We are big, big fans of Japanese director Katsuhito Ishii in these parts. The man is a restless soul and something of a jack of all trades, always working on something though what that might be is anyone's guess. He's an accomplished animator who moved into the live action world with hitman comedy Shark Skin Man And Peach Hip Girl, went from that to the bizarre Party 7, from there gained international notoriety for the animation sequence in Kill Bill and then made an abrupt about face with the incredibly subtle Taste of Tea before going batshit crazy once again with Funky Forest. And now? Now the trailer for his latest project, Yama No Anata have arrived.
The film charts new territory for Ishii, it is his first period set piece, a remake of a 1938 film charting the romance between a blind masseur and a beautiful woman. New ground or now, the trailers for this are absolutely beautiful. There is a brief teaser and a full theatrical trailer and you'll find both embedded in the Twitch Player below the break.
Since I am unable to understand what they are saying I really have no clue as to how I feel about the story. But the set design looks amazing! Can't wait to see the end result.
Good to see some of his regulars are appearing in this, I can't wait!!
Man ... I love, love, love that shot of the female lead looking back over her shoulder in the middle of the town ... there's something about the coloring and depth of field in that shot that really makes it pop ...
aww yea very much looking forward to this. taste of tea and funky forest - two of my fave films of this decade. ishii is on a roll
Dear me, this has just shot straight to the top of my list of films i want to see, looks wonderful!
What do you mean by parody? Ishii has been quoted a fair bit talking about this film in Japan and he's very consistently saying he intends it as a straight up tribute to the original film. He's not making fun of it in any way.
Well, maybe the word "parody" is too much for what I wanted to say. I'm sorry, I didn't specified anything. Ishii might parody a little bit Zatoichi because he is a director of comedy. Ok, Yama no Anata Tokuichi no Koi is a remake of the 1938 version but maybe Ishii is inspired a bit by Zatoichi is the way that, the main character is kindda the same in both Yama no Anata Tokuichi no Koi and Zatoichi. Zatoichi is probably inspired by that blind masseur in that 1938 movie anyway. In the trailer, I see a bit of humour in the way that the blind masseur act. Maybe i'm correct to say that Ishii is was inspired by Zatoichi to recreate this blind masseur in Yama no Anata Tokuichi no Koi and take the opportunity to parody this famous fiction character. That's the way I meant by "parody". I didn't meant that Ishii made a parody of the 1938 version, I was talking about Zatoichi. Hope you understand.