Bunraku (film)
Bunraku is a 2010 martial-arts action film written and directed by Guy Moshe based on a story by Boaz Davidson. The film stars Josh Hartnett, Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Kevin McKidd, and Gackt and follows a young drifter in his quest for revenge.
| Bunraku | |
|---|---|
US theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Guy Moshe |
| Screenplay by | Guy Moshe |
| Story by | Boaz Davidson |
| Produced by | Keith Calder Ram Bergman Nava Levin Jessica Wu |
| Starring | Josh Hartnett Woody Harrelson Gackt Kevin McKidd Ron Perlman Demi Moore |
| Narrated by | Mike Patton |
| Cinematography | Juan Ruiz Anchía |
| Edited by | Zach Staenberg Glenn Garland |
| Music by | Terence Blanchard |
Production companies | Snoot Entertainment Bergman Productions Picturesque Films |
| Distributed by | ARC Entertainment XLrator Media |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 125 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English Japanese |
| Budget | $25 million |
The title Bunraku is derived from a 400-year-old form of Japanese puppet theater, a style of storytelling that uses 4-foot (1.2 m)-tall puppets with highly detailed heads, each operated by several puppeteers who blend into the background wearing black robes and hoods. The classic tale is re-imagined in a world that mixes skewed reality with shadow-play fantasy. Its themes draw heavily on samurai and Western films.
Bunraku premiered as an official selection of the Midnight Madness section at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, and a limited theatrical release was slated for September 2011.
The movie received negative reviews, although unanimously praised for visual style and ideas, its biggest criticism was poor screenplay which negatively influenced characterization, being considered as a bad movie "worth watching for those who know what they are getting into".