Hartnett confirmed his involvement as the lead character The Drifter in an interview at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival while promoting his film '' August '' . Hartnett stated " I 'm going to Romania to shoot this film called '' Bunraku '' ... All the cast is n't set yet , but it 's going to be a lot of really interesting actors , in this weird kind of papier-mâché world ... I 've been trying to do as much artistic fare as I can and things that are compelling to watch as well ... It 's a story of revenge ... My character is called ' The Drifter ' , and he comes into this world that does n't look like anything like you 've ever seen before ... The script has a lot of fight sequences in it , but it 's more about these crazy characters ... Like my character , he 's a gypsy and he 's coming into town and he 's got something to prove and no one really knows what he 's about . " In April 2008 , Moore was confirmed to be joining the cast as the courtesan Alexandra . Interviewed at the 2009 Middle East International Film Festival , Moore described '' Bunraku '' as a " big action adventure " . " It has tremendous special effects , " she enthused . In May 2008 , Harrelson and Perlman were announced to be joining the cast . Harrelson is set to play The Bartender , one of the protagonists while Perlman was signed to the role of Nicola the Woodcutter , powerful warrior and crime boss , who is the central focus of vengeance for the film 's protagonists . '' Bunraku '' marks the first time that Moore and Harrelson have worked together since the 1993 film '' Indecent Proposal '' . When asked in a 2010 interview how he had managed to sign two international stars like Harrelson and Moore onto an experimental film , Moshe explained " They really liked Moshe 's film '' Holly '' and responded immediately to the '' Bunraku '' script . " McKidd plays Killer No. 2 , the right-hand man of Nicola and a deadly assassin . Describing his character in a 2010 interview , McKidd said " I play a very effeminate , master killer who 's almost like a Fred Astaire tap-dancing his way through the movie . It 's so different than anything I 've done . " McKidd further revealed " It 'll be a very interesting film . Moshe , who also directed , wrote what I thought was one of the strangest scripts I 'd ever read , especially because the story takes place in an in-depth CGI universe . It 's very allegorical – a mixture of a samurai film and a western in a virtual origami universe where everything is made of folding paper , and there 's a lot of martial arts in it ... I thought '' Bunraku '' was interesting enough to be in . I play the main killer of the movie who 's hunting down Hartnett 's character under the instruction of Ron Perlman 's character , Nicola . They 've been doing the effects for the last 19 months . But then this is an independent film , not '' Avatar '' . I 'm really excited to see '' Bunraku '' . " On April 23 , 2008 , Japanese singer Gackt was confirmed for the role of Yoshi , a samurai warrior seeking vengeance against Nicola . Although he has starred in Japanese television drama and feature films , '' Bunraku '' was his first acting experience in an international-flavored movie . Gackt came to the attention of Moshe through his role in the 2007 television historic drama '' Fūrin Kazan '' , a year-long series produced by NHK . In this series , he portrayed the heroic warlord Uesugi Kenshin , winning him accolades , not only for his acting performance , but also for the music single " Returner ~ Yami no Shūen ~ " and the video for the same that were inspired by his role . Moshe personally went to Japan to convince Gackt to join the project
2008 Sundance Film Festival
2008 Sundance Film Festival
Bunraku (film)