Bunraku

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Bunraku is the latest film to attempt to use the filming techniques made famous and by Sin City & 300. Those two films remain the only real success stories for the format, mostly because they truly understood it and used it to add a dimension to already engaging stories. Other films, like The Spirit, merely had the device there as an excuse to do outlandish things.

This is a hard film to quantify and describe so I think I’ll let Arc Entertainment do it instead...

Hartnett & Gackt 

Synopsis...

“A mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett) and an ardent young Japanese warrior Yoshi (Gackt) both arrive in a town that has been terrorized by outrageous and virulent criminals. Each is obsessed with his separate mission, and guided by the wisdom of The Bartender (Woody Harrelson) at the Horseless Horseman Saloon, the two eventually join forces to bring down the corrupt and contemptuous reign of Nicola (Ron Perlman), the awesomely evil "woodcutter" and his lady Alexandra (Demi Moore), a femme fatale with a secret past. This classic tale is re-vitalized and re-imagined in an entirely fresh visual context, set in a unique world that mixes skewed reality with shadow-play fantasy, a place where even the landscape can betray you. Heroes triumph here only because the force of their will transforms and transcends both space and time. The world of BUNRAKU is past and present, fantasy and reality, Samurai and Western all combined. Like SIN CITY and 300, it gives classic conflict a whole new graphically supercharged dynamic. Resonating through a wide range of cultures and showcasing a mind-blowing array of martial arts disciplines, BUNRAKU is a fresh arena for breathtaking fight action.”

Trailer...

Exclusive clip, courtesy of AICN.

I love this clip, Ron Perlman can do this stuff in his sleep (check out his voice work in Afro Samurai) but the sense of menace and threat in the air and the music give this scene a real edge. I have a lot of time for Kevin McKidd too an he is also very good in this scene.

The film stars Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Gackt, Demi Moore, Ron Perlman and Kevin McKidd. It is written & directed by Guy Moshe and is due for rlease on the 30^th of Septemer.