[Source: AP]

Takeshi Kitano’s new film, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival next month, is a samurai story without heroes, mercilessly portraying human greed, betrayal and cruelty.

Kitano, awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his “Hana-Bi” in 1997, wanted to make a different kind of period piece in “Kubi,” or “neck,” a reference to traditional Japanese beheadings.

“Most samurai films portray famous people and don’t focus on the dirty side of human existence or show how evil people don’t care a hoot about slaughtering regular people,” Kitano told reporters Saturday.

The story features a 16th-century feud centered around Oda Nobunaga, a powerful warlord — well known in Japan but not as familiar for overseas audiences. But the Shakespearean intrigues are familiar enough.

The spectacular battle scenes evoke Akira Kurosawa classics like “Seven Samurai” and “Kagemusha,” according to Takeshi Natsuno, president of Kadokawa, the production company behind “Kubi.”

Kitano, 76, began in Japan’s equivalent of vaudeville as a stand-up comic with the stage name Beat Takeshi, before becoming a superstar on TV shows and films.

The latest work juxtaposes the horror of killing with the absurd, said Kitano, appearing on stage with his cast at a Tokyo hotel.