Fan CastingInk and Shadows

Step into the luminous yet haunted world of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, the visionary writer whose sharp prose and boundless imagination reshaped Japanese literature. "Ink and Shadows" is a deeply evocative biopic that explores the triumphs and torments of a man revered as the "father of the Japanese short story." Set against the backdrop of Japan's Taishō period—a fleeting era of modernity and tradition—the film chronicles Akutagawa’s meteoric rise as a literary icon, juxtaposed with his internal battles. From his formative years as an inquisitive student devouring Western and classical Japanese literature, to his emergence as a literary prodigy under the mentorship of Natsume Sōseki, Akutagawa’s life unfolds like one of his own short stories: vivid, fragmented, and painfully human. Through his masterworks like Rashōmon and Hell Screen, Akutagawa becomes a voice of a generation caught between two worlds—traditional Japan and the rapidly modernizing nation striving to define its identity. Yet, his outward success masks a consuming darkness. Plagued by a hereditary predisposition to mental illness and burdened by fears of societal collapse, Akutagawa’s life spirals into a labyrinth of paranoia and despair.