First Look At Takashi Miike’s ‘Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai’
Cannes is basically Comic-Con for movie nerds, and so in the coming weeks, we’ll be treating each image or morsel of info of the films playing there with the same weight as new toys for “Transformers” or covers for limited edition runs of Captain America that more genre-oriented sites might do.
Easily one of our most anticipated titles in a great year that’s lining up on the Croisette, we finally have our first official look at Nicolas Winding Refn‘s “Drive” starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. Based on the novel by James Sallis, Refn’s reportedly lean and mean film follows a stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver-for-hire and gets mixed up with dangerous dudes. Sounds great and with this supporting cast — Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Christina Hendricks and Oscar Issac — we can’t wait to see what kind of spin Refn puts on the material. Check out a larger version of the picture and synopsis below. The film hits theaters on September 16th.
Meanwhile, Japanese genre fave Takashi Miike will make his debut on the red carpet with the 3D pic “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai,” a remake of the 1962 film by Masaki Kobayashi. RopeOfSilicon have dug up a couple of stills from the film and the 17th century-set story “centers on Hanshiro (Ebizo Ichikawa), an honorable, poverty-stricken samurai requesting to commit hara-kiri in the courtyard of feudal lord Kageyu’s estate. Trying to dismiss Hanshiro’s wish to save face, Kageyu (Koji Yakusho) recounts the tragic story of a similar plea years ago from young ronin Motome (Eita). But the arrogant lord is unaware of vengeful Hanshiro’s bond to Motome.” Ok, sounds cool. We just want to know how many buckets of blood Miike is gonna virtually throw in our face. Or maybe he’s going all respectable on us now? We hope not. Check out the pics below.
DRIVE is the highly anticipated independent feature with Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (“Bronson,” “Valhalla Rising”) in the driver’s seat. Filmed in and around Los Angeles, the crime drama stars Academy Award® Nominees Ryan Gosling (“Half Nelson,” “The Notebook”) and Carey Mulligan (“An Education,” “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps”). Academy Award® Nominee Hossein Amini (“Wings Of The Dove”) adapted the script from the James Sallis’ novel of the same name.
Adding to the compelling mix of talent are three-time Emmy® Award Winner Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Golden Globe® Winner Ron Perlman (“Sons Of Anarchy”), Emmy® Nominee Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”), Oscar Isaac (“Body Of Lies,” “Robin Hood”) and Academy Award® Nominee Albert Brooks (“Taxi Driver”, “Broadcast News”).
“Drive” is the story of a Hollywood stunt driver by day (Ryan Gosling), a loner by nature, who moonlights as a top-notch getaway driver-for-hire in the criminal underworld. He finds himself a target for some of LA’s most dangerous men after agreeing to aid the husband of his beautiful neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan). When the job goes dangerously awry, the only way he can keep Irene and her son alive is to do what he does best—Drive!