Arrow Blu-ray Film Review

The Mad Fox (1962) • Blu-ray [Arrow Academy]

In the reign of the Emperor Suzaku (930–946 A.D), various mishaps happen after a strange white rainbow appears in the sky over Kyoto.

The Mad Fox is the latest classic to join a run of boutique Blu-ray releases from the inventive and influential country of Japan. This time we have Arrow Films to thank for ensuring cineastes have a chance to discover or reassess a most welcome addition.

I’m not sure if the title, The Mad Fox, really suits this beautiful and bittersweet romantic fantasy. It creates expectations of rogue samurais or superhuman swordplay in the wuxia tradition, perhaps due to a westerner’s cultural distance and expectations. If that’s what you want, there’s plenty elsewhere. Wonderful as wuxia is, The Mad Fox is entirely different — possibly unique for the time it was made, it remains difficult to categorise.