X JAPAN documentary movie “We Are X” in theaters starting Oct 21

From the production team behind the Oscar winning Searching for Sugar Man comes W e Are X, a transcendent rock & roll story about X Japan, the world’s biggest and most successful band you’ve never heard of…yet. Under the enigmatic direction of drummer, pianist, composer, and producer Yoshiki, X Japan has sold over 30 million singles and albums combined––captivating such a wide range of admirers as Sir George Martin, KISS, Stan Lee, and even the Japanese Emperor––and pioneered a spectacle driven style of visual rock, creating a one of a kind cultural phenomenon.

Chronicling the band’s exhilarating, tumultuous and unimaginable history over the past three decades––persevering through personal, physical and spiritual heartache––the film culminates with preparations for their breathtaking reunion concert at New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden. Directed by acclaimed documentarian Stephen Kijak (Stones in Exile, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man), We Are X is an astonishingly intimate portrait of a deeply haunted––but truly unstoppable––virtuoso and the music that has enthralled legions of the world’s most devoted fans.

“Never having heard of this band, I only needed to look at a few photos of them at the zenith of their glampunkrock metamorphosis to know there was a deeply profound story vibrating under their dazzling surface. Tragedy and triumph tenfold, a musical melodrama you could not possibly have invented, all the mechanics of an operatic arc were there.

And then there’s Yoshiki: the keeper of secrets, bearer of crosses, and the vessel of boundless creative genius reaching across classical symphonies and massive rock conflagrations. He is vulnerable and venerated, difficult and determined, enigmatic and surprisingly open – in short, a brilliant subject. Through him, I was able to make a film both intimate and immense, something personal that speaks to larger cultural ideas and phenomenon, reaching for something that touches the inspiration of some of my favorite films: The Maysles’ Gimme Shelter, Jonathan
Demme’s Stop Making Sense, D.A Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back, and of course, the recent Searching For Sugar Man, films that fuse the electricity of music to a gripping and personal journey that can resonate and inspire – the way music does across the boundaries of color, country and blood.”
– Stephen Kijak, director of “We Are X”

“We Are X” in theaters:

X Japan stands outside Madison Square Garden prior to their concert in Drafthouse Films’ We Are X. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

Yoshiki looks out over his drum kit during a rehearsal for X Japan’s Madison Square Garden concert in Drafthouse Fi lms’ We Are X. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

Yoshiki with fan and friend Stan Lee in Dra fthouse Films’ We Are X. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

A young X Japan sport their signature Visual Kei style in an archival photo from Drafthouse Films’ We Are X. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

Yoshiki strikes the iconic X Japan pose before performing in Drafth ouse Films’ We Are X. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

The current incarnation of X Ja pan in Drafthouse Films’ We Are X. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

You can find all the latest news about the release on Twitter by following @drafthousefilms; Facebook at facebook.com/drafthousefilms; and on the film’s website at http://www.wearexfilm.com/

About X JAPAN:

X Japan is the most successful rock band in Japanese history, and that is not a statement made lightly. The band has sold more than 30 million albums; singles and videos combined, sold out Japan’s 55,000 seat Tokyo Dome 18 times – so far – and have played to tens of thousands of fans outside of Japan. In the band’s early days their look and sound sparked a global interest in entertainment, especially with the Japanese cultural rock phenomenon, “VisualKei,” a movement X Japan pioneered that spread globally.

X Japan formed in 1982 (calling themselves X) by Yoshiki and Toshi while they were still teenagers. Over the next 13 years, the band released five studio albums – Vanishing Vision (1988), Blue Blood (1989), Jealousy (1991), A rt of Life (1993) and D ahlia (1996), as well as six live albums, ten best hits albums and 20 DVD releases. X Japan was the first Japanese band to achieve mainstream success while signed to an independent label. The band was so popular they became a cultural phenomenon.

In the Fall of 1997, at the height of their success, the band broke up. Four months later, Hide, X Japan’s original lead guitarist, was found dead in his Tokyo apartment. At his funeral, more than 50,000 fans came to mourn his passing. In early 2007 Yoshiki and Toshi resumed communication and later that year X Japan officially reformed. The band launched its reunion in 2008 with 3 nights at the Tokyo Dome. 2 years later, X Japan filmed a music video on the rooftop of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre with a throng of some 8,000 U.S. fans taking part in the shoot on Hollywood Blvd. But it was on August 8, 2010 that X Japan performed in front of a mainstream American crowd for the first time at Lollapalooza. Immediately following the festival, X Japan played the biggest concert in its history, selling out two consecutive shows at Japan’s Nissan Stadium, filling 140,000 seats. The band’s first North American tour wrapped with a monumental New York date selling out The Roseland Ballroom on Oct. 11,2010.

In June 2011, X Japan kicked off a European Tour at London’s Shepherd’s Bush (selling out the venue in 30 minutes). The tour continued to Paris and Utrecht wrapping in Berlin before the band traveled back to Japan to play the famed Summer Sonic Festival. That same year the world tour took them to South America where they sold out shows playing to massive crowds in Santiago, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Lima and Mexico City. X Japan then returned to Asia playing arena shows in Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Bangkok. In 2012, X Japan was the first Japanese band to take home the prize for “Best International Band” at the Golden Gods Awards held in the U.S.

In 2014, X Japan headlined a colossal show at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden in the U.S. “We Are X” is a documentary film that chronicles the history of X Japan. In January 2016 the
film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival as a part of the World Cinema Documentary and won the special jury award for Best Editing. It then went to the SXSW Film Festival and won the audience award for Excellence in Title Design.

X Japan recently announced the release of the band’s 1st new studio album in 20 years, which will be available in late 2016. The band will also perform at a concert event at SSE Wembley Arena on March 4, 2017.

The Current line up of X Japan is Yoshiki/drums, piano; Toshi/vocals; Pata/guitars; Heath/bass; and Sugizo/guitars, violin.

http://www.xjapanmusic.com/

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