Sharaku
First screened in April 2015
Director: Masahiro Shinoda. Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Furankî Sakai, Shirô Sano, Tsurutarô Kataoka, Riona Hazuki, Toshiya Nagasawa, Yasosuke Bando, Shima Iwashita, Tomijuro Nakamura, Naoko Kato, Masumi Miyazaki, Chôichirô Kawarasaki, Naomasa Musaka, Eisuke Sasai. Screenplay: Masahiro Shinoda, Masatoshi Sakai, and Midori Katakura (based on a story by Hiroko Minagawa). Twitter Capsule:
Tenaciously rooted in Japanese culture, but as an outsider I savored its curious pleasures. Like Imamura doing Mr. Turner.
VOR:③
Easy to admire, hard to recommend: the film refuses easy structure and its pacing tests one's patience, in ways I'd call unusual rather than "original." Still, an admirably odd bird.
