TOKYO (AP) 鈥� Takeshi Kitano鈥檚 new film, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival next month, is a samurai story without heroes, mercilessly portraying human greed, betrayal and cruelty.
Kitano, awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his 鈥淗ana-Bi鈥� in 1997, wanted to make a different kind of period piece in 鈥淜ubi,鈥� or 鈥渘eck,鈥� a reference to traditional Japanese beheadings.
鈥淢ost samurai films portray famous people and don鈥檛 focus on the dirty side of human existence or show how evil people don鈥檛 care a hoot about slaughtering regular people,鈥� Kitano told reporters Saturday.
The story features a 16th-century feud centered around Oda Nobunaga, a powerful warlord 鈥� well known in Japan but not as familiar for overseas audiences. But the Shakespearean intrigues are familiar enough.
The spectacular battle scenes evoke Akira Kurosawa classics like 鈥淪even Samurai鈥� and 鈥淜agemusha,鈥� according to Takeshi Natsuno, president of Kadokawa, the production company behind 鈥淜ubi.鈥�
Kitano, 76, began in Japan鈥檚 equivalent of vaudeville as a stand-up comic with the stage name Beat Takeshi, before becoming a superstar on TV shows and films.
The latest work juxtaposes the horror of killing with the absurd, said Kitano, appearing on stage with his cast at a Tokyo hotel.
鈥淜ubi鈥� features a star-studded cast, including Hidetoshi Nishijima, marking his return to a Kitano film since the 2002 鈥淒olls,鈥� which was inspired by traditional Bunraku puppet theater, as well as Ryo Kase, who appeared in Kitano鈥檚 鈥淥utrage鈥� gangster series.
Kitano also acts in the new film and wrote the screenplay, based on his book, published in 2019.
Some of the most dramatic scenes in 鈥淜ubi鈥� involve fabulous sets, but were taken in one cut or minimal cuts. Kitano said that was intentional and recalled that director Nagisa Oshima taught him to stay away from closeups in major scenes.
Kitano鈥檚 first major film role was in Oshima鈥檚 鈥淢erry Christmas Mr. Lawrence,鈥� a drama about a Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War II, starring David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter
Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press
