TOKYO (AP) 鈥 Japanese actor-director Takeshi Kitano says he wanted his new film 鈥淜ubi鈥 to show the world of samurai in ways that mainstream movies have rarely done before, by portraying the homosexual, love-hate relationship of warlords in one of Japan's best known historical episodes.
鈥淲hat is never shown is relationships between men at that time, including their homosexual relationships,鈥 Kitano told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Wednesday ahead of the Nov. 23 opening of his film in Japan.
The story of 鈥淜ubi,鈥 or 鈥渘eck,鈥 shows the 1582 ambush of Oda Nobunaga, one of Japan's best-known warlords, at the Honnoji temple in Kyoto by an aide, Akechi Mitsuhide.
Past dramas from that period have only shown 鈥渧ery cool actors and pretty aspects," Kitano said.
鈥淭his is a period when especially men were keeping up with their lives for other men within these relationships, including sexual relationships,鈥 he said. 鈥漇o I wanted to delve into showing these more murky relationships."
He wrote a script for the idea 30 years ago, then released the novel 鈥淜ubi" in 2019, leading to his production of the film. He also plays Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who takes over after Nobunaga, in the film.
Kitano, 76, began his career as stand-up comedian Beat Takeshi before becoming a TV star.
Kitano said he has seen the dark side of the Japanese entertainment industry, which recently has been shaken by a scandal involving the decades-long sexual abuse of hundreds of boys by the late founder of a powerful talent agency. Recently, the suicide of a member of a hugely popular female-only theater company Takarazuka prompted criticism over its alleged overwork and widespread bullying.
鈥淚n old days, in the Japanese entertainment industry, I wouldn't go as far as calling it slavery, but people used to be treated a commodities, from which money is made while showing them off. This is something that's still left in the culture of Japanese entertainment," Kitano said.
In his early days as a comedian, there were times when he was paid not even one-tenth of the worth of his work, he said. 鈥淭here have been improvements in recent years, but I've always thought severe circumstances have existed.鈥
Kitano, who debuted as a film director in 1989 with 鈥淰iolent Cop鈥 and won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for 鈥淗ana-bi鈥 in 1997, is known for violent depictions in his gangster movies like 鈥淥utrage.鈥
鈥淜ubi," which refers to traditional beheadings, has ample violence. Violence and comedy are an inseparable part of daily lives, he said.
鈥淟aughter is a devil,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hen people are very serious, such as at weddings or funerals, we always have a comedy or a devil coming in and making people laugh.鈥
Same for violent films, he said. "Even when we are filming very serious scenes, there are comedic elements that come in on the set, as the devil comes in and makes people laugh," though those scenes are not in the final version of films.
鈥淎ctually, my next film is about comedy within violent films,鈥 Kitano said. It will be a two-part film, with his own violent story followed by its parody version. 鈥淚 think I can make it work somehow.鈥
