Takeshi Kitano’s new movie, premiering on the Cannes Film Festival subsequent month, is a samurai story with out heroes, mercilessly portraying human greed, betrayal and cruelty.

Kitano, awarded the Golden Lion on the Venice Film Festival for his “Hana-Bi” in 1997, wished to make a unique form of interval piece in “Kubi,” or “neck,” a reference to conventional Japanese beheadings.

“Most samurai films portray famous people and don’t focus on the dirty side of human existence or show how evil people don’t care a hoot about slaughtering regular people,” Kitano instructed reporters Saturday.

The story encompasses a Sixteenth-century feud centered round Oda Nobunaga, a strong warlord — well-known in Japan however not as acquainted for abroad audiences. But the Shakespearean intrigues are acquainted sufficient.

The spectacular battle scenes evoke Akira Kurosawa classics like “Seven Samurai” and “Kagemusha,” based on Takeshi Natsuno, president of Kadokawa, the manufacturing firm behind “Kubi.”

Kitano, 76, started in Japan’s equal of vaudeville as a stand-up comedian with the stage identify Beat Takeshi, earlier than changing into a celebrity on TV reveals and movies.

The newest work juxtaposes the horror of killing with the absurd, stated Kitano, showing on stage together with his forged at a Tokyo resort.

“Kubi” encompasses a star-studded forged, together with Hidetoshi Nishijima, marking his return to a Kitano movie because the 2002 “Dolls,” which was impressed by conventional Bunraku puppet theater, in addition to Ryo Kase, who appeared in Kitano’s “Outrage” gangster collection.

Kitano additionally acts within the new movie and wrote the screenplay, based mostly on his e-book, printed in 2019.

Some of essentially the most dramatic scenes in “Kubi” contain fabulous units, however had been taken in a single lower or minimal cuts. Kitano stated that was intentional and recalled that director Nagisa Oshima taught him to avoid closeups in main scenes.

Kitano’s first main movie function was in Oshima’s “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence,” a drama a few Japanese prisoner of struggle camp throughout World War II, starring David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC.

Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com