Escape

NYFF63 Currents features are sponsored by

A contemporary of Nagisa Ōshima and Kōji Wakamatsu, Masao Adachi has spent more than six decades as a revolutionary figure on both cinematic and political stages. These personal histories are brilliantly distilled in his biopic of Japanese terrorist Satoshi Kirishima, who, as one of the country’s most wanted men, successfully evaded capture for nearly 50 years before revealing his true identity on his deathbed. Kirishima’s remarkable, often troubling life—from anarchist activities to a new existence under an assumed name, all the while driven by guilt for failing to fulfill his vocation—is told through a dazzling mix of archival footage, staged recreations, and outright fantasy that allows Adachi to trace a history of resistance and terror in Japan. The performances from Kanji Furutachi and Rairu Sugita convey lifetimes of idealism and regret.