BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL (JAPAN, 2008)
NEW YORK PREMIERE
111 minutes, digital projection, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Tak Sakaguchi
Starring: Tak Sakaguchi, Shoei, Shintaro Yamada, Hideo Sakaki
Showtimes:
Sat June 27, 8:00pm at the IFC Center (director/actor Tak Sakaguchi and top stuntman Isao Karasawa in attendance) [Buy Tickets].
Mon June 29, 5:00pm at the IFC Center (director/actor Tak Sakaguchi and top stuntman Isao Karasawa in attendance) [Buy Tickets].
Note: "Buy Tickets" links will take you to the IFC Center website (for shows at IFC Center) and to Japan Society website (for shows at Japan Society). Tickets for each venue must be purchased separately.
With director Tak Sakaguchi and top stuntman Isao Karasawa in attendance.
Action superstar Tak Sakaguchi unveils his tongue-in-cheek directorial debut with BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL, a wild journey to the secretive Otoko-juku university, Japan’s only remaining samurai school, where machismo is taught with an iron fist and bullying is required. Pure slapstick martial arts mayhem, the movie starts when Otoko-juku’s latest recruits show up completely unaware of what it takes to make the grade – and soon find themselves in a world of endless pain. With their upperclassmen and teachers forcing the n00bs through a series of humiliating and dangerous punishments straight out of a SAW sequel, the first year freshmen are nearly ready to throw in the towel. All that changes, however, when a power hungry ex-student (BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL’s Hideo Sakaki) shows up with a band of warriors to reclaim the university as his own. Suddenly, the students and staff of SAMURAI SCHOOL find it’s time put aside their differences, band together and...be a man!
Basing BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL on Akira Miyashita’s long-running, critically-acclaimed manga of the same name, writer/director Sakaguchi has crafted a stunning mix of action and comedy that plays upon Japan’s own national identity while not taking itself seriously enough that it loses its sense of free-spirited fun. Originally garnering worldwide acclaim as the star of Ryuhei Kitamura’s VERSUS, Sakaguchi (who appears here as school hero Momotaro) has since become a much-sought-after actor and fight choreographer, headlining such films as ALIVE and GODZILLA: FINAL WARS. In BE A MAN! he cranks it up to the next level of comic book action. Swords release walls of pure energy, battles occur everywhere, from cliffsides to pools of sulfuric acid, and – in a moment of truly inspired lunacy – a student prepares for a fight by running down to the river and jump-kicking a bear in the face.
Whether you cheer or laugh at the inhabitants of Otoku-juku, one thing’s for sure: Tak Sakaguchi has come out swinging, and when the bell rings for SAMURAI SCHOOL, you’d better be in line.
BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL (JAPAN, 2008)
NEW YORK PREMIERE
111 minutes, digital projection, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Tak Sakaguchi
Starring: Tak Sakaguchi, Shoei, Shintaro Yamada, Hideo Sakaki
Showtimes:
Sat June 27, 8:00pm at the IFC Center (director/actor Tak Sakaguchi and top stuntman Isao Karasawa in attendance) [Buy Tickets].
Mon June 29, 5:00pm at the IFC Center (director/actor Tak Sakaguchi and top stuntman Isao Karasawa in attendance) [Buy Tickets].
Note: "Buy Tickets" links will take you to the IFC Center website (for shows at IFC Center) and to Japan Society website (for shows at Japan Society). Tickets for each venue must be purchased separately.
With director Tak Sakaguchi and top stuntman Isao Karasawa in attendance.
Action superstar Tak Sakaguchi unveils his tongue-in-cheek directorial debut with BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL, a wild journey to the secretive Otoko-juku university, Japan’s only remaining samurai school, where machismo is taught with an iron fist and bullying is required. Pure slapstick martial arts mayhem, the movie starts when Otoko-juku’s latest recruits show up completely unaware of what it takes to make the grade – and soon find themselves in a world of endless pain. With their upperclassmen and teachers forcing the n00bs through a series of humiliating and dangerous punishments straight out of a SAW sequel, the first year freshmen are nearly ready to throw in the towel. All that changes, however, when a power hungry ex-student (BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL’s Hideo Sakaki) shows up with a band of warriors to reclaim the university as his own. Suddenly, the students and staff of SAMURAI SCHOOL find it’s time put aside their differences, band together and...be a man!
Basing BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL on Akira Miyashita’s long-running, critically-acclaimed manga of the same name, writer/director Sakaguchi has crafted a stunning mix of action and comedy that plays upon Japan’s own national identity while not taking itself seriously enough that it loses its sense of free-spirited fun. Originally garnering worldwide acclaim as the star of Ryuhei Kitamura’s VERSUS, Sakaguchi (who appears here as school hero Momotaro) has since become a much-sought-after actor and fight choreographer, headlining such films as ALIVE and GODZILLA: FINAL WARS. In BE A MAN! he cranks it up to the next level of comic book action. Swords release walls of pure energy, battles occur everywhere, from cliffsides to pools of sulfuric acid, and – in a moment of truly inspired lunacy – a student prepares for a fight by running down to the river and jump-kicking a bear in the face.
Whether you cheer or laugh at the inhabitants of Otoku-juku, one thing’s for sure: Tak Sakaguchi has come out swinging, and when the bell rings for SAMURAI SCHOOL, you’d better be in line.
