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Sword of the Stranger in 2018 Japan Touring Film Programme
posted on by Andrew Osmond
There will be a touring programme of Japanese films from February 2 to March 28 2018, including the Studio Bones samurai adventure Sword of the Stranger. The Sword of the Stranger screening details are here.
The film will be shown at the following venues: ICA London (February 11, 4.30 p.m.), QUAD, Derby (February 11, 6.10 p.m.), HOME, Machester (February 18), Dundee Contemporary Arts (February 27), Queen's Film Theatre, Belfast (March 1), Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal (March 11), Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling (March 12), Broadway, Nottingham (March 17), Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham (March 25), Exeter Phoenix (March 27).
Other screenings in the programme include the following live-action films:
- Memoirs of a Murder, pictured left, a crime thriller starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Light in the live-action Death Note, Shuya in Battle Royale (screenings).
- The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji (Mogura no Uta: Senyū Sōsakan Reiji), Takashi Miike's live-action adaptation of a crime manga by Noboru Takahashi (screenings).
- The Dark Maidens, a murder mystery scripted by prolific anime scriptwriter Mari Okada (anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Anthem of the Heart, Black Butler, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) (screenings).
Sword of the Stranger revolves around a nameless samurai ("Nanashi") and the boy he vows to protect from forces both foreign and domestic. Hunted by the Mings from China, young Kotaro and his dog meet Nanashi, who is constantly being haunted by dreams of the past which lead him to seal his sword. Among the Mings is a fiercesome Western fighter named Rarou, who desires only to find a worthy opponent. When both groups clash with a Sengoku-era feudal lord, a proud general, and monks torn between faith and survival, the reason behind the Mings' pursuit tests the bond between Kotaro and Nanashi.
Stranger director Masahiro Ando (no relation to the Sailor Moon episode director with the same name) supervised the animation on Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, and he also storyboarded Fullmetal Alchemist television episodes and the film. Before writing the screenplay for Stranger, Fumihiko Takayama directed Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket and Patlabor WXIII. Naoki Satō wrote the music in the Eureka Seven and X television series and won a Japanese Academy Award for his Always: Sunset on Third Street film soundtrack.
The tour programme is organised by The Japan Foundation.
Via Otaku News.
