Monday 15 July 2013

A Japanese remake of UNFORGIVEN

Back in 1964, Clint Eastwood starred in a movie called A Fistful of Dollars. It's one of the best-known movies of his career and was a remake (if an unofficial one, resulting in a lawsuit) of the Japanese movie Yojimbo. The earlier Magnificent Seven was a (official, this time) remake of Seven Samurai. There's an interesting cross-pollination between the Western and Samurai genres, and now it's getting another iteration with a Japanese remake of Unforgiven.



Yurusarezaru Mono is the story of a respected veteran samurai, Jubei Kamata (Ken Watanabe). Kamata fought for the losing side in the wars that ended the Edo shogunate, but has survived to live as a rancher. When his wife dies and his family falls into poverty, Kamata is reluctantly forced to pick up the sword again as a bounty hunter, setting the scene for a bloody showdown. The film will be released in Japan on 13 September, hopefully with an English-subtitled version to follow.

1 comment:

Nate said...

I wish they had gone for a pre-gun time period. Swords and bows would have been fantastic. The movie does look gorgeous though.