The Honored Priest: Confession of a Samurai
Short description
Father Nikolay is an Orthodox priest and the brother of a Yakuza leader. After becoming involved in a violent conflict between rival gangs in Japan, he flees to Glubokoe, a small village in Russia. Upon his arrival, he discovers that the local community is fractured by its own internal struggles. He works to unite the residents by repairing a dilapidated church, though he soon finds himself facing a new kind of conflict in his new home.
The film was directed by Egor Baranov, marking the first in a series of works that includes the Gogol trilogy and later projects such as The Blackout and Resurrected. Written by Ivan Okhlobystin and Roman Vladykin, the production was supported by companies including the Cinema Fund and Orthodox Studio. The movie stars Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa in the lead role, with a supporting cast that includes Darya Ekamasova, Pyotr Fyodorov, Nikita Efremov, Lyudmila Chursina, and Igor Jijikine.
Produced with a budget of 2 million USD, the film has received a moderate reception from viewers. It currently holds a rating of 5.9/10 on IMDb based on 415 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The screenwriter and producer of the film, Ivan Okhlobystin, who played one of the main negative characters, is a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church (temporarily suspended from service at his own request).
- Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, an American actor of Japanese descent, studied Orthodox Christianity in order to convincingly play a priest, after which he decided to be baptized. The ceremony took place in Moscow on November 13, 2015, two weeks before the film's release. After becoming Orthodox, Tagawa appealed to the authorities with a request to grant him Russian citizenship.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
