MOVIE REVIEWS : OPEN FESTIVAL : Stark Beauty in ‘Rikyu,’ ‘Adada’

More than 100 films and video programs representing 25 cultures of the Pacific continue as part of Los Angeles Festival, through Sept. 16. Today’s highlights:

Rikyu

Japan

Today, 8 p.m., Warner Grand Theatre, 478 West 6th St., San Pedro; Monday at 8 p.m., Little Tokyo Cinema, 333 S. Alameda St.; Sept. 10 at 8 p.m., Melnitz Theater, UCLA

Hiroshi Teshigahara, director of the renowned and distinctive “Woman in the Dunes,” returns with “Rikyu,” a superb period piece that is his first feature in 17 years. As a historical tragedy, it brings to mind “A Man for All Seasons” in its depiction of a Buddhist priest, Rikyu (Rentaro Mikuni), who as a matter of conscience, comes to a parting of the ways with his master, the great warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Tsutomu Yamazaki), whom Rikyu does not believe can conquer China. The film’s metaphor is the tea ceremony, which Rikyu brought to a perfection of simplicity as a ritual of the spirit but for Hideyoshi became a display of gaudy power. A work of astonishing beauty, it has a splendid Toru Takemitsu score and gorgeous costumes by Emi Wada,q who won an Oscar for her work in Kurosawa’s “Ran” and who also designed the costumes for the current “Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams.” The film also represents a high-water mark in the careers of both its veteran stars. As part of L.A. Fest, “Woman in the Dunes” screens Friday at the Directors Guild, as does “The Funeral,” in which Yamazaki stars. One of Mikuni’s earlier films, “The Harp of Burma,” screens at the Guild next Monday.