The Legend of the Stardust Brothers
Directed by Makoto Tezuka
Hosted by Director Makoto Tezuka
Official selection
Sitges 2018, Hawaii International Film Festival 2018, Taipei Golden Horse 2018, San Diego Pacific Arts 2018
Director
Makoto Tezuka
Writer
Makoto Tezuka
Cast
Shingo Kubota, Kiyohiko Ozaki, Kan Takagi, Kyoko Togawa
Producer
Haruo Chicada
Cinematographer
Eiichi Osawa
Sound Designer
Hiroaki Yagome
Animator
Yosuke Takahashi
contact
Third Window Films
“A delightful curio — a quirky rock musical that also serves as a microcosm of Tokyo’s pop cultural milieu on the cusp of the bubble era”James Hadfield, JAPAN TIMES
When Shingo and Kan, leaders of the rival bands Super Cars and London Boots, are invited to sign with a major talent agency (ominously named Atomic Promotion), the stars line up in the sky, and the world is introduced to the Stardust Brothers! From their extravagant outfits to their futuristic music, the disruptive duo are primed to power their way to the top of the Japanese pop charts! Isn’t this just too good to be true? Might we suspect a Faustian pact à la PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE? Or is it simply an opportunity fallen from the sky, one not be missed? In the hyper-profitable world of music, nothing is ever so simple!
Inspired by a fictitious soundtrack for which images needed to be invented, the young Makoto Tezuka (son of the legendary mangaka Osamu Tezuka) directed THE LEGEND OF THE STARDUST BROTHERS in 1985, and it’s a psychotronic delirium like they just don’t make anymore. Forget the rulebook: Tezuka, then 22 years old and armed with the ardor of youth, made use of every tool at his disposal. Goofy camp, scathing satire of the recording industry and the Japanese economic bubble of the ’80s, black & white, color, optical effects — anything and everything goes as Tezuka channels the unique and sparkling energy of the times into multicoloured madness with strong synth-pop accents.
Join us for the unique chance to see this strange, little-known and flashy gem on the big screen. We’ll be preceding it with UNK (1979), one of Tezuka's first short films – a rare, experimental alien-invasion film, shot on 8mm and exploring the audiovisual limits of the medium through a plethora of experimental techniques, including drawing and scratching on film. – Translation: Rupert Bottenberg
Showings
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