Bunraku (film)

Bunraku
US theatrical poster
Directed byGuy Moshe
Screenplay byGuy Moshe
Story byBoaz Davidson
Produced byKeith Calder
Ram Bergman
Nava Levin
Jessica Wu
StarringJosh Hartnett
Woody Harrelson
Gackt
Kevin McKidd
Ron Perlman
Demi Moore
Narrated byMike Patton
CinematographyJuan Ruiz Anchía
Edited byZach Staenberg
Glenn Garland
Music byTerence Blanchard
Production
companies
Snoot Entertainment
Bergman Productions
Picturesque Films
Distributed byARC Entertainment
XLrator Media
Release dates
  • September 11, 2010 (2010-09-11) (TIFF)
  • September 30, 2011 (2011-09-30) (United States)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Japanese
Budget$25 million

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.

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.[1] 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.[2]

Bunraku premiered as an official selection of the Midnight Madness section at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival in Canada,[3][4] and a limited theatrical release was slated for September 2011.[5][6]

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".[7]

  1. ^ NIX (January 31, 2008). "Josh Hartnett to Star in Sin City-like Bunraku". Beyond Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  2. ^ Theatrical Titles, Bunraku Archived March 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, IM Global LLC
  3. ^ Geddes, Colin (August 17, 2010). "When The Sun Goes Down, The Stars Come Out Festival's Midnight Madness Line-Up Packed With Big Names, Big Action And Big Thrills". Toronto International Film Festival 2010. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  4. ^ Vlessing, Etan (August 9, 2010). "Will Ferrell's new dramedy heading to Toronto". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
  5. ^ Metriosity (November 30, 2010). "Bunraku Release Date". Greys Cabble. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  6. ^ Fleming, Mike (April 26, 2011). "ARC Entertainment Acquires Josh Hartnett 2010 Toronto Action Film Bunraku". Deadline New York. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference HuffScott was invoked but never defined (see the help page).