"Labyrinth of Cinema"
Crescendo House, the boutique film distribution company, announces its first film release of "Labyrinth of Cinema", the Japanese drama from great director Nobuhiko Obayashi. The launch is the distributor’s first since revealed earlier this year. The title is available for early access in North America on limited-edition home video with a premium Steelbook cover and never-seen-before special features.
The release will test the recently announced business model, which reverses the traditional theatrical windowing process by initiating the life of a film with home video, before eventually screening in theaters around the country. The final film from the late filmmaker behind cult-phenomenon Hausu, "Labyrinth of Cinema" follows a trio of teenagers who are transported through time into a world inside Japanese war films – after attending a retrospective on films that span centuries of Japanese history from the age of the samurai to the final days of WWII. The film recently took home the award for Best Director at the Kinema Junpo Awards, as well as the jury prize at Fantasia Fest in 2020, among other accolades at 20+ festivals, but has yet to be released in the US.
This release showcases "Labyrinth of Cinema" in stunning quality alongside other bonus content. Bonus content includes new artwork, an hour-long exclusive behind the scenes documentary, an introduction and remembrance of the late director by his family – including his wife, actress and producer Kyoko Obayashi– a booklet containing production notes, and an essay by renowned Japanese writer Eiko Ikegami.
Jason Ooi, Founder of Crescendo House, says: “We sincerely hope to be able to engage newer and more diverse audiences with beautiful and accessible movies that happen to sit outside of the mainstream. The strategy is different for a reason – we hope we can bring some magic back to physical media. This important stage of the model will fund the rest of the distribution process so that these works of art get their due in the theatrical realm. We worked with the Obayashi estate to best creatively represent the landmark film and its director’s unique style in an effort to bring his mad genius to American audiences, and we hope that our efforts will impress collectors and non-collectors alike.”