Uzumasa Limelight (April 4th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[UZAMASA LIMELIGHT screens Saturday April 4th at 8:45 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Wayne Richards

Many classic Japanese samurai films have been produced in Uzumasa, a suburb of Kyoto which has been described as the “Hollywood of the East.”  At one point a home to over 100 “Kirare Yaku" (sword fighting film extras who have mastered the art of dying well on screen), Uzumasa has begun to see a steep decline in the making of samurai pictures. This downturn has resulted in the vast majority of these skilled actors disappearing from the cinema landscape.  UZUMASA LIMELIGHT focuses on one of the last of the storied and dying Kirare Yaku breed.  The premise here is the equivalent of telling the life story of an indistinct actor who played one of the countless henchmen that were effortlessly and quickly disposed of by Bruce Lee in ENTER THE DRAGON.