KUBI

『首』
Kubi

Limited tickets remain for this screening.

New York Premiere. 77-year-old icon of Japanese film and television Takeshi Kitano (Outrage Coda, JC 2018) returns to the big screen in epic fashion with his 19th feature as producer, director, screenwriter, editor and star. A long-gestating passion project that Kitano also published as a novel, KUBI (Japanese for “neck”) is a bloody and comically subversive retelling of the famous 1582 Honnoji Incident in which the samurai warlord Oda Nobunaga —vigorously portrayed by Ryo Kase (To the Ends of the Earth) as an unhinged sadist—is betrayed through the covert machinations of his retainers Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Kitano) and Mitsuhide Akechi (Hidetoshi Nishijima, Drive My Car). Necks will be cut and heads will roll!

Dir. Takeshi Kitano, 2023, 131 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Takeshi Kitano, Ryo Kase, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Shido Nakamura.

Part of JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film 2024
July 10—21, 2024

JAPAN CUTS is the largest showcase of contemporary Japanese cinema in North America and an annual highlight of New York’s cinema scene.

Image: ⓒ 2023 KADOKAWA ⓒ T.N GON Co.,Ltd. 2023.

Japan Society programs are made possible by leadership support from Booth Ferris Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Anime NYC and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family and Friends of Film. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film. Housing assistance is provided by the Prince Kitano New York, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film.