ryuganji: film news from japan

Jason Gray has broken the news about Kitano Takeshi’s new film, “Kantoku - Banzai” (which might be translated as “Viva La Director”). There’s not much to add to his report except that the cast also includes Takarada Akira, Yoshiyuki Kazuko, Fujita Yumiko, Suzuki An, Kimura Yoshino, Osugi Ren, Terajima Susumu, Musaka Naomasa, Watanabe Tetsu, Moro Morooka, Sugata Shun, Ishibashi Tamotsu, and Ide Rakkyo, with narration by Ibu Masato.

The seven films of varying genres that Kitano’s director character attempts to make in the course of the story have been infused with his particular brand of cynical humour, and are apparently all based on actual proposals for his follow-up to “Takeshi’s”.

Although all the spin is about Kitano’s attempt to make something crowd-pleasing and (hopefully) lucrative for a change, the subject matter still sounds very self-referential and not too far removed from the unconventional, semi-experimental approach of “Takeshi’s”. I can see current parallels between him and Kurosawa Kiyoshi, who has been going through his own genre-eschewing, wandering in the wilderness phase. Hopefully “Kantoku - Banzai!” will be more of a return to form than Kurosawa’s self-repetitive “Retribution” was. (sources: @Pia, Nikkan Sports)

Meanwhile, “Neon Genesis Evangelion” and “Cutie Honey” director Anno Hideaki is returning with “Sutoringusu - Ai to Kizuna no Tabiji” (something like “Strings - A Journey of Love and Bonds”), a marionette fantasy featuring the voices of “Sinking of Japan“’s Kusanagi Tsuyoshi and “Memories of Matsuko“’s Nakatani Miki.

Anno reportedly took a liking to Danish director Anders Rønnow Klarlund’s “Strings“, which screened at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, and decided to make an ‘easier to understand’ Japanese version with a script by Nagatsuka Keishi (son of actor Nagatsuka Kyozo).　

Kusanagi lends his voice to a young prince named Hal who sets off on a journey to avenge his father, in a world of marionettes where the cutting of strings equals death. Nakatani voices the heroine Jita.

No CG was used in the movie, which employs 115 marionettes manipulated by 22 puppeteers. It took five people to control one marionette using strings over five metres in length, and took four years and 600 million yen to complete. The movie opens on April 28th. (sources: Sanspo, Sponichi)