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Every-Night
Dreams
(1933)

This feature-length drama, directed by Mikio Naruse, stars Sumiko Kurishima and Tatsuo Saitô, with Teruko Kojima, Jun Arai, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Reikô Tani, Einosuke Naka and the wonderful Chôko Iida.

A young mother struggles working a low job to provide for her son when her long-absent husband returns.

Due to the entrenchment of the Benshi narrator tradition in Japanese film exhibition, the production of Japanese silent films extended well into the 1930s.

The Criterion Collection
2011 DVD edition

Silent Naruse (1931-1934), black & white, 370 minutes total, not rated, including Every-Night Dreams (1933), black & white, 65 minutes, not rated.

The Criterion Collection, ECL120 (Eclipse series 26),
UPC 7-15515-06931-1, ISBN 978-1-60465-400-4.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc (three DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 7.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; Japanese language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 8 chapter stops; 4-page insert booklet; three slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $44.95.
Release date: 5 April 2011.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 8 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.

This DVD edition has been mastered from a very-good 35mm source print that is a little greyish in its shadows and blacks. Light amounts of dust and speckling are present, with emulsion chipping and scuffing, splice marks, and other print flaws.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed by Robin Holcomb and Wayne Horvitz. As audio channel 1 is devoid of any content, audio channel 2 must be chosen to hear the music score performed by a small ensemble.

As would be expected of a Criterion Collection release, this edition has been lovingly produced for home video and is enthusiastically recommended.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.