Director Shigemichi Sugita’s latest costume drama, Kikyo: The Return, is reportedly off to an amazing start since screening for MIPCOM at the French resort at Cannes earlier this month. Nihon Eiga Broadcasting Corporation’s Samurai Drama Channel is now on deck to screen the project for audiences on Monday, November 4 for the 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival.
Screening at MIPCOM is but one achievement out of several for the new samurai drama which was also shot using 8K technology. Sugita directs from a script he wrote alongside Masahiro Kobayashi, and stars actor Tatsuya Nakadai in the role of a man who falls ill at the end of his thirty year journey and returns to his hometown where he decides to save a girl in dire straits.
Kikyo: The Return, which opens in Japan, is based on the novel “Kikyo” by Shuhei Fujisawa, which sits among a collection of his short novels, “Matazo no Hi” from Bungei Shunju. Also starring are Takako Tokiwa, Kazuki Kitamura, Naoto Ogata, Ayumi Tanida, Jiro Sato, Misato Tanaka, Aki Maeda, Yoshiko Mita, Isao Hashizume and Atsuo Nakamura, and with music by Takashi Kako.
“It is indeed a privilege that the drama became the first Asian production to be selected for world premiere at MIPCOM.” said Tokiwa. “Mr. Tatsuya Nakadai is an extremely great actor for me and I almost shivered before meeting him for the first time. When I met him, however, I found that Mr. Nakadai is very warm-hearted and with a broad mind that embraces everything he led younger performers all along.”
“It is a privilege that the work became the first Asian drama to be selected for world premiere at MIPCOM, which boasts a long history.” stated Sato. “I would like as many people in the world as possible to take this opportunity to see this drama. Mr. Tatsuya Nakadai is a godlike presence. At shooting sites, I learned a lot from Mr. Tatsuya Nakadai, a worldwide star.”
