A grotesque yet moving, neon thriller set between Italy and Japan, and dedicated to fans of Asian cinema, Italian genre films and Japanese-style pop culture, where La Strada and Sonatine meet the hard-boiled 1980s, rounded off with a good dose of black humour and suspense: this is how Mishima - Le rose della vendetta, the latest feature film by Gigi Roccati (Babylon Sisters [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], Lucania [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]), has been described, a film which also marks the first cinematic co-production between Italy and Japan.

Supported by the Film Commission Torino Piemonte – the Piemonte Film & TV Development Fund, Mishima is the first Italian project to obtain funding from the Japanese Ministry for Economic Development. The film’s development is in the hands of producer Taro Imai of Harakiri Films (Osaka), together with Ardita Film (Turin), a firm dedicated to the conception of cinematic and serial projects of international appeal.

Edoardo Pesce (awarded the Best Actor David di Donatello in 2019 for Dogman [+lire aussi :
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interview : Matteo Garrone
fiche film], recently seen in The Time of Indifference [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]) will play the film’s male lead and is also partly responsible for the screenplay which he co-wrote with Gigi Roccati. The latter is now busy working on a script alongside Japanese author Shogo Yasukawa, who is known for his cult animated series including Jojo Bizzarre Adventures and Food Wars. The writing group also includes Diego Malara, a story editor and creative producer with lengthy experience in the fields of publishing and cross-media development.

The synopsis is as follows: Mishima, an iconic heroine who fights against traffickers and exploiters, sees her destiny forever changed when her blood-drenched path crosses that of Ervis, an amateur singer obsessed with Presley, who is forced to smuggle a miraculous drug by a gang of bodybuilders and followers of a ruthless, masked influencer.

Selected for the Focus Asia All Genres Project Market, Mishima will be presented within the Far East Film Festival 2021 (Udine, 30 June - 2 July), an event which puts European producers in touch with their Asian counterparts. With a majority Italian shareholding set-up and with shooting due to unfold on location in both countries, the film is currently looking for its main Italian producer. Mishima’s teaser poster was designed by Giuseppe Camuncoli, a star of the comic book world, known for his art on some of the biggest American franchises (Spider-Man, Wolverine, Batman, Star Wars).

A graduate of the London Film School who completed an internship in Los Angeles’ Universal Studios, Gigi Roccati’s most recent film Lucania (2019) earned him a host of international awards, including Best Foreign Film in Los Angeles, three Grand Jury Awards in Houston and the Hero and Time Award in Russia. His debut film Babylon Sisters (2017) was presented in upwards of thirty international festivals.

Check out the teaser poster below: