Cannes 2011: First Image From Takashi Miike's HARA-KIRI: DEATH OF A SAMURAI

Cult director Takashi Miike turned heads around the globe with his handsome samurai drama 13 Assassins, a film for which he put away his trademark gonzo style and focused instead on simply putting together a well crafted, well told story. He succeeded enormously well, the result being one of the finest samurai films in recent memory, and Miike has been on record often since talking about how much he wishes Japan's current generation of filmmakers would take the time to learn from the old masters.

Well, Miike is looking to the past once again for his next picture, the Cannes selected Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai (Ichimei). That this is a 3D remake of a classic picture would normally have the purists howling but the simply fact that it is Miike at the helm, returning to the genre that he just did so very, very well seems to have kept those wolves at bay. And he certainly seems to have delivered the goods this time, both based on the first image above and the fact that Cannes saw fir to make this the first 3D film shown in the festival's history. Here's the official synopsis:

Seeking an honorable end, poverty-stricken samurai Hanshiro (played by Ebizo Ichikawa) requests to commit hara-kiri in the courtyard of feudal lord Kageyu's estate. Trying to dismiss Hanshiro's wish to save face, Kageyu (played by Koji Yakusho) recounts the tragic story of a similar plea years ago from young ronin Motome (played by Eita). But the arrogant lord is unaware of vengeful Hanshiro's bond to Motome...

Photo of Ebizo Ichikawa appears courtesy of Sedic International.