With those restrictions limiting the development of a film, a challenge like that sounds insane but Kitamura succeeds and delivers a film of almost the same caliber as "Versus". Named the "Duel" project, Kawai challenged the two filmmakers to each create a feature length movie with only two actors, battling in one setting and filmed entirely in one week. If you are tired of bloated Hollywood mega-buck productions and want to get back to the basics of purposeful dialogue, imaginative stageing and thought-through editing - in short, lean, popcorn pumping cinema - then this is a film you need to see.ĭirector Ryuhei Kitamura, now famous thanks to the big success of "Versus" and "Azumi", was challenged to make this experimental film in an odd bet with producer Shinya Kawai and fellow filmmaker Yukihiko Tsutsumi. The developing duel between the two principals neatly reflects back to the friendly rivalry between Kitamura and his fellow director Tsutsumi which originally initiated the film. Over 79 minutes nothing drags, and the changing relationship between the samurai and the goblin provide constant interest. Ignore those who claim the film is 'too talky', for none of the chat is wasted (there's none of the narrative indulgence seen in the recent Sky High, for instance), the actors have enough presence to carry it off, and time spent with them never palls. It requires the ingenuity and confidence of a Roger Corman to bring this thing off, raising such stuff above straight-to-video fodder, and Kitamura succeeds magnificently. The wonder of the film is that the director was able to stage and direct two action scenes - one short, one more extended - with such gusto and convincing moves, given the tight shooting schedule and limitation of the set, while still allowing himself time for empathetic set ups during slower moments. Obviously written at speed, the film's pay off could have been more enlightening (but perhaps a touch of obscurity in this sort of thing is a benefit, especially at a time when Hollywood genre efforts typically feel obliged to spell everything out), but fans won't argue too much and interpretations are easy to make. At heart Aragami is a film about knowing who you are, and both Osawa (who has since appeared in the less concentrated Sky High) and Masaya Kato are excellent in roles which, like chamber music, leave every flaw in performance likely to be exposed. As a project Aragami also contrasts strongly with the much more opened out Azumi (another personal favourite), which replaced the gloomy interiors and philosophising of Aragami with something much more kinetic and light hearted. Setting himself the task of shooting an action movie in one room (itself a possible contradiction in terms) the constraints ultimately make for a much more satisfying and engrossing experience than his previous, overrated breakthrough film - which was too carelessly off the wall and derivative to impress this viewer. You can catch a glimpse of all the above in Microsoft's latest Games with Gold run-down trailer.Made in one set, with three principal actors, and over seven days, Aragami impresses far more than the more immature Versus. Lastly for this month, and available between 16th November and 15th December, is developer Decoy Games' floaty side-scrolling underwater shooter Swimsanity, which features both co-op and versus modes for local and online play. Gold subscribers can pick it up between 16th November and 30th November. This one gives Steven Spielberg's classic movie trilogy the familiar Lego game treatment, transforming Indie's pulpy globe-trotting adventures - and occasional brushes with the supernatural - into raucously enjoyable, and reliably hilarious, kid-friendly co-op platform action. Pandemics Studios' acclaimed 2004 action-strategy effort Full Spectrum Warrior is this month's original Xbox offering, and can be downloaded from 1st November to 15th November, and that's followed by the Xbox 360 version of Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. Aragami comes to Games with Gold in its Shadow Edition guise - which bundles up the Xbox One base game and its Nightfall expansion - and is available to download between 1st November and 30th November. Xbox Games with Gold soldiers onward in November with four new offerings, this time in the form of Aragami, Swimsanity, Full Spectrum Warrior, and Lego Indiana Jones.įirst up is developer Lince Works' stylish supernatural stealth game Aragami, which follows the titular undead assassin, armed with the ability to manipulate shadows, as he attempts to thwart the Army of Light.
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