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Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Before We Vanish – on Blu-ray on 11 February 2019

Prolific Japanese filmmaker (Pulse) returned to Cannes with this genre-bending mashup, both a darkly comedic sci-fi and a slow-paced action spectacle. Three aliens on a reconnaissance mission to Earth take over the bodies of human hosts to explore the world they're about to invade. On the way they steal individual concepts from the minds of anyone who crosses their path, from work, to free will, to love, leaving behind them a trail of soulless bodies. In doing so they start to unwittingly define the essential aspects of what it means to be human.

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The film follows Narumi (Masami Nagasawa, I Wish), whose husband, Shinji (Ryuhei Matsuda), becomes one of the three hosts. As the invasion grows nearer, Narumi's attempts to save humanity from extinction become increasingly entwined with Shinji's decision on whether to save the humanity within himself.

Combining the best of Kurosawa's genre stylings with his forays into dark family dramas, sees the director delivering a twist on the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers narrative by recontextualising it in a disconnected modern world. Presenting a unique vision to how invasions have been portrayed in popular culture in the past it asks the question, how much is humanity worth, if we've become too alienated to be able to recognize the aliens among us?

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Optional English subtitles
The Making Of Before We Vanish, a 53-minute featurette including on-set footage and interviews with cast and crew
Inside The Story and Inside The Characters, two featurettes with cast and crew interviews
Looking Back, members of the cast reunite to discuss memories of the production
Red carpet interviews from the Cannes Film Festival premiere
Cast and crew Q&As from four screenings including the Japanese premiere
Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket

First pressing only: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Neil Mitchell

DETAILS

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Cast: Masami Nagasawa, Ryûhei Matsuda, Hiroki Hasegawa, Atsuko Maeda, Yuri Tsunematsu, Mahiro Takasugi
BD: £24.99
BD Region: B
Rating: 15
Genre: Sci-fi
Duration: 130 mins
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: 7.1 DTS-HD MA
Colour
Discs: 1

Blu-ray Cat No: FCD1829
Blu-ray Barcode: 5027035019987

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