In 2015, the most controversial Russian film “Priest-San” was released. The actors in the project were assembled mainly Russian, but the main role went to the Japanese star of the militants - Hiroyuki Tagawa. What is this film about, and who made it?
The creators of the picture
Ivan Okhlobystin is known in the Russian film industry not only as an artist, but also as a screenwriter. It was he who came up with the idea to make a film about the Japanese, who converted to Orthodoxy. So the script for the film “Priest-san” appeared.
Actors for major and minor roles were invited quite famous. And Yegor Baranov, who is known for his directorial work on the films “Locusts”, “Fartsa” and “Gogol”, got into the director's chair.
Behind the camera stood Yuri Korobeinikov, who shot Method, Locust and Nightingale of the Robber.
Lyubov Kalinskaya (The Batagami Affair) and Grant Palagaev (Barefoot Across the Sky) were producers.
The drama was released in November 2015.
Short story
The actors of the film "Priest-San: Samurai Confession" played an amazing story on the screens. The main character is an ambiguous personality: Takuro Nakamura, a very successful athlete in the past, is now a priest of the Japanese branch of the Orthodox Church, and part-time as a brother of the head of the Mafia clan.
Once on the street, a priest from a hostile clan attacks a priest. He does not want to engage in battle with them, but the young people decided to still make fun of a passing girl. Takuro could not calmly watch this, so he got into a fight and seriously damaged one of the bandits, who turned out to be the son of an influential person.
In order not to complicate the situation, Takuro Nakamura leaves for the Russian hinterland - to raise a local church there. However, Father Nikolai is faced with a more serious problem - unbelted locals, with whom it is difficult to find a common language. Moreover, here the former Yakuza has to get involved in the disassembly of bandits and defend the lives of ordinary people.
"Priest-san": actors. Carey Hiroyuki Tagawa as father of Nicholas
The role of father Nicholas, a Japanese by birth, is rather difficult to fulfill. She had to go to a completely exceptional person. The actor who starred in the film "Priest-san" is such. We are talking about actor Carey Tagawa - the star of Hollywood action movies.
All the facts in the biography of Cary Tagawa are intertwined in an unthinkable tangle. He was born in Japan and is a purebred Japanese. When the boy was five years old, his family moved to the States. There, Tagawa became interested in martial arts. At about age 37, Carey decided to become an actor. At first he starred in various TV shows, playing mostly negative characters: "Miami Police", "Malibu Rescuers", "Space Rescuers". The actor also found a place in full-length serious films: “The Last Emperor”, “Pearl Harbor”, “Phantom”, “Planet of the Apes”.
The most famous works of Tagawa in recent years are considered projects "Electra", "Memoirs of a geisha", "Hachiko", "47 ronin" and the supporting role in the series "Hawaii 5-0".
The role of Nikolai Nakamura was as if created for Tagawa. He also devoted many years of his life to sports, and at an advanced age he was baptized in one of the churches of Moscow, at the same time applying for Russian citizenship.
Actors and roles of the film “Priest-San. Confession of a Samurai ": Ivan Okhlobystin as Andrei Nelyubin
Ivan Okhlobystin in his own project took on the role of the main antagonist - Andrei Nelyubin. As soon as Father Nikolai arrives in the village of Glubokoe, he hears about Nelyubin that he is a "local benefactor."
But over time, the hero of Okhlobystin reveals his true face: it turns out that he pits the few villagers among themselves, so that in the end they all disperse or kill each other, and in the place of their houses it would be possible to develop a deposit of red clay.
However, Father Nikolai, trying to reconcile his fellow villagers, destroys all the plans of Nelyubin. Then the bandit goes to extreme measures: he enters the village with armed people and plans to simply shoot them. Just here on his way, and there is a former yakuza and athlete - Takuro Nakamura.
Ivan Okhlobystin is also an ambiguous person. Everyone knows that a successful actor, who had a good career in the 90s, left everything and went to serve as a priest in a church. Then Ivan asked to remove him from the ministry and again returned to the screens. Today he is known for his roles in many popular projects.
Peter Mamonov as a connecting rod
In the film "Priest-San: Confession of the Samurai" actors Peter Mamonov, Lyubov Tolkalina and many others played the inhabitants of the village of Glubokoe. The connecting rod, performed by Peter, sheltered a new priest from Japan and rendered him all kinds of help and support.
Peter Mamonov is not inferior to Okhlobystin and Tagava in shocking. He is a rock musician, leader of the Sounds of Mu band. Concurrently plays in the cinema and in the theater.
The musician began his career in cinema with the role of a drug supplier in the legendary Eagle with Victor Tsoi. Then there was the role of a saxophonist in the drama Taxi Blues, with the main role.
In '91, along with Jeanne Moreau Mamonov plays in Anna Karamazoff. After many years of calm, director Pavel Lungin returned Peter to the screens in his 2006 film Ostrov. The musician also played a criminal role in the TV series Ashes, where he worked with Vladimir Mashkov and Eugene Mironov.
Igor Zhizhikin as Konstantin
The actors of the film "Priest-San" are known in their own way in certain circles. Lyubov Tolkalina - lovers of series. And Igor Zhizhikin - to fans of the television show "In the black and black room ..." and those who follow the career of Russian actors in Hollywood.
Igor Zhizhikin left for the states in 1989. There, in the 98th, he entered the theater school, and a year later he appeared in the film Dark Star and Arsen.
In 2002, Zhizhikin played in the serial film "The Spy" with Jennifer Garner in the title role. In the same year, Igor appeared in the Clint Eastwood thriller "Bloody Work". The actor also starred in the films “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, “Ruslan” and “Black Mark”.
Lyubov Tolkalina as Anna
In the film Priest-San: Samurai Confession, actors like Lyubov Tolkalina and Nadezhda Markina got supporting roles. The heroine Tolkalina does not even have a screen biography as such. She simply played a deep resident of the village Anna Yakhontova, the daughter of the former military man Konstantin Yakhontov.
Lyubov Tolkalina has been acting in films since the late 90s. At first it was episodic roles in the series, then in television films the actress began to get the main roles. The Tolkalina filmography includes the projects Antikiller, The Talisman of Love, Escape and Moscow, I Love You!
Other role performers
In the film "Priest-San" the actors Nadezhda Markina, Peter Fedorov and Lyudmila Chursina also received roles.
Nadezhda Markina is known to viewers for supporting roles in the projects Kamenskaya, Turetsky March and Swordsman. During the Soviet Union, the actress almost never acted in film.
Lyudmila Chursina, by contrast, was incredibly popular and played many roles in Soviet films. Among her works are the paintings “Don Story”, “Shield and Sword”, “Sullen River”, “Spring Love” and others. Nowadays, Chursina has acted in films a lot.
Peter Fedorov is a promising artist, a representative of the young generation. He distinguished himself with roles in the films "PiraMMMida", "Take the Tarantina" and "Inhabited Island".