ITALY: Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" premieres in Venice

Record ID: 643261

  • Title: ITALY: Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" premieres in Venice
  • Date: 6th September 2013
  • Summary: VENICE, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 6, 2013) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR KEN WATANABE SAYING: "Clint gave us a letter after seeing the movie, The Unforgiven and he will remake Yojimbo from Akira Kurosawa and we made Unforgiven from Clint Eastwood. It seems like it's a soul of the film-makers to give and to take, to cross over the nation and the culture and everything. It's a great deal for the film-makers. I just want to make the film, except (be it) Hollywood or any other country, I follow my curiosity for the next film."
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2013 13:00
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  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVA98HOBRN1H4II434ZOELQCJ5RW
  • Story Text: The starry cast of "Yurusarezarumono", director Lee Sang-il's take on the acclaimed Eastwood picture "Unforgiven" present the film in Venice.



    "Yurusarezarumono", inspired by the Oscar-winning classic "Unforgiven" by Clint Eastwood, premiered at the Venice film festival on Friday (September 6).
    It is the first time in Japanese cinema history that an American film was remade and will be released in Japan.
    Director Lee Sang-il's has taken on the classic which was released in the U.S. in 1992 and nominated for nine Academy Awards in 1993, winning four, including Best Picture.
    Inspired by the Eastwood classic, Lee Sang-il shifts the setting to Japan in retelling the epic.
    The film stars an ensemble including some of Japan's most acclaimed actors, led by Ken Watanabe ("Letters from Iwo Jima", "The Last Samurai") as Jubei Kamata, reinterpreting the role played by Clint Eastwood in the original, with Akira Emoto ("Villain", "Dr. Akagi") taking on the part played by Morgan Freeman, and Koichi Sato ("Crest of Betrayal", "What the Snow Brings") reprising Gene Hackman's part.
    Speaking to Reuters Television in Venice, Lee said that while he had sought to stay loyal to the original movie, he had also wanted to take the story further in his adaptation.
    "In general, what I can say is that the storyline is totally identical as in the original but where these two films differ is that in our film each character has a heavy burden on his shoulders. So, the new development in this movie is that each character has more depth," he said.
    The fleshed-out characters served as inspiration for Lee's leading men.
    Watanabe, who starred in Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" added that he had not tried to copy the actor-director in his take of the leading role.
    "I didn't speak to Clint, just in order to get the rights just before the shooting. Mr. Lee, the director, gets a great adaptation of the story-telling in the script and then we didn't have to focus on the original, just focused on the script and each character," he said.
    "I saw the original film back when it was first released but then did not watch it again as I prepared for my part in this movie. I think the original version makes for a very interesting movie but I can say that I've forgotten many parts of it. I think what we've manage to do is make a completely brand new movie," said veteran actor Akira Emoto.
    "Yurusarezarumono" is set in Hokkaido around 1880, the start of the Meiji period following the collapse of the Edo shogunate, at a time when the Japanese government is attempting to open the land (then named Ezo) populated by the indigenous Ainu people.
    In the shogunate's waning days, Jubei Kamata (Watanabe), a former swordsman of the shogunate, slaughters countless rebels under orders, earning a fearsome reputation in Kyoto. Following the government's collapse, he takes part in a succession of bloody battles culminating in the decisive battle at Goryokaku, then vanishes without a trace, eluding the determined efforts of the new government to capture him.
    More than a decade later, Jubei lives on in desolate isolation as a frugal rancher with an Ainu woman as his wife and their children. However, his wife dies, leaving him to guard over her grave with their children in sparse austerity. Now, the man who vowed never to take sword again finds himself driven by poverty to once again join battle as a bounty hunter. Another cycle of violence starts anew in another new era.
    Clint Eastwood commented in a statement in 2012 when filming started that "It's an honor to know that Lee Sang-il and my good friend Ken Watanabe, with whom I worked closely on Letters from Iwo Jima, will be teaming on a Japanese rendition of Unforgiven."
    Watanabe, who will next be seen in the U.S. remake of "Godzilla", a Japanese franchise and Scorsese's Japan-set "Silence", said he was happy to see films travelling across cultures and boundaries.
    "Clint gave us a letter after seeing the movie, The Unforgiven and he will remake Yojimbo from Akira Kurosawa and we made Unforgiven from Clint Eastwood. It seems like it's a soul of the film-makers to give and to take, to cross over the nation and the culture and everything. It's a great deal for the film-makers. I just want to make the film, except (be it) Hollywood or any other country, I follow my curiosity for the next film," he said.
    "Yurusarezarumono" which is screening out of competition at the 70th Venice film festival is released in Japan on September 13.
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