In this cool, seductive jewel of the Japanese New Wave, a yakuza, fresh out of prison, becomes entangled with a beautiful and enigmatic gambling addict; what at first seems a redemptive relationship ends up leading him further down the criminal path. Bewitchingly shot and edited, and laced with a fever-dream-like score by Toru Takemitsu, this gangster romance was a breakthrough for the idiosyncratic Masahiro Shinoda. The pitch-black Pale Flower (Kawaita hana) is an unforgettable excursion into the underworld.

SPECIAL FEATURES

New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

New video interview with director Masahiro Shinoda

Selected-scene audio commentary by film scholar Peter Grilli, coproducer of Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu

Original theatrical trailer

New and improved English subtitle translation

PLUS: A new essay by film critic Chuck Stephens

New cover by Michael Boland