Silent Era : Home Video Reviews

Silent Era Home Page > Home Video > Street Without End

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

Street
Without End
(1934)

This feature-length drama, directed by Mikio Naruse, stars Setsuko Shinobu and Akio Isono, with Hikaru Yamanouchi, Nobuko Wakaba, Fumiko Katsuragi, Shinichi Himori, Chiyoko Katori, Ichirô Yuki and Yukiko Inoue.

A young woman is recently engaged to be married when she receives an offer to star in motion pictures.

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 Street Without End (1934), black & white, 88 minutes, not rated.

The Criterion Collection, ECL120 (Eclipse series 26),
UPC 7-15515-06931-1, ISBN 978-1-60465-400-4.
One single-sided, single-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; 14 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. The midtones of the greyscale range are a bit dark which makes the overall picture seem a little dull. Moderate amounts of dust, speckling, emulsion chipping and scuffing, splice marks, schmutz, frame jitters, occasional vertical scratches, and other print flaws are present throughout. However, the viewing experience is generally very-good, with smooth greyscale transitions.

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.