Dir. Robert Houston, Kenji Misumi
1980 | 85 mins | US
English, dubbed
Illustration credit: Toby Whitebread – New Analog https://www.new-analog.net/

SHOWING TIMES:

• Wed 17 Nov: 8pm

To celebrate BFI Japan 2021 and 100 years of Japanese cinema Studio 74 is hosting a special screening of Shogun Assassin with a live score from DJ Cheeba.

When the wife of the Shogun’s Decapitator is murdered and he is ordered to commit suicide by the paranoid Shogun, he and his four-year-old son escape and become assassins for hire, embarking on a journey of blood and violent death.

Compiled and edited from the first two films in the legendary Lone Wolf and Cub series, Shogun Assassin consists of primarily the opening of Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance and most of Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx. The film, and the series, follows former shogunate executioner Itto Ogami and his son Daigoro, better known as Lone Wolf and Cub, who betrayed and exiled by the treacherous Yagyu clan, wander feudal Japan as assassins on the road to hell.

The film became a cult hit and was heavily sampled by RZA for GZA’s Liquid Swords LP. In 2018, DJ Cheeba, along with cinematic hip hop beatmaker Indeed, began work on re-scoring the seminal samurai slasher film with samples and beats taken from the Liquid Swords album and the wider Wu Tang Clan catalogue.

The result is a cult samurai movie with a new score of the dark atmospheric and often gritty hip hop styles of GZA and the Wu Tang Clan. With original beats produced by Indeed, remixes and arrangement by Cheeba and hand drawn artwork from Toby Whitebread (New Analog), this project flips the script on both a cult film and a seminal album to stunning effect.

The live performance of this project is presented by DJ Cheeba and the screening will be introduced by Ben Rothwell, who has black belts in Aikido, film geekery and the way of the Samurai (onscreen version).

Look out for Japanese brand drinks and snacks on the cafe bar!

Screening as part of Japan 2020: Over 100 years of Japanese Cinema, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. bfijapan.co.uk

VENUE: EXETER PHOENIX, STUDIO 74

*Subject to a £1.50 ticketing system charge. We don’t charge this to make a profit. Find out more