Over the past month or so, we’ve seen some intriguing trailers land online for the Japanese language remake of “Unforgiven” and Hayao Miyazaki‘s “The Wind Rises,” but without the benefit of English subtitles. But with both movies now headed to TIFF, they have been refreshed with English subtitles to give you a better sense of how both of them play out.
First up, Ken Watanabe leads the Clint Eastwood do-over, with the story of a bounty hunter on one last gig relocated to 1880s Japan. Koichi Sato and Akira Emoto take on the roles originated by Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman, respectively, with Jun Kunimura, Yuya Yagira and Shiori Kutsuna rounding out the Lee Sang-il-directed film. Here’s the official synopsis:
Ken Watanabe (Inception) stars in director Lee Sang-il’s visionary remake of Clint Eastwood’s iconic Academy Award winner. Continuing a rich tradition of cross-cultural adaptations, Lee swaps six-shooters for samurai swords, transposing the classic western to Meiji-period Japan.
Next is “The Wind Rises,” Miyazaki’s latest tale which takes a slight diversion from his more whimsical fantasy films to tell the real-life story Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed the Zero fighter plane that was used during World War II, and infamously during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Here’s the official synopsis:
This decade-spanning epic from maestro Hayao Miyazaki is his most unique films to date, inspired by the true stories of Jiro Horikoshi, visionary designer of one the most beautiful airplanes in history—the famed Zero fighter—and the poet Tatsuo Hori, whose verses are brought to life by the vivid animation of Studio Ghibli.
Both movies are coming to Toronto, but no word yet of what stateside distribution will look like.