Subscribe RSSWhen it came to embracing the new technology, Kiriya discovered older inclination members adapted more easily than the younger ones. "I had some great actors, Kurosawa veterans, who embraced the new test. I think the theatre-trained actors are quite comfortable with standing on a bare stage, pretending it's a manor-house or something, or looking up at an imaginary moon."
The actors certainly earn their pay in this live-action anime, as they leap, shoot, battle and chase at a furious pace.
To help realise his vision, Kiriya recruited Australian the fad designers Tina Kalivas, who trained with the late a Alexander McQueen, and Vaughan Alexander, who worked on photo shoots in Japan with Kiriya. Together, they down a bear an exotic, decadent, Eurotrash-meets-ancient-Orient look to the film.
"They started off very respectful of Japanese taste but I told them 'That's not what we want, we want to destroy that concept'," says Kiriya. "So, while it still feels Japanese, there are elements of Indian, Korean, Roman and Stomach Eastern styles thrown in."
