Uzumasa Limelight

We have all done it at least 5 times as a child: drop dead theatrically after a long and heroic battle. For some it is a childish reminder of a bygone age, for others like protagonist Kamiyama it’s a respectful livelihood. At least it was, because the ancient art of the last breath is no longer valued in times of computer generated massacres.

Played by Seizo Fukumoto, himself an icon of the golden age of the samurai cinema, Kamiyama sees the spotlights fading. No matter how much the brave but stubborn man practices his smooth art of dying, he becomes obsolete like Calvero from Charlie Chaplin’s “Limelight”. That is until Satsuki, a rising star in Japanese cinema, decides to become his apprentice. Their blossoming friendship is shot with much love for it’s subject and sense of nostalgia by young talent Ken Ochiai.

Uzumasa Limelight is a wonderful parable about trial and error, death and revival, both in and beyond the spotlight. If you’re still hesitating to immerse yourself in our opener this year: this Million Dollar Baby of the Japanese film was featured in the top 10 of almost all best of 2014 lists of Japanese film critics and was the winner of the Audience Award at the Camera Japan festival in Rotterdam. And after the film, you can join us for our time-honored tradition of feasting on liquid and less liquid Japanese delicacies during our reception.

AWARDS:

• Audience award winner Camera Japan 2014
• Fantasia Film Festival 2014
• Won Best Feature Cheval Noir Ken Ochiai (director)
• Won Jury Prize Best Actor Seizô Fukumoto (actor)

NOMINATED:

• MPSE 2015 (Motion Picture Sound Editors)
• Golden Reel Award (Feature Foreign Language-Effects/Foley/Dialogue/ADR)

All images: © 2014 “Uzumasa Limelight”