Topic: Film
September 9 - 11 at the Egyptian Theatre
September 16 at the Aero Theatre
HOLLYWOOD - The American Cinematheque presents Japanese Outlaw Masters at the Egyptian Theatre (September 9 - 11) and at the Aero Theatre (September 16). After taking a one-year hiatus from our "Japanese Outlaw Masters Series," it is back again with a steel-edged vengeance!
One of the most gratifying results of this series, first started in 1997, is that many of the films we've unearthed have since gone on to be released theatrically and on DVD in the US, and directors such as Kinji Fukasaku, Hideo Gosha, Kihachi Okamoto and others have finally received their long-overdue recognition as true masters of Japanese cinema.
This series coincides with the publication of series founder and Cinematheque programmer Chris D.'s companion volume Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film (2005, Palgrave-Macmillan) (available for sale at all of the screenings), which features profiles and interviews with many of these classic directors, as well as modern masters such as Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Takashi Miike, and genre icons Sonny Chiba and Meiko Kaji.
This year, the film series goes back to the basics -- samurai, yakuza and action classics from the 1960's and early 1970's –
including Hideo Gosha's swordplay gems GOYOKIN and THE WOLVES;
Kihachi Okamoto's tongue-in-cheek masterpieces, KILL! and AGE OF ASSASSINS;
Kinji Fukasaku's ferocious crime film WOLVES, PIGS AND PEOPLE;
and last, but not least, Seijun Suzuki's mind-altering BRANDED TO KILL.
Plus, two impossibly rare and glorious chanbara treasures:
Hideo Gosha's THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI and Masahiro Shinoda's ASSASSINATION, both long-unavailable in 35 mm. and screening here for the first time in decades!
Screenings are at the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the historic 1922 Egyptian (6712 Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Las Palmas) in Hollywood and at the Max Palevsky Theatre at the Aero Theatre (1328 Montana Ave) in Santa Monica.
Friday, September 9, 2005: Egyptian Theatre
The Friday, September 9th program begins at 7:30 PM with a Double Feature.
First up is a new 35 mm. print of THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI (SANBIKI NO SAMURAI), (1964, Janus Films, 95 min.). Director Hideo Gosha's first feature film is not only one of the most-assured directorial debuts ever, it is also something of a holy-grail for samurai movie aficionados, as it's been notoriously hard-to-see outside of Japan since its initial release - until now.
Janus Films just made a glorious new 35 mm. print of this treasure, in time for our series!
Wandering samurai Tetsuro Tanba is swayed into helping those who can't fend for themselves, in this case starving farmers who have kidnapped a local lord's daughter in protest over unfair taxes. In the process, much blood is shed, and two other swords-for-hire (Mikijiro Hira, Isamu Nagato) become reluctant draftees into Tanba's band of rebels. Gosha's use of the B&W Cinemascope frame is astonishing, with a down-to-earth, hardboiled ambience rarely seen in early 1960s samurai pictures. Add to that Toshiaki Tsushima's atmospheric score and you have a certifiable classic.
Next on the same bill is GOYOKIN (aka OFFICIAL GOLD aka STEEL EDGE OF REVENGE), (1969, Toho, 121 min.). Director Hideo Gosha's samurai masterpiece is an unrelenting vision of snow and fire, ravens screeching and swords flashing in the darkness.
Tatsuya Nakadai stars as a conscience-stricken samurai tortured by his involvement in a past massacre and determined to prevent another. Gosha was forced to reshoot half the film when original co-star Toshiro Mifune walked out (apparently because of the fierce cold!) - and the cold in GOYOKIN is, in truth, all-consuming, freezing hands to swords. A bold, beautifully-shot film. With Tetsuro Tanba, Ruriko Asaoka.
Saturday, September 10, 2005: Egyptian Theatre
The Saturday, September 10th program begins at 5:00 PM with a new 35 mm print of KILL! (KIRU), (1968, Janus Films, 115 min.). The synchronicity of Italy's spaghetti westerns with Japan's samurai genre is nowhere more evident than in this superb, action-packed gem from Kihachi Okamoto (SWORD OF DOOM).
Masaru Sato's Morricone-inflected theme, the super-gritty sequences in a dust-blown ghost town and the sparring of friendly rivals - ex-samurai-turned-gambler Tatsuya Nakadai and wannabe swordsman Etsushi Takahashi - meld together in an exhilarating brew, comparable in pure movie-watching enjoyment to the best of Kurosawa and Sergio Leone. Nakadai's loose comic performance is 180 degrees from his demonic turn in SWORD OF DOOM and testament to his spectacular versatility as a performer.
Following at 7:30 PM is a Double Feature. First up is ASSASINATION (ANSATSU), (1964, Janus Films, 104 min.). Director Masahiro Shinoda's (PALE FLOWER) samurai masterwork is a desolate portrait of a respected swordsman (Tetsuro Tanba) fighting to restore the emperor to power amidst the turmoil of the 1860's. Suddenly he becomes aware of the absurdity of the struggle. Through a maze of flashbacks, we're left to wonder what has spurred his disillusionment, convincing him to slyly manipulate the opposing factions. Tanba's cynicism leads his new shogunate allies to distrust him, and a master swordsman is sent to take him by surprise.
Cinematographer Masao Kosugi and composer Toru Takemitsu (both veterans of PALE FLOWER) return to deliver their stark, atonal purity to the proceedings.
Next on the same bill is WOLVES, PIGS & PEOPLE (OKAMI TO BUTA TO NINGEN), (1964, Toei, 95 min.). One of director Kinji Fukasaku's (GRAVEYARD OF HONOR) first critically-acclaimed efforts is also one of the grittiest, angriest yakuza thrillers ever made.
Legendary tough guy Ken Takakura plays a lone-wolf hood who convinces his younger sibling (Kinya Kitaoji) to recruit his youth gang to help rob elder brother Rentaro Mikuni's mob. Events spiral out-of-control as filial ties crumble in noirishly downbeat fashion. Awe-inspiring, topped off with Isao Tomita's amazing hybrid score of lounge jazz, Coltrane-esque squawk and distorted surf guitar.
Sunday, September 11, 2005: Egyptian Theatre
The Sunday, September 11th program begins at 6:00 PM with a Double Feature. First up is AGE OF ASSASSINS (SATSUJIN KYOJIDAI), (1967, Toho, 99 min.).
Director Kihachi Okamoto's (KILL!) sharp-edged, action lampoon compares favorably with such other mod 1960s treasures as Elio Petri's THE 10TH VICTIM and Seijun Suzuki's BRANDED TO KILL.
Tatsuya Nakadai, a glasses-wearing nebbish who is magically transformed into a suave secret agent, is stuck with limited resources, including a smog-belching junkheap of an automobile, as he does battle with a maniacal asylum director (Eisei Amamoto) dispatching unhinged killers to bring Japan to its knees.
Next on the same bill is BRANDED TO KILL (KOROSHI NO RAKUIN), (1967, Janus Films, 91 min.). Director Seijun Suzuki's tour-de-force magnum opus is a jawdropping, Pop Art deconstruction of not only gangster films but, more specifically, Nikkatsu Studio's own hitman subgenre. Excessive violence as well as dreamlike surrealism envelops an assassin (Joe Shishido) known as Number Three Killer after he botches a job, and both his mercenary wife (Mariko Ogawa) and a stoic hitwoman (Annu Mari) start trying to kill him. When Number One Killer (Koji Nanbara) steps in, the mind games escalate to a terrifyingly absurd level.
Sunday, September 16, 2005: Aero Theatre
The Sunday, September 16th program begins at 7:30 PM with THE WOLVES (SHUSSO IWAI), (1971, Toho, 130 min.). Director Hideo Gosha's epic chronicle of two warring yakuza clans in 1920s Japan rivals Coppola's THE GODFATHER in its scope and density, and Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH in its astonishing savagery.
Ex-con Tatsuya Nakadai becomes progressively more disillusioned with his underworld brethren in a swirl of personal betrayals, doomed love affairs and bone-splintering violence.
A brilliant mixture of traditional themes and contemporary elements, including Masaru Sato's jazz-influenced score, enrich this amazing film. With Noboru Ando, Toshio Kurosawa, Tetsuro Tanba. Screening will be preceded by a booksigning by Cinematheque programmer and writer, Chris D., celebrating the release of his new book, Outlaw Masters Of Japanese Film (Palgrave-Macmillan, $19.98).
THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI (Japanese with English subtitles)
GOYOKIN (Japanese with English subtitles)
BRANDED TO KILL (Japanese with English subtitles)
THE WOLVES (Japanese with English subtitles)
ASSASSINATION (Japanese with NO English subtitles)
WOLVES, PIGS & PEOPLE (Japanese with NO English subtitles)
AGE OF ASSASSINS (Japanese with NO English subtitles)
A complete calendar/flyer listing of these films is available on our website: http://americancinematheque.com
General Admission is $9. Double Features are two films for one admission price.
There is generally a 7 - 10 minute intermission between films.
24-Hour information: 323.466.FILM
Posted by culturalnews
at 00:01 PDT
Updated: 09/07/05 21:35 PDT
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