Silent Era : Home Video Reviews

Silent Era Home Page > Home Video > That Night’s Wife

Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved.

That Night’s Wife
(1930)

This silent drama, directed by Yasujiro Ozu, stars Tokihiko Okada and Emiko Yagumo, with Mitsuko Ichimura, Tatsuo Saito, Fuyuki Yamamoto and Chishu Ryu.

Due to the entrenchment of the Benshi narrator tradition in Japanese film exhibition, the production of Japanese silent films extended well into the 1930s. These three films are excellent examples of the continued development of the Japanese silent film and excellent films in the Ozu oeuvre.

Eclipse Series
2015 DVD edition

Silent Ozu: Three Crime Dramas (1930-1933), black & white, 262 minutes total, not rated, including That Night’s Wife (1930), black & white, 65 minutes, not rated.

The Criterion Collection, ECL194 (Eclipse series 42),
UPC 7-15515-14511-4, ISBN 978-1-60465-988-7.
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 8.8 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; 10 chapter stops; three slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $44.95.
Release date: 21 April 2015.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 9 / additional content: 0 / overall: 7.

This DVD edition has been mastered from a good to very-good 35mm source print with early nitrate decomposition that can be quite distracting, significant exposure fluctations, mild speckling, emulsion scratches and other print flaws.

The film is accompanied by a wonderful music score composed and performed on piano by Neil Brand.

As would be expected of a Criterion Collection release, this collection 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.