Le réalisateur Masashi Kawamura m'a contacté pour me faire part de la mise en ligne du pilote de son projet Hidari (que j'avais dans mon collimateur depuis longtemps), un film de samurai en stop-motion qu'il souhaite produire en long métrage via une campagne Kickstarter, avec le soutien de plusieurs sociétés et studios japonais : Dwarf (Rilakkuma, Domo-Kun), Whatever Co, et Tecarat.

L'histoire est inspirée de la vie de Jingoro Hidari, un sculpteur japonais qui aurait vécu à l'ère d'Edo, et dont la réelle identité (voire existence) n'a jamais été confirmée. On lui attribue de nombreuses sculptures en bois, qui ont inspiré ce projet.

Mr Kawamura est quand à lui un réalisateur japonais jusque là plutôt spécialisé dans des pubs et films de commande. Il a grandi aux USA, bercé par des films comme Evil Dead, RoboCop, Jason and the Argonauts, ou Lady Snowblood. Il s'agit ici de son premier projet de long métrage.

Le pilote de 5 minutes :



Making of :























Synopsis :

A skilled carpenter/sculptor Jingoro, gets set up by his colleagues and loses his right arm and his father in an "accident" triggered by a political conspiracy during the renovation of the Edo Castle. A few decades later … Jingoro is on the journey of revenge with his partner“ Sleeping Cat” and his weaponized prosthetic arm. People have come to call him Jingoro "Hidari," which means "lefty" in Japanese. Jingoro eventually defeats all the foes that has betrayed him, but he learns that Tokugawa Shogunate was behind the incident, and starts investigating. He searches for clues and fights with an army of mechanical soldiers along the way. Eventually he meets the mastermind behind all the crimes, but first, he must save the city of Edo by stopping the Edo Castle, now turned into a weapon of mass destruction!

Notes :

Jingoro Hidari is a legendary sculptor who is said to have existed in the Edo period (17th century) of Japan. This action-packed film creatively combines fantasy with historical facts. Hidari has left behind a legacy of anecdotes and remarkable wooden sculptures, but his very existence is yet to be confirmed. Combining fantasy with historical facts, stories of this craftsman will be boldly reconstructed and told in the form of a stop-motion samurai action film. Intricate wooden puppets, reminiscent of Hidari’s own sculptures, will bring this action-packed film to life. Currently we’ve created a 5-minute pilot film, with the goal of turning it into a feature length film.

Après une première campagne crowdfunding au Japon sur la plateforme Motion Gallery, il s'agit donc ici de la deuxième campagne, cette fois internationale, sur Kickstarter, avec un objectif de 2 millions de yens (environ 14 000 euros).

kickstarter.com/projects/masakawa/hidari-making-a-feature-length-stop-motion-samurai-film