Killing
- Saturday, June 1, 20:00 Mousonturm Saal
- Sunday, June 2, 22:30 Mal Seh’n Kino
- 斬、
Zan, - Japan 2018, 80 min, Japanese with English subtitles
- Director, script & Schnitt: Shinya TSUKAMOTO
- Production: Kaijyu Theater
- Camera: Shinya TSUKAMOTO, Satoshi HAYASHI
- Music: Chu ISHIKAWA
- World sales: Nikkatsu
- Cast: Sosuke IKEMATSU, Yu AOI, Shinya TSUKAMOTO, Ryusei MAEDA, Tatsuya NAKAMURA
- German premiere in the presence of the director
- Competition Nippon Cinema Award
The ronin Mokunoshin helps out on a farm while also training the owners’ son Ichisuke and falling in love with their daughter Yu. One day an older samurai appears in the village to recruit warriors for an impending civil war. With its narrative slowly descending into a feverish nightmare, KILLING deconstructs the samurai code and sharply criticizes the concept of glorified violence.
Director's Bio
Born in Tokyo in 1960, Shinya TSUKAMOTO started making 8mm short films as a teenager. After studying oil painting he worked for an ad agency and founded his own theater company, from which he recruited cast and crew for his feature debut TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (1989 / see p. 33). Films like TOKYO FIST (1995 / see p. 33), A SNAKE OF JUNE (2002), VITAL (2004 / NC ‘05) or KOTOKO (2011 / NC ’12) were celebrated on the international festival circuit. TSUKAMOTO received the Mainichi Film Award as best director and best actor for his remake of FIRES ON THE PLAIN (2014 / NC ‘15). KILLING enjoyed its 2018 world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
