The Radiance Label Ranked
An ongoing ranking of films from our favorite boutique Blu-Ray Label
Radiance Films out of the UK, has quietly become the boutique blu-ray label I trust most. Heavy on Japanese crime/Samurai tales, Italian neorealism, French noir, and many blind buys that had no business being this good.
As Sean Fennessey and his “high council of Physical media” noted over and over again on their recent episode - Radiance routinely discovers the lost classics you simply have to see.
I’ve been keeping a running log and ranking of their releases (almost at 90)— which I'll update regularly as I watch more of their releases. These are the current top 10.
Many of these films can be rented from our partners at the Hewlett Woodmere Public Library, which keeps an extensive library of Radiance releases on hand for members.
But we encourage you to check out these amazing films - wherever you can find them.
Near Orouët - ★★★★★
Near Orouët blows in through the jasmine of my mind. The most perfect film about summer and young friendship I've ever seen — summer weekends with girls you only kind of knew, where relationships stayed indefinable and blurred with ocean water and music and sun and wine. Rozier captures a feeling so completely you cannot help but feel your own memories intertwining with his characters. An all-time masterpiece.
Il Sorpasso - ★★★★★
So much love and humanity — for people, for family, for the open road, for Italy. I kept thinking of Wild Strawberries, but with less obvious pathos and more "ciao bella." Made me snort with laughter. A classic that deserves to be mentioned alongside Fellini, Visconti, and Rossellini.
The Ghost of Yotsuya - ★★★★½
The last 30 minutes are absolutely insane. Creepy, atmospheric, body horror — you can see how this scared the pants off a generation of Japanese. Scary mostly because the fears are so grounded in real emotions. Jealousy, avarice, and evil at their most elemental.
Misunderstood - ★★★★½
The saddest movie I think I've ever seen.
Big Time Gambling Boss - ★★★★½
A lot more intimate than I was expecting. A good reminder that there is never any honor or code or brotherhood among thieves and murderers. No wonder the Yakuza got a reputation for being cold-blooded.
Sympathy for the Underdog - ★★★★½
The deepest and most badass gangster film I've seen in some time. Cool, ultra-violent, amazing set pieces — but also deep oceans of humanity. Rare that a brutal gang fight leaves you both elated and grief-stricken. A masterpiece of the genre.
The Case Is Closed, Forget It - ★★★★½
It's rare we see cowardice and its fundamental appeal placed at the center of a film. Venzi feints at morality. Presenti is destroyed for his standards — Venzi gets to go off on a yacht. In these times, that's absolutely terrifying.
The Working Class Goes to Heaven - ★★★★½
Who are the masters and who are the slaves? Does it really matter? In an age when we freely give value to our tech overlords, who profits from our attention — who do we really work for? Lulu's eyes light up when he hears he's "the first to be rehired." That's all you need to know. One of the most French Italian movies ever made.
The Bride Wore Black - ★★★★½
Ice-cold revenge about which Klingons would write epic poems. Tarantino's Bride had samurai swords and machine guns and years of ninja training — she still couldn't lay a finger on the OG. Just so badass. Truffaut!
Thieves Like Us - ★★★★½
The platonic ideal of an American realist film. My favorite Shelley Duvall performance of all time. Consumerism, media, the drive for money and fame — so core to the American experience. I will never think of having a Coke and a smile in the same way again.
...plus 77 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.