Ask This of Rikyu (2013)
Sen no Rikyu (Ebizo Ichikawa) is the son of a fish shop owner. Sen no Rikyu then studies tea and eventually becomes one of the primary influences upon the Japanese tea ceremony. With his elegant esthetics, Sen no Rikyu is favored by the most powerful man in Japan Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nao Omori) and becomes one of his closest advisors. Due to conflicts, Toyotomi Hideyoshi then orders Sen no Rikyu to commit seppuku (suicide). Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's adaptation of Kenichi Yamamoto's award-winning novel of the same name received the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 37th Montréal World Film Festival, the Best Director Award at the 2014 Osaka Cinema Festival, the 30th Fumiko Yamaji Cultural Award and the 37th Japan Academy Film Prize in nine categories, including Best Art Direction, Excellent Film and Excellent Actor.
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A Major Disappointment
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
...not everyone s cup of tea.This film uses certain Japanese historical facts in a free adaptation to express or show human values and the opposite side: the negative side. Sen no Rikyuu was one of the main figures in the Japanese Tea ceremony introducing a Zen like way in it. Main character is based on him interacting with other Historical characters like Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. I did not have seen the previous version: "Rikyuu" by H Teshigahara but this one is a very poetic rendition to the book. The Photography is excellent and the camera work is superb. The first Ten minutes are very good and settle the pace of the film. Slow for many viewers, but I think that the camera work, the silence, the colors, the angles, the faces, the moves, the moods all contributed to frame with delicateness that poetry. In which way the power transform a person? some one with perceptiveness could ask. The story start near the end; then follow showing the narration about 20 years before this last episode. In all these years we see the grew up of Rikyuu before he was named Rikyuu and an incident that seems key in his way to view things. I think the director paint in front of us very smooth and in a pleasant manner things like: true love; self improvement; dedication; pureness; humbleness; cowardice; loyalty; avarice; treason; etc Is a powerful man a discernment person? In the end; who decides?