Janus Films has acquired all U.S. rights to The Samurai And The Prisoner, the latest feature by Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa, set to debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The Samurai And The Prisoner is adapted from the novel by Honobu Yonezawa. The film was produced by Shochiku in association with Tokyo Broadcasting System Television. The deal was negotiated between Janus Films and Charades.
The film’s official synopsis reads: When Lord Murashige Araki rises up against the tyrannical Nobunaga Oda, he finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle. Isolated, he is confronted with a series of mysterious crimes that shatter the fragile order of his court, plunging the fortress into fear and suspicion. With Oda’s army closing in and a traitor hiding among his ranks, Murashige is forced into an uneasy alliance with Kanbei Kuroda, a brilliant yet dangerous strategist held prisoner in the dungeon. Helped by his wife Chiyoho and his most loyal generals, Murashige must uncover the truth before the castle falls.
Born in 1955 in Kobe, Japan, Kurosawa started directing 8mm independent films while studying Sociology at Rikkyo University. After that, he worked as an assistant director under Kazuhiko Hasegawa and Shinji Somai. His films include Cure, Charisma, Pulse, Bright Future, Tokyo Sonata, Journey To The Shore, Creepy, Daguerrotype, After We Vanish, Wife Of A Spy, Serpent’s Path, and Cloud.
“I was very positively surprised to learn that the story of the Sengoku warlord Araki Murashige, who rebelled against his lord Oda Nobunaga, will be screened in Cannes, transcending both borders and time,” Kurosawa said in a statement.
“If, by good fortune, people overseas can truly understand that this is something that could still happen even today, I would be immensely happy.”
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