KOJUROJO: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Newest Heads To EFM This Month
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s first period feature is getting the sales floor treatment at EFM this month in Berlin with Kokurojo: The Samurai And The Prisoner. Variety’s Elsa Keslassy reports that Charades is launching sales and will present footage to buyers.
Lord of the Arioka Castle is Murashige Araki (Masahiro Motoki), who rebels against tyrannical despot Oda Nobunaga, and makes a stand at his stronghold castle. He decides to take siege but is subsequently surrounded by Oda’s forces, leaving its denizens isolated and in need of allies. With the sensitive support of his wife Chiyoho (Yuriko Yoshitaka), Murashige struggles to keep his hot-blooded retainers in check, while also protecting the castle and its people. One day, a young samurai is murdered within the fortress with the mysterious killer unknown. A succession of bizarre incidents follows. The suspects are Murashige’s close retainers and the people inside the Arioka Castle’s land. Outside, enemy troops lie in wait. Inside, traitors lie to conceal themselves. As suspicion runs rampant, Murashige seeks the help of a prisoner in his dungeon—dangerous master tactician Kanbei Kuroda (Masaki Suda)—to solve the mysteries. What shocking truths will be revealed?
The film is based on Honobu Yonezawa’s award-winning novel, and is adapted for the screen by Kurosawa. Art House Films has also acquired the film for a French release with Shochiku distributing the film in Japan later this year.
Charades co-founder, Yohann Comte, said, “Working with Kiyoshi Kurosawa and the major Shochiku marks a major achievement for Charades and a key milestone in the build-up of our 2026 slate.”
“The film is ambitious, both rich and complex in its form,” Comte said, before adding that it’s a “classic samurai film, sure to captivate fans of the genre.”
Producer Satoko Ishida, meanwhile, said, “We are thrilled to be working on this extremely exciting and challenging project together withCharades. Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a master, who is loved and admired by countless movie-lovers around the world.”
“The rare combination of putting jidai-geki (period drama) and mystery together was an ambitious and provoking journey for the director and all of us working on the project,” Satodo said, “but with an incredible group of stellar casts and talented staffs, we look forward to bringing a new yet classic form of Japanese cinema.”
Don’t miss the most recent teaser announcement below, and read more at Variety.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
