That’s No Misprint, Here Is Takashi Miike’s 100th Film!
To say that Takashi Miike is a workhorse is an understatement. Since his debut in 1991, the prolific director has pumped out more films than Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock, and Stanley Kubrick….combined! With the release of Takashi Miike’s newest film, this marks his 100th film. Cinema fans might recognize some of his iconic films like Audition, Ichi The Killer, and 13 Assassins. Miike is already beyond his “100 movies” milestone and is working on his 102nd film now! Before we jump ahead of ourselves, let’s look at the latest work Blade of the Immortal!
Check out the trailer here:
“Manji is a samurai who apparently cannot be killed by any injury. He crosses paths with Rin Asano, whose parents are murdered by a group of master swordsmen, and promises to avenge their deaths.”
The film stars Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sōta Fukushi, Hayato Ichihara, Erika Toda, Kazuki Kitamura, Chiaki Kuriyama, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Ichikawa Ebizō XI, Min Tanaka and Tsutomu Yamazaki. Miike serves as the director with Tetsuya Oishi penning the script.
Blade of the Immortal follows Takashi Miike’s other forays into the samurai genre. Miike seems comfortable making Jidaigeki movies; Jidaigeki is Japanese for “period dramas” and usually between 1603 and 1868. It’s also another adaptation of a manga series. With this story, it’s a little more supernatural than Miike’s films like 13 Assassins and more like 2015’s Yakuza Apocalypse.
This movie looks to be ridiculous and violent as Takashi Miike’s past work, but it is nowhere near the ultra-violence in films like Ichi The Killer. Blade of the Immortal comes from a popular manga created by Hiroaki Samura. This project isn’t the first time Miike crafts a manga into a memorable film; it is fairly common for the director. Examples being Ichi The Killer and the upcoming adaptation of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
With the film already seeing a release in Japan, American audiences can expect to see the movie on November 3, 2017. Magnet Releasing acquired the distribution rights at Cannes Film Festival, while Warner Bros. Pictures distribution in Miike’s native Japan.
What do you think of this trailer? Do you have any feelings about Takashi Miike directing over 100 films? Let me know in the comments below!
