Kubi

Kubi (2023) is a Japanese historical epic written, directed, edited, and starring Takeshi Kitano, based on his own 2019 novel of the same title — a project he had reportedly nurtured for three decades. Centered on the still-mysterious Honnō-ji Incident, the film traces the treachery-laden power struggle among Oda Nobunaga (Ryo Kase), Akechi Mitsuhide (Hidetoshi Nishijima), Toyotomi (then Hashiba) Hideyoshi (played by Kitano himself), and Kuroda Kanbei (Tadanobu Asano), rendered with Kitano's signature deadpan black comedy and sudden bursts of graphic violence. The film had its world premiere in the Cannes Premiere section of the 76th Cannes Film Festival in May 2023 before opening in Japan that November. Sword duels are staged with the stark, elliptical brutality typical of Kitano's direction, visually embodying the film's central conceit — powerful men literally competing to take one another's heads. The inclusion of Yasuke, the historical Black samurai, as a supporting character also drew attention.