Rikyu

The latest film by director Hiroshi Teshigahara of WOMAN IN THE DUNES fame, RIKYU provides a supremely beautiful, stately biography of the 16th-century artist who, it is claimed, perfected the classic tea ceremony, one of the most revered traditions in Japan.

Sen no Rikyu (Rentaro Mikuni), was the tea master for the man who became Japan's most powerful warlord of that time, Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Tsutomu Yamazaki). Rikyu was much revered by the royal court and in particular by Toyotomi, his lord and master. As a royal adviser, he became the one the lord turned to for advice and counsel. Their relationship continued to flower until Rikyu advised his master against a...