Thursday, December 13, 2018, 19:00 - 21:30
Celebrating the Crazy Cult-Musical Classic You've Never Heard of
Special Screening: "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers
(Hoshikuzu Kyoudai no Densetsu) - Director's Cut"
followed by a Q&A with director Macoto Tezka and musician Haruo Chikada
Thursday, December 13 at 7:00 pm
In Japanese with English subtitles (first time in Japan)
Japan, 1985 100 minutes
Written and directed by:
Macoto Tezka, adapted from the concept album by Haruo Chikada
Produced by: Katsunori Haruda, Eiichi Takagi, Takashige Ichise
Music by: Haruo Chikada
Starring: Shingo Kubota, Kan Takagi, Kyoko Togawa, Issay, Kiyohiko Ozaki,
Kazuhiro Watanabe, Senkichi Omura, Noboru Mitani, Akio Yokohama,
Sunplaza Nakano, Hiroshi Takano, Monkey Punch, Shinji Nagashima,
Yosuke Takahashi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Film courtesy of Third Window Films
In 1985, Macoto Tezuka (aka Macoto Tezka, son of the great manga artist Osamu Tezuka) was a 22-year-old film student with many experimental shorts under his belt, feeling the pressure of living up to the Tezuka name. And then he met musician-TV personality Haruo Chikada, who had written a soundtrack to a nonexistent movie, "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers." The two decided to collaborate on the adaption of the fake soundtrack - and Tezuka's feature film debut was born.
Despite its local success, infectious charm and natty costumes, inexplicably, "The Stardust Brothers" never got English subtitles and was never shown outside Japan. Earlier this year, working with British distributor Adam Torel, the director remastered the film and created a subtitled Director's Cut. In October, more than three decades since its initial release, it premiered at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain, wowing an audience that never even knew it existed.
A zany pop musical with minimal dialogue, "The Stardust Brothers" follows a familiar storyline about the youthful thirst for fame and the exploitation of talent, as "lucky, sexy twins" Shingo (Kubota) and Kan (Takagi) get their first break - via shady Atomic Promotion President Minami (Ozaki) - as well as their first fan club president, Marimo (Togawa), their first hit record and their first magazine covers. But it isn't long before they realize that "Once you become No. 1, you sing the same song again and again forever." Soon, the band has problems and their brand is tarnished. Minami, meanwhile, is seduced by a briefcase of cash to make a star of Kaoru (the Bowie-esque Issay), the son of a very powerful figure whose identity, when revealed, feels strikingly contemporary.
A time capsule of inspirations, the film draws from the likes of "A Hard Day's Night," "The Night of the Living Dead," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Phantom of the Paradise" (Tezka dedicates the film to its protagonist, Winslow Leach), with dashes of animation, the Village People, Klaus Nomi, George Michael (ca. Wham!) and Las Vegas revues thrown in. Endlessly innocent and kinetic in the way of vintage music videos, there are echoes, homages and pastiches from pop history, and juicy roles for some of Japan's most famous creators of the time, including musicians Kiyohiko Ozaki, Issay, Sunplaza Nakano and Hiroshi Takano; and cameos by mangaka Monkey Punch ("Lupin the 3rd"), Shinji Nagashima ("Hana Ichi Monme"), Yosuke Takahashi ("Mugen Shinsi"); and even emerging film directors Kiyoshi Kurosawa ("Tokyo Sonata") and Daihachi Yoshida ("The Kirishima Thing").
Please join us for this very special 33rd-anniversary screening of Macoto Tezka's "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers," before the BD/DVD goes on sale in early 2019.
For more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVc4YevwX2A
MACOTO TEZKA won a prize for his debut 8mm film and praise from renowned director Nagisa Oshima, which encouraged him to study film. He made his 16mm feature debut while still in college, with "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers." He has continued to create both experimental and feature films, including a pioneering V-cinema title, "Ghost Paradise: Yokai Tengoku," and a documentary about Akira Kurosawa. Tezka spent 10 years adapting novelist Ango Sakaguchi's "Hakuchi: The Innocent," (1999), which was widely shown overseas. His animated feature film "Black Jack" won the outstanding performance award at the Tokyo Animation Award. His live-action features "Black Kiss" (2004) and "The Brand New Legend of the Stardust Brothers" (2016) played at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Tezka also supervises various projects and productions related to his late father, Osamu Tezuka.
HARUO CHIKADA is a musician, composer, music producer, music critic, radio-TV personality and voice actor, who has also written scripts for Nikkatsu Roman Porno and popular magazine columns. Along with his many hit records from the 1970s until the present, he is known for his film scores for "The Detective Journey" (1980), "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers" (1985), "Memories of Matsuko" (2006) and "The Brand New Legend of the Stardust Brothers" (2016).
Please make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk (3211-3161) or register below. You may attend the Q&A session without attending the screening, but you will not have seating priority. All film screenings are private, noncommercial events primarily for FCCJ members and their guests.
- Karen Severns, Film Committee
