Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Rikyu

Play trailer Rikyu 1989 2h 14m Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
In 16th century Japan lives Rikyu (Rentarô Mikuni), a Buddhist priest who believes in the spiritual healing inherent in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. When this man of peace sets out to teach this intricate ritual and its philosophies to Toyotomi (Tsutomu Yamazaki), a powerful shogun, the two men develop an unlikely friendship. However, when Toyotomi's blind ambition urges him to invade China, their bond is threatened as this soft-spoken monk raises his voice in dissent.

Critics Reviews

View All (2) Critics Reviews
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jul 14, 2005 Full Review Leo Goldsmith Not Coming to a Theater Near You Rated: 4/5 Apr 14, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (14) audience reviews
Harry C Could it be that Sen-no-Rikyu (who some historians speculated had Korean heritage) was not only the innovator tea, but perhaps was one of the first radical artists of his time? Teshigahara's film strongly supports this view. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Picks up in its final stretch ? the last scene is amazing ? but for this viewer took too long to arrive there. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Hiroshi Teshigahara hatte in den 1960er Jahren einige wilde, experimentelle Filme inszeniert und sich dann fast zwei Dekaden lang aus dem Kino zurà 1/4ckgezogen, um sich der Kunst des Ikebana zu widmen. Sein erster Spielfilm nach 17 Jahren, RIKYU, ist eine sehr schöne, stille und sichere Studie à 1/4ber den Konflikt von Kunst und Politik, durchgefà 1/4hrt am Beispiel des japanischen Teerituals. Ãsthetisch interessanter ist dann aber vielleicht doch sein Frà 1/4hwerk, dem ich mich alsbald mal widmen sollte. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member I very much respect Buddism and I enjoy watching movies such as this one. Brilliant Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member Timeless in principle and disturbingly so in it's struggle: "This is the story of the duel between art and politics, of the beliefs of one man against the ambitions of another..." Can art be defended from those who would "use" it rather than living it? Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member great movie about a great man Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Rikyu

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis In 16th century Japan lives Rikyu (Rentarô Mikuni), a Buddhist priest who believes in the spiritual healing inherent in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. When this man of peace sets out to teach this intricate ritual and its philosophies to Toyotomi (Tsutomu Yamazaki), a powerful shogun, the two men develop an unlikely friendship. However, when Toyotomi's blind ambition urges him to invade China, their bond is threatened as this soft-spoken monk raises his voice in dissent.
Director
Hiroshi Teshigahara
Genre
Biography
Original Language
English
Runtime
2h 14m