Oh goodness Christ! I’m both excited and pained at the return of director Kitamura Ryuhei in the years since he became a fan of his work out of Napalm Films, landing notably with the cult acclaimed Versus starring Tak∴. He’s crossed over a bit with films like Midnight Meat Train and No One Lives and I have yet to see those, but his latest is a return to the action genre and one hailing from events over at the American Film Market this week.
According to
THR, the award-winning filmmaker is set to direct
Doorman from a script by by Lior Chefetz and Joe Swanson, about a female soldier who returns from duty and befriends a family in New York only to defend them from a gang of thieves plotting to take their belongings. Harry Winer of Smash Media is producing along with DDI’s Jason Moring with Double Dutch International handling global sales.
per
THR
“Ryuhei is such an established filmmaker in Asia, we are honored to have him bring his extraordinary vision on this side of the Pacific, for this action packed thriller,” Moring said Sunday in a statement.
Kitamura is literally one of the first people that led me to discover my own appreciation for Japanese cinema. I didn’t grow up watching a lot of classics like most aficionados who write about film, save for a few here and there including Seven Samurai, the Street Fighter series and Sister Street Fighter Quadrilogy – the latter which I own on DVD, but it was Kitamura who led the charge for me close to a year and a half ago when I ran out of things to love.
From there, it was Versus, then Alive, Aragami and Azumi and Sky High. There are still a number of his films I would love to catch that I haven’t yet, including the U.S. crossover as well as LoveDeath and his recent Lupin The 3rd adaptation, while his career trajectory at the moment looks absolutely appealing.
Kitamura abandoned film school and pursused the field years before Versus and all his own, and he’s earned quite the accolades for it from fans who’ve come to love his work. His most anticipated film to me, however, is a sequel to Versus (Pro tip: The original first film comes in several cuts, including an ultimate edition for which numerous action sequences were augmented) which never left the ground while the film’s star moved onward prior to his brief decline and ultimate return this year in Shimomura Yuji’s Re:Born.
Needless to say, I sincerely hope for a Versus 2 while Doorman certainly keeps my optimism open for a little longer. I love a good action movie, and a good action film director at that, and Kitamura certainly sounds the part.
Stay tuned!
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
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