Blue Christmas, aka Blood Type: Blue, aka The Blue Stigma

[NAveryW]

You know this as the film that inspired the phrase "Blood Type: Blue" in Evangelion. I know it as the film I searched all over the net for last night and was unable to find anywhere except as an unsubbed R2 DVD that won't even ship to the US.

Here's a nice trailer for it on YouTube, though. At 1:43 it should become apparent why this is one of Anno's favorite films. Countless other "ah" moments should go without saying.

Also, "That was Hitler's idea! Must I do what he did?"

[Mr. Tines]

Pretty close to the beginning, there was that bit where I thought "Ah! RahXephon!" -- more tangling of heritage.

[Axell]

Oh god the english actors were bad.

Any details on why their blood is blue or what it has to do with christmas?

[Xard]

Hey, this is Kihachi Okamoto's flick!

Damn I really must see this. Fast. I know Okamoto's editing style had big influence on Anno's form but I've never actually seen any of his films.

Shouldn't be too bad place to start (if I'll ever find copy of this)

lol'd at Hallelujah

Oh god the english actors were bad.

Any details on why their blood is blue or what it has to do with christmas?

"Blue Christmas (ブルークリスマス, Burū Kurisimasu?), also known as Blood Type: Blue or The Blue Stigma, is a 1978 Japanese science fiction film by director Kihachi Okamoto. It deals with prejudice against UFO witnesses whose blood is turned blue by the encounter. The close encounters occur on Christmas, hence the title."

[NAveryW]

The close encounters occur on Christmas, hence the title.

Not just that, but one aspect of the film is a fictional pop song called "Blue Christmas" (not to be confused with the real song of the same title) that "takes the world by storm". "Blue Christmas" is the Engrishy song that plays during the trailer.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Some information for those who didn't know before seeing this thread:

At the beginning, Hyuga compares the data on the Seventh Angel and says, "Pattern blue, confirmed as an Angel," and at the time, the screen displays "BLOOD TYPE: BLUE." In the scene before that, with the data on the Sixth Angel that Ritsuko had analyzed, it also has "6th ANGEL pattern: BLOOD TYPE: BLUE." This indicates that it is an Angel. The term "BLOOD TYPE: BLUE" comes from a sci-fi film directed by Kihachi Okamoto called Blue Christmas (1978, Japan).

[NAveryW]

Since you're almost certainly never going to see the film, and if you do it won't be subbed, you can read a review with a very detailed plot description here. Sadly the MP3 link to Char's song no longer works.

[Xard]

I wonder what torrent sites Japanese use...

[Mr. Tines]

I wonder what torrent sites Japanese use...

Winny, Share and Perfect Dark are the preferred p2p applications of the Elevens.

[Axell]

If you call them by their number they may stop sharing their quirky culture with us

[gwern]

Original YouTube is dead; seems to've been reposted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqOrYFYUYJY

(Given the unreliability of YT hosting, I think I'll make a copy with keepvid.com. The oh-so-familiar music is worth knowing about...)

[NAveryW]

I was finally able to watch Blue Christmas today. I consider it worthy of recommendation anyway but if you're interested in Hideaki Anno's influences then this one's well worth your while. It's evident just from that trailer that you can't see anymore (Here's another backup that hasn't been taken down yet) that Anno's cinematographic style is highly informed by Kihachi Okamoto's but you get a lot more in the full movie. Most apparent is the tendency to have a closeup of a character saying a line then immediately cut to a reaction shot of the person being talked to then quickly cut back to the first person as he or she starts to talk again. There's also heavy use of the "intrusive memory" blip cuts; the technique was invented by Alain Resnais but my assumption is Anno picked it up from Okamoto.

You can download English subs for Blue Christmas here.

Now to find Battle of Okinawa. At least that one actually got an American DVD release.