This Summer we reported about Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning Western Unforgiven being remade and set in Japan. Taking the lead for the film is celebrated Japanese actor Ken Watanabe playing the iconic Eastwood role. Lee Sang-il is set to direct the film which takes place in 1880 around the time that the country is (like The Last Samurai) becoming more Westernized. In this similarly themed film Watanabe plays a “samurai with a violent past, who lives on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido with his aboriginal wife, but is brought out of retirement for one last job.” The first set shots have been released and even though they only started shooting this month it’s still enough to…
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Ken Watanabe Cast In Japanese Remake of 'Unforgiven'
Japanese actor Ken Watanabe, of hit films like Inception and The Last Samurai, has just signed on to Warner Bros’ remake of Clint Eastwood‘s western Unforgiven. Likened to a film like Seven Samurai being adapted into The Magnificent Seven for Western audiences, this time the source material is going to be transplanted and set in Japan. Variety reports that this remake, headed up by WB’s Japanese division, will similarly take place in the 1880s but will find Watanabe as a “samurai with a violent past, who lives on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido with his aboriginal wife, but is brought out of retirement for one last job.” Directed by Lee Sang-Il,…
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Off the Shelf…’The Last Samurai’
Every time I put this film in my Blu Ray player I am delighted to no end. The Last Samurai is one epic film that I will easily sit myself down for 152 breath-taking minutes and just immerse myself in the beauty and splendor of Edward Zwick’s masterpiece. Not many so-called “epics” can grab and keep my attention but those that do just floor me with the set design, visuals, plot and dialogue which make it all so immensely interesting. Watching this, I feel like I’ve been immediately transported to feudal Japan and it’s like I’m a kid at Christmas.