"Shohei Imamura's perverse classic comes to DVD in this crisp if spartan presentation from the unparalleled Criterion Collection. The video image and soundtrack for The Pornographers is taken from an impeccably cleaned-up print of the film: Barely a scratch is transferred over to the disc, and the mono soundtrack is superbly modified to accommodate stereo (if not surround-sound) systems. This is a film of extremes, and every high-contrast shot and sudden burst of volume is preserved as the director might have wished. What's more, the disc has been given new and improved subtitling that does away with some of the anachronisms and errors found in previous prints' translations. As for supplemental material, the disc is bare save for the odd, sensationalistic original Japanese trailer and a witty essay by critic J. Hoberman, included in the liner notes."