“He’s made a career playing henchmen and underlings in thousands of Japanese samurai movies, always in the role of the kirareyaku, a swordsman whose job is to die spectacularly on film. Now, at the age of 71 and after a reputed 50,000 on-screen deaths, Seizo Fukumoto has won a prize for his first ever lead role in a semi-autobiographical movie.” (includes video)
