The Man Who Stole the Sun Trailer Heralds 4K Restoration of Kazuhiko Hasegawa’s Masterpiece

This is a big one. You’re also forgiven for knowing nothing of it. Nearly 50 years ago, Leonard Schrader—brother of Paul, co-writer of Blue Collar and Mishima—originated the idea for a film concerning a man who holds Tokyo hostage with an atomic bomb built in his apartment. From this, Kazuhiko Hasegawa fashioned The Man Who Stole the Sun, which since spent much of its existence in relative obscurity. It’s also one of the greatest films made in Japan or, really, anywhere else, an object whose absence leaves film history poorer. That may change soon: a 4K restoration debuts domestically on October 16, and with any luck, a U.S. release will be facilitated by Toho. For now, there’s a new trailer. [Eiga]

The Man Who Stole the Sun will resonate with anybody bearing a passing knowledge of anything that even compares to it: the Japanese New Wave, the work of Leonard Schrader’s brother (Taxi Driver and First Reformed especially), Yukio Mishima and Michel Houllebecq’s corpus, the later careers of assistant director Shinji Sōmai and production staffer Kiyoshi Kurosawa. As Japan Society stated in their recent presentation of a flawless 35mm print, “Starring androgynous pop star Kenji Sawada, Hasegawa’s sprawling, anarchic masterpiece—featuring guerrilla-shot setpieces at the National Diet, Imperial Palace and Shibuya Tokyu Department Store—broaches his own personal history with the irradiating atom bomb. Makoto Kido (Sawada), a long-haired, gum-chewing science teacher, builds a homemade atomic bomb in his single-room Tokyo apartment, holding the country hostage by making exceedingly absurd demands. As he faces off with Bunta Sugawara’s strait-laced, flattop inspector, Kido becomes consumed by the power, with Hasegawa’s direction striking a radical balance between its weighty subject matter and breathtaking spectacle. Equal parts actioner, black comedy and momentous tragedy, The Man Who Stole the Sun suggests that we are all victims of the nuclear age.”

Watch the preview and stream the film’s soundtrack below: