Inside a feudal Japanese castle surrounded by a warlord’s army, a series of impossible killings begins to turn the beleaguered court against itself – and the beleaguered lord, unable to find the culprit, seeks advice from a man cunning enough to uncover the killer: a brilliant strategist who has him chained in his own dungeon.
This is the setup for The samurai and the prisonerthe latest film from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Four and a half decades and nearly 30 films into his career, this is the first samurai film from the famous Japanese genre master. Janus Films acquired U.S. rights to the film following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and will release it in theaters on July 31. The company dropped the first trailer for Samurai Story on Thursday (see below).
For Kurosawa – the troubled designer behind the classic serial killer film medicineJ-Horror teacher to throb And most recently a psychological thriller clouds – Made a jidaigeki (the genre of feudal samurai films in Japan) was one of the longest unfulfilled ambitions of his career. The film’s events take place in the Warring States period in Japan in the sixteenth century. The samurai and the prisoner Adapted from Honobu Yonezawa’s 2021 novel Kokorojowinner of the prestigious Naoki Prize in Japan.
Masahiro Motoki, star of the Oscar-winning drama DepartureHe plays Lord Araki Murashige, a real vassal who rebelled against warlord Oda Nobunaga in 1578 and holed up inside Ariuka Castle. As Oda’s forces advance from outside, a murder within the walls turns into a series of inexplicable crimes, and a beleaguered Murashige makes a tough deal with Kanbei (Masaki Suda, the final commander of Kurosawa’s army). clouds), a dangerous strategist who captured him in his cell. The group also includes Yuriko Yoshitaka, Joe Odagiri, Munetaka Aoki, Ryota Miyadate, and Tasuku Emoto.
Kurosawa, who also wrote the film adaptation, shot the film in a classic, shadow-rich style with cinematographer Yasuyuki Sasaki. Produced by Shochiku – the 130-year-old studio that produced Ozu’s classics, as well as… Departure – In association with Tokyo Broadcasting System Television.
“I’ve always had this desire to one day make a jidegeki film, but doing so nowadays would require a lot of money,” Kurosawa said. THR Before Cannes, noting the elaborate sets, locations, wigs, make-up and costumes that classical style required. “I haven’t really had the chance yet.”
Kurosawa said he revisited many of the Jidaigeki classics — the works of Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, and Kenji Mizoguchi — while developing his approach to the business. The samurai and the prisoner. Explaining his simple ambitions for the project, he added: “I wanted to try a classic film in a style similar to the great old films that came before me.”
