Rome Film Festival: Takashi Miike Receives Maverick Director Award — hollywoodreporter.com

Japanese director Takashi Miike brought the world premiere of his latest blood fest, As the Gods Will, to the Rome Film Festival, where he was honored with the Maverick Director Award Saturday Night. The director is a regular at the festival, having previously screened The Lesson of the Evil in 2012 and both The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji and Blue Planet Brothers in 2013. As the Gods Will, based on a popular manga, blends heavy doses of comedy and fear in a high school setting. An evil animated Daruma doll interrupts the everyday humdrum of the school classroom, forcing the students to play a series of children’s games where the penalty for losing is death. “Mangas were once inspired by cinema, and now the opposite is happening,” Miike told reporters earlier in the day. “Japanese filmmakers are looking to mangas now.”

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