Kenkichi (Tak Sakaguchi x Sion Sono)

[HungFist]

Originally known as "The Blood of the Wolves"

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Taku says he wants to make a good samurai film cause all the new ones made by others are crap. Co-scripted by Sion Sono.

The first “real” samurai action film in years, The Blood of Wolves is something that no one has seen before: a throwback to classic genre filmmaking of the 60’s and 70’s using modern make-up and CGI techniques along with full contact combat to fill the screen with sweaty, high impact action that integrates swordplay, monsters and martial arts. Add in a driving, hard rock score and you have got a movie that promises outrageous excitement from beginning to end. As the only Japanese motion picture director who is also an action director and a martial artist, SAKAGUCHI Tak is perfectly suited to forge this new style of action film.

I have often wondered why no more filmmakers are able to shoot real genre films these days. I want to revive the spirit of these filmmakers and elevate it to the next level of art.

Contemporary action films are too “safe,” too weak. Their actors are untrained in real action and they are unwilling to hit each other with swords and fists, and so their action scenes lack spirit and look fake.

http://www.haf.asia/haf/pdf/project10/T ... WOLVES.pdf
http://z6.invisionfree.com/FilmSmash/in ... wtopic=329

[thelostdragon]

Interesting to see how Sakaguchi-san worked his way up to being a director, considering that he used to be a street fighter.

[HungFist]

There's great Sakaguchi article/love letter here:
http://www.twilightvisions.com/tak/subete.htm

His directing work in Mutant Girls Squad was quite good, better than Noboru Iguchi's. Well, it was Iguchi's screenplay but nevertheless Sakaguchi managed the mix of action, comedy and over the top drama well. I haven't seen his other films (as a director).

I do however think he's a bit over-rated as an action choreographer. His best work was he was being directed by other, visionary directors and choreographers (Kitamura, Shimomura). He kinda took that "action man" reputation behind the camera with himself. It's also partly because action cinema is such a dead genre in Japan nowadays. There like four guys in the business that can think of (Sakaguchi, Shimomura, Amemiya, and Kensuke Sonomura). But that's also why Sakaguchi made it, I think. If you have talent and one guy from the action/horror film crew finds you, you'll soon make friends with all of them because it's really a very small bunch of people and they work together constantly.

[HungFist]

Seems like the project is moving forward:
http://www.septimovicio.com/noticias/18 ... of-wolves/

[HungFist]

Filming has been completed. And it's no longer only written by Sion Sono, it's co-directed by Sono and Sakaguchi!

It seems like the project may have changed more or less since the original news, though... the Japanese title is Kenkichi, and Taku speaks of it being very realistic. I'm not sure if it's still called Blood of the Wolves in English.

In an interview in July 2011 Sakaguchi said:

"The medium-sized project I’m working on with my best friend, Sion Sono and we hope to get into it this year. It’s a very realistic samurai story; a hero that goes beyond a dark hero, where basically he just murders human beings."

also

"This year and next year I’m going to be bringing my fans two samurai films with amazing katana sword-fighting that no one’s ever seen. That will completely destroy all sword-fighting scenes from all past films. So I want everyone to look forward to that. Also, finally, there’s going to be a long-awaited sequel to a film and I’m sorry I can’t say which film it is, but that’s also coming out for everyone to enjoy and look forward to. We’ll shoot it this year, so {you’ll see it} probably next year."

- http://www.thedivareview.com/Yakuza_Wea ... erview.htm

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2123988/
Related blog: http://ameblo.jp/emilyrocks-takya/theme ... 25968.html