEJI: The third in maverick director Seijun Suzuki's Taisho Trilogy, this absurdist, mysterious ghost story takes its name from the real-life painter Yumeji Takehisa. Yumeji (Kenji Sawada) strays from his lover when he falls for the beautiful and freshly widowed Tomoyo (Tomoko Mariya), whose husband was slain by the jealous Onimatsu (Kazuhiko Hasegawa). Yumeji pursues Tomoyo despite the evident danger, which grows even more pronounced when Wakiya (Kazuhiko Hasegawa), Tomoyo's murdered husband, returns from the dead.

DVD Features:

3-Disc Set

Disc 1: ZIGEUNERWEISEN
Widescreen - 1.66
Audio:
(unspecified) - Japanese
Subtitles - English
Additional Release Material:
Bonus Footage - 1. Suzuki discusses the making of the Taisho Trilogy
Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Text/Photo Galleries:
Biographies
Essay - 1. Print Essay on Suzuki
Filmographies
Photo Galleries - 1. Key Art
2. Press Images

Disc 2: KAGERO-ZA
Widescreen - 1.66
Audio:
(unspecified) - Japanese
Subtitles - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Text/Photo Galleries:
Biographies - 1. Seijun Suzuki - Director
Essays - 1. Print Essay on Suzuki and the Taisho Trilogy
Filmographies - 1. Seijun Suzuki - Director
Photo Galleries - 1. Key Art
2. Press Images
Disc 3: YUMEJI
Widescreen - 1.66
Audio:
(unspecified) - Japanese
Subtitles - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Text/Photo Galleries:
Biography - 1. Suzuki - Director
Filmography - 1. Suzuki - Director

Seijun Suzuki: Japanese director, BRANDED TO KILL/PRINCESS RACCOON