Uzumasa ~Limelight *Hiroki Matsukata

Uzumasa (Kyoto) is considered the Hollywood of Japan. It has produced many "jidaigeki" films (period dramas with sword fighting) that are loved by many Japanese and others throughout the world. These films wouldn't be what they were if it weren't for the "kirareyaku" (actors whose main job is to be killed by the lead star). Men who are killed, without ever being lit by the limelight... This story is about those men, the unsung heroes of classic jidaigeki films. They loved and respected the art, even when the production of classic jidaigeki films began to dwindle. Using Charlie Chaplin's film "Limelight" as an underlying theme, the admirable story of these men dealing with a new generation and fading craftsmanship is told with melancholy and soul. MUST SEE for Samurai Action Fans!



Synopsis: A professional extra named Kamiyama/Seizo Fukumoto has devoted 50 years of his life as a kirare-yaku in sword-fighting movies produced at Kyoto's Uzumasa Studios. A master of the art, he lives to die or more exactly "to be cut" and show a beautiful, spectacular death on screen. Now an elderly man, Kamiyama lives very modestly but has earned immense respect from his peers, some of them movie stars (Hiroki Matsukata). When the studio where he works decides to discontinue its chanbara productions, Kamiyama finds himself at a loss. Hope arrives in the form of a young girl named Satsuki/Chihiro Yamamoto, who soon becomes Kamiyama's disciple. Will the art of dying by the sword live on?



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ENGLISH subs coming soon!

Posted in: Japanese Movies