tsukamoto shinya

KILLING: Watch The Official Trailer For Tsukamoto Shinya’s Period Samurai Drama

Tsukamoto Shinya’s latest, Killing, is standing pretty well thusfar as it makes the festival rounds from Toronto to Busan and eventually at Sitges in Italy where it won Best Music. Its next stop will be at the Singapore International Film Festival in December following its release next month on November 24. Killing pivots from Tsukamoto’s more gritty, horrific war perspective, Fires On The Plain, toward more contemplative sword drama centered in the 19th century as trade between U.S. and Japan brings centuries of peace in Japan to an end. At the crux of our story is a traveling ronin, a farmer’s daughter and her brother with whom he spars on occasion, all standing at the precipice of a major turning point in history as war becomes more imminent. Ikematsu Sosuke stars with actress Aoi Yu, Nakamura Tatsuya, and Tsukamoto himself who plays a dueling samurai who brings a spate of […]

Tsukamoto Shinya’s ZAN Is All About Staying Sharp In The First Teaser

Lee B. Golden III

Celebrated auteur Tsukamoto Shinya’s latest Kaijyu Theater offering, Zan, is currently poised for a Japan release later this year. In the meantime, attendees for the 75th Venice International Film Festival will get first dibs following the festival’s August 31 launch. As such, we now have a first official teaser following a June reveal of our two principal stars, Ikematsu Sosuke (upcoming Falling Camelia) and Aoi Yu (Tokyo Ghoul), hailing their first collaboration with Tsukamoto. And there’s no question here either – if you love chanbara, the new teaser more than signals where it stands for your fandom and stimulus from swordplay action and thrills. Front center of it all from a script by Tsukamoto is the story of a ronin trying to survive mid-19th century Japan during the course of its of violent transition from feudalism to the modern world. As previously reported, Ikematsu leads the film with actress Aoi […]

ZAN: Get A First Look At Tsukamoto Shinya’s New Period Samurai Pic

Lee B. Golden III

Tetsuo, Tokyo Fist and Fires On The Plain helmer, multifaceted filmmaker and cult favorite Tsukamoto Shinya is en route with Zan, a new period thriller now slated for a November 24 release. The film, whose title translates as “Kill”, tells of a ronin trying to survive mid-19th century Japan during the course of its of violent transition from feudalism to the modern world. Actor Ikematsu Sosuke (upcoming Falling Camellia) leads the film with actress Aoi Yu (Tokyo Ghoul) also starring as a peasant farm girl who lives in the same village as our protagonist. Zan will be their first collaboration with Tsukamoto who is also writing and serving as cinematographer on the pic, as well as producing via his Kaijyu Theater. As Variety’s Marc Schilling reported on Thursday, Zan could very well have its first premiere at the Venice Film Festival which kicks off on August 29.

FIRES ON THE PLAIN Rages On UK DVD And Blu-Ray This Fall

Lee B. Golden III

Expect to catch actor Tsukamoto Shinya in a remastered performance in the gruesome subliminal 2001 crime manga adaptation, Ichi The Killer. While you’re at it if in the U.K., feast your eyes on the upcoming release of Tsukamoto’s most recent outing, Fires On The Plain, remade from Ichikawa Kon’s own 1959 adaptation of Shohei Ooka’s 1951 anti-war novel. In the final stages of WWII, the occupying Japanese army in the Philippines is rapidly losing ground, facing local resistance combined with an American offensive. The final few Japanese survivors, having almost been wiped out, have crossed the threshold into a realm where there are no friends, no enemies and no God. The imagery alone dictates this isn’t for the faint of heart. Tsukamoto also wrote screenplay and is joined on screen by Nakamura Tatsuya, Lily Franky and Nakamura Yûko for its September 11 release on DVD and Blu-Ray from Third Window […]

The New Trailer For War Drama, FIRES ON THE PLAIN, Unelashes Hell On Earth

Lee B. Golden III

Period war movies are often subject to the internal focus of its set characters in the face of war in all its horrors. Ooka Shohei’s 1951 semi-biographical World War II novel, Nobi, proved useful as source material for Ichikawa Kon’s 1959 film adapation, Fires On The Plain, and multi-faced actor and director Tsukamoto Shinya‘s latest grisly reimagining has certainly allowed him to showcase his strengths, garnered its share of attention in the festival circuit within the past year. SYNOPSIS: In the ﬁnal stages of WWII, the occupying Japanese army in the Philippines is rapidly losing ground, facing local resistance combined with an American offensive. The ﬁnal few Japanese survivors, having almost been wiped out, have crossed the threshold into a realm where there are no friends, no enemies and no God. The film is a rewarding piece of work for fans keen to Tsukamoto‘s earlier movies like Toyko Fist, the […]