SALON

Sunday, Sep 2, 2012 10:30 AM UTC

Japan’s Kurosawa tries to find hope in horror

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Japan's Kurosawa tries to find hope in horrorDirector Kiyoshi Kurosawa poses for portraits at the 69th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)(Credit: Domenico Stinellis)

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s interest in the impact of death on those left behind has drawn to the horror genre, but he says he tries to leave viewers with a sense of hope.

Kurosawa showed his latest project, “Penance,” out of competition at the Venice Film Festival this week.

The five-part serial drama opens with the murder of a young girl, and unfolds 15 years later, after the friends who witnessed her death have grown up. Grief-stricken, the girl’s mother has placed a curse that will haunt them unless they seek revenge.

“I am quite interested in a death, and I wonder what is going to happen after people die, and how it will affect the living people,” Kurosawa, 57, said in an interview Saturday. “I think there are so many hints hidden in horror films.”

Kurosawa said that since childhood, he has always enjoyed the emotions conveyed in a horror movie and that when he makes a film he wants to leave the audience with a sense of hope.

“In a film I think frightening people can be entertaining. That is why I do this kind of movie,” he said.

“Penance” is based on a novel which he adapted to a screenplay. The serial nature of the drama created some fresh challenges for the director. Kurasawa said it is his first film to cover a span of time, and also his first in which the protagonist of the film’s terror is a woman.

“At the beginning of filming, I was worried if I can still bring some hope to the audience at the end,” he said.

Kurosawa, who is not related to famed late Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, has shown films on the Lido twice before, in 1999 with “Barren Illusion” and in 2006 with “Retribution.”

His film “Tokyo Sonata” won best picture in the 2009 Asian Film Awards.

Colleen Barry

More Colleen Barry.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Serena William in an emotional moment during the final women's French Open match against Russia's Maria Sharapova. Williams won 6-4, 6-4, while Rafael Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the men's finals on Sunday.
    AP/David Vincent

  • Ongoing anti-government protests at Taksim Square. Five people have died and thousands have been injured since the protests began on May 31. On Friday, Turkey's government agreed to suspend redevelopment plans for Gezi Park, which initially sparked the protests, until a court rules on its legality.
    AP/Vadim Ghirda

  • Billy Porter is all heart and "sole" at a performance of the Cyndi Lauper-scored "Kinky Boots," which won the Tony Award for Best musical on Sunday night.
    AP/The O+M Company, Matthew Murphy

  • A chemical plant explosion and fire in Louisiana on Thursday morning killed a 29-year-old and injured 73 more. The cause of the fire is still undetermined.
    AP/Gerald Herbert

  • So much for pie-throwing loyalty. Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch and third wife Wendy Deng announced they are filing for divorce on Thursday after 14 years of marriage. The pair are pictured at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles this year.
    AP/Matt Sayles

  • Ariel Castro, accused of holding three women captive in his house for roughly a decade, walks into a Cleveland courtroom on Wednesday. Castro, 52, pleaded not guilty to hundreds of charges that include rape and kidnapping.
    AP/Tony Dejak

  • Supporters of Iranian presidential candidate, Hasan Rowhani, campaigned with banners on the streets of Tehran on Wednesday in anticipation of the Iranian presidential elections on Friday.
    AP/Ebrahim Noroozi

  • People watch from the side of the road as a flame-fighting plane passes over the Black Forest area north of Colorado Springs. A raging fire which has been burning since midweek has destroyed more than 360 homes and killed two.
    AP/Brennan Linsley

  • A restaurant in Dunabogdany, Hungary, is roof-deep in floodwaters spilling from the River Danube. Heavy rainfalls this week continued to flood major rivers and lakes in Germany, Austria, Switzerland the Czech Republic and Hungary.
    AP/MTI, Balazs Mohai

  • A gas mask-sporting demonstrator walks past Portuguese graffiti on a bank which reads "Fascist government." Thousands took to the streets São Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday to violently protest a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares, while similar protests took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Porte Alegre in southern Brazil.
    AP/Brennan Linsley

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Video of the Day

Watch More Here »

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations