Named after Yasujiro Ozu’s custom-made, tatami-level, crab-like tripod, Kani is a new home video label dedicated to leveling the gaze and furthering the understanding of Asian cinema in North America. Focused on genre-defying films, Kani aims to expand the canon, bolster up-and-coming filmmakers and reintroduce repertory classics in context. Vinegar Syndrome’s sister company, OCN Distribution, is thrilled to be representing this diverse and unique home video line!
Complementing Kispmata’s horrific vision of a ruling, paternalistic family despot, Mike De Leon’s Batch '81 expands its critique to include tomorrow’s tyrants. Freshman Sid Lucero (Mark Gil, in his breakout performance) desperately wants to join the Alpha Kappa Omega fraternity. Over the course of a gruelling initiation process, he goes through every humiliation to please his “masters”—even as their treatment veers into increasingly fascistic, cult-like territory.
Overt echoes of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange and John Carpenter abound in De Leon’s claustrophobic college drama: a film that subverts expectation by casting college life in a sinister blood-red light. An urgent reaction to Ferdinand Marcos’ rule through Martial Law at the time, Batch ’81 burns bright today as De Leon’s angriest and most direct film—asking hard questions about masculinity, indoctrination, free will and the banality of evil, most insidious when disguised as brotherhood, responsibility or duty. Raising uncomfortable truths about class aspirations and privilege in the Philippines—and the world at large—Batch ’81 is as timely and necessary as it has ever been, presented in its 4K restoration commissioned by the Asian Film Archive and L'Immagine Ritrovata.
directed by: Mike De Leon
starring: Mark Gil, Sandy Andolong, Ward Luarca, Noel Trinidad, Ricky Sandico
1982 / 105 min / 1.85:1 / Tagalog DTS-HD MA 2.0
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Overall rating: 4.8 / 5 from 20 reviews.
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"This movie tells the story of a diverse group of tenants who ban together to fight against corrupt politicians and landlords. Along the way we are taken on a hysterical journey where competing personalities have to join together to accomplish their goals. The style of this film appearing as if it were a theatrical play was a unique way to approach the production. I enjoyed it overall and would recommend giving it a watch."
"Chor Yuen was a stalwart of SB's output in the 70s and 80s. He had some all time great and also other films. Him and SB is most remembered in the west for Kung Fu and Wuxia but they did lots of other things. Glad to see something like this make its way over here."
"Ever since the release of the mighty Kung Fu Hustle I have been wanting to watch this movie, and now Kani deliver! Great, great release, very stoked!"
"Kani's release of Chor Yuen's 1973 ensemble comedy is a genuine discovery for anyone who thought they knew Hong Kong cinema. A water dispute turns a tenement building into a site of collective resistance, and the result is warm, sharp, and genuinely funny in ways that hold up completely. It's exactly the kind of film this label exists to champion."
"Different film by master Chu Yuan from Shaw Brothers studio. Great package !"
"The premise seems fun enough, but to help inspire Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, I had to check it out! It being a Shaw Brothers film only solidified my interest, making it the 260th SB Blu-ray entry in my collection! I'm only slightly obsessed!"
"Maximist cinema of the highest order."
"Five years after watching the IVL DVD, I loved watching this film! Thanks Kani!"
"Another discovery from Shaw Studios thanks to Kani! One of my favorite partner labels!"
"Always happy to have a great presentation of a film I wouldn't have seen otherwise, even if I don't think the film is the greatest."
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