Trailer: Blade of the Immortal – Takashi Miike’s 100th Film

Prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike is currently showing off his 100th film at Cannes.

Blade of the Immortal is the story of a lone samurai named Manji, who  reluctantly agrees to help a young girl, Rin, avenge the deaths of her parents who have been murdered by a group of bizarre misfits seeking to rid the world of all samurai. For his part, Manji has vowed to atone for his previous misdeeds by killing 1000 evil men. But what really sets him apart from other ronin isn’t so much his swordsmanship, or even his large collection of wacky killing instruments,   but rather the fact that he is immortal, due to the presence of certain parasitic worms in his bloodstream. He’s hard to kill, but that doesn’t stop people trying.

The film is based on an award winning manga by Hiroaki Samura. I actually read a dozen or so volumes some years ago and can testify that the story is packed with bloody violence, cruelty and a healthy dose of black humour. Knowing Takashi Miike, those elements are likely to remain intact in this live action feature, especially the cruelty and violence.

The film has already been picked up for distribution in the US by Magnet Releasing.