If this were any other director, reporting on a trailer for his or her new film just a few weeks after I reviewed the last effort might strike me as strange, but this is, after all, Takashi Miike we’re talking about. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but if the Italians would have had an army of Takashi Miike clones, it would’ve be done a hell of a lot faster. His figures may be down a bit from the early 2000s when he was averaging six or seven films a year, but he still churns ‘em out by the handful.
This new film, entitled Hara-Kari: Death Of A Samurai, is a 3D reimagining of a Masaki Kobayashi film of the same name, and it’s set to debut at the Cannes Film Festival. The veiled social commentary follows a ronin who embarrasses a great leader after asking for help in committing seppuku. Take a look at the teaser below…
Only the great directors can get away with a teaser that includes almost no dialogue, no extended shots and grandiose music. It may as well have had a caption scrolling underneath presumptively declaring it a brilliant epic. That’s not to say it doesn’t work. It definitely works, but the fact that I’m still on a high from seeing 13 Assassins definitely helps its cause.
There’s no word yet on when this might make it stateside, but considering there’s normally upwards of a year long gap between Takashi Miike festival debuts and stateside premieres, we’re likely going to be have to wait awhile.
