[KineJapan] Kumakiri's Chushingura at FCCJ

[Eija Niskanen]

Dear Kinejapaners,

please find info on the Monday 11/2 screening of Kumakiri Kazuyoshi's new
film at Foreign Correspondents' Club. For going, please register with Karen
Severns kjs30 at gol.com


http://www.fccj.or.jp/events-calendar/calendar/icalrepeat.detail/2015/11/02/3468/-/sneak-preview-screening-last-knights.html

Monday, November 02, 2015, 19:00 - 21:30

A moody, Medieval thriller starring Morgan Freeman and Clive Owen


*Sneak Preview Screening: "Last Knights" featuring a Q&A with director
Kazuaki Kiriya (Q&A in English) *

*Monday, November 2 at 7 pm[image: 11022015 Last Knights 356 copy copy]*


*In English with Japanese subtitlesUSA, 2015 115 minutes  *

Directed by: Kazuaki Kiriya
Written by: Michael Konyves, Dove Sussman
Produced by: Luci Kim, Kazuaki Kiriya
Starring: Clive Owen, Morgan Freeman, Cliff Curtis, Aksel Hennie,
Peyman Moaadi, Ayelet Zurer, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Tsuyoshi Ihara,
Ahn Sung-ki

Film courtesy of Kiriya Pictures/ Gaga

The number of Japanese directors who have helmed big-budget
English-language films featuring Hollywood stars can be counted on just
about two fingers - and both of them made J-horror remakes.

Enter Kazuaki Kiriya, the ambitious creator of "Casshern" (2004) and
"Goemon" (2009). Proving that his penchant for epic historical fantasies
can cross borders with relative ease, he has now adapted the legend of the
47 Ronin to the Middle Ages in Europe, focusing his new film on a band of
feudal warriors who seek to avenge the loss of their master at the hands of
a sadistic minister. Morgan Freeman and Clive Owen play the leads, and Owen
is absolutely electrifying.

Bartok (Freeman) is the lord of a vassal kingdom, which Commander Raiden
(Owen) and his elite soldiers have long protected. For his services and
friendship, Bartok names Raiden his heir and gives him a cherished sword.
Shortly thereafter, Bartok refuses to pay a bribe to a greedy minister and
speaks openly (and eloquently, as only Freeman can) about the corruption of
the empire. He is sentenced to death, with Raiden forced to be his
executioner. Bartok's estate is divided and the clan disbanded as Raiden
nurses his despair with alcohol, falling so low he even sells Bartok's
sword for more drink. After a year, Raiden's men and his wife will have
nothing more to do with him. Yet the evil minister still suspects the men
will attempt to exact vengeance, and orders his trusted warrior, Ito
(Ihara), to watch them and ensure his safety.

Loyalty, honor and payback are familiar themes in Japanese films, but "Last
Knights" doesn't exactly go where it's expected to go, and patient viewers
will be amply rewarded. As Slate critic John Darnielle noted of the film:
"Once upon a time, filmmakers had the luxury of giving their genre movies
time to breathe; you don't see much of that on a big scale any more. I
loved this movie, warts and all."

Please join us for this sneak preview of "Last Knights" before it opens
across Japan on November 14.

*For trailer (in Japanese):
<http://lastknights.jpdirector/>http://lastknights.jp
<http://lastknights.jp/>*

-- 
Eija Niskanen
+358-50-355 3189
+81-80-3558-1645
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