Enter the ninja
Goemon
A legendary Japanese hero comes to Long Play.
To those of us unfamiliar with his name, Ishikawa Goemon may as well be a contestant on Iron Chef. But to the Japanese, he's their answer to Robin Hood - a bandit (and ninja) who robbed the rich to give to the poor.
"He was, in a way, the first Japanese rock star figure who rebelled against the establishment," says music video director turned filmmaker Kazuaki Kiriya.
After bursting onto the scene with his first feature film Casshern - an ambitious re-imagining of a 1970s Japanese anime TV series - Kiriya turned his flamboyant visual eye to the Japanese folk legend in which Goemon exacts revenge on treacherous leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nippon's version of the Sheriff of Nottingham).
But Goemon isn't just any old flick about an outlaw hero; it's a live-action anime epic of monster proportions featuring stunning set pieces, exquisite art direction, elaborate costumes designed by Australian Tina Kalivas, and digital effects that James Cameron would be proud of.
But what else would you expect from a director who's not afraid to use CGI to its fullest? "I am sick of some techno geeks saying how unrealistic the CGI is," Kiriya once said. "I just want to say to them, 'You idiots, we meant it that way!'"
Indeed, our hero (Yôsuke Eguchi) plunges down cliffs effortlessly, displays more acrobatic flair than Greg Louganis, flies through the air like he has jetpacks strapped to his back and decimates opponents with one swoop of his trusty sword. Can Russell Crowe do all that? We think not.
Goemon screens in Long Play from Saturday 8 May until Sunday 30 May. For screening times click here.
Published Thursday, 6 May 2010
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