Kubi

2023 2h 11m JA

👍

6.9

SOLID

🍅

75%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.4

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 45🍅75%Rotten Tomatoes●67Metacritic★6.4IMDB · 1,384

HistoryActionDramaComedyThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Lord Oda Nobunaga plans to control Japan where rival warlords battle by waging war against several clans. His vassal Araki Murashige stages a rebellion and promptly disappears.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Cast

Takeshi Kitano
Hashiba Hideyoshi
Hidetoshi Nishijima
Akechi Mitsuhide
Ryo Kase
Oda Nobunaga
Tadanobu Asano
Kuroda Kanbei
Nao Omori
Hashiba Hidenaga
Shido Nakamura
Naniwa Mosuke
Yuichi Kimura
Sorori Shinzaemon
Kenichi Endo
Araki Murashige

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Takeshi Kitano
Writers: Takehiko Minato, Takeshi Kitano
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 64% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 3 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Takeshi Kitano, shot by Takeshi Hamada. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Taro Iwashiro. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yoshinori Ota shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Takeshi Kitano and Hidetoshi Nishijima and Ryo Kase carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt27502365 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 45 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Takeshi Kitano directs. Takeshi Hamada behind the camera. Taro Iwashiro scores. Yoshinori Ota cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 64% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 3 years ago.
3Directed by Takeshi Kitano, shot by Takeshi Hamada. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Taro Iwashiro. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Yoshinori Ota shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Takeshi Kitano and Hidetoshi Nishijima and Ryo Kase carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt27502365 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 45 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "japan", "samurai", "based on novel or book", "betrayal".

The technical file

Cinematography: Takeshi Hamada
Original score: Taro Iwashiro
Editing: Yoshinori Ota
Production design: Yukiharu Seshimo
Costume design: Kazuko Kurosawa
Makeup / hair: Etsuko Egawa
Sound: Kenji Shibasaki
Runtime: 131 min · 2h 11m
Status: Released
Budget: $9,600,000
Box office: $6,129,032
Return: 64% of budget
Original language: JA
IMDB: Kubi (2023)
Rotten Tomatoes: 75% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 67/100
IMDB rating: 6.4/10 · 1,384 votes

Awards

11 nominations total

Also by

Takeshi Kitano

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

MovieGuys2024-06-12
★ 4/10
To say this is weird is an understatement. First off, apparently all Samurai are gay. Yes there is a history of some homosexuality but I don't remember it being this rampant or flagrant. Once again, this comes across as woke pandering. Beyond that its story seems a bit convoluted. Certainly, it takes the cruelty aspect and callousness a little too far. For example, one villager is glad his wife, little daughter and father were murdered. Which rather begs the question of what this film is trying to say about the nuclear family. Nothing good by the sounds of it. In summary, I don't rate this one. It comes across as pushing an agenda, one many of us have had a guts full of.

Production companies