Crying Freeman is a 1995 action film, based on the manga of the same name by Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami. It is directed and co-written by Christophe Gans in his solo directorial debut and stars Mark Dacascos in the title role, a brainwashed assassin for a Triad secret society, who sheds a tear for every victim he kills. Tchéky Karyo, Julie Condra, Byron Mann, Masaya Kato, Yoko Shimada, and Mako play supporting roles.

The film was an international co-production between France, Canada, and Japan, and was filmed on location in British Columbia in October 1994. Despite being heavily promoted by Viz Media in Animerica magazine and reprints of the Crying Freeman graphic novel, the film was not released in the United States until November 2018 on Amazon Prime Video.

REAR COVER

FROM MANGA, CREATORS OF HIGH-OCTANE ANIMATION, COMES THEIR FIRST LIVE ACTION FEATURE THAT WILL LEAVE FANS OF BUTT-KICKING KARATE, SCINTILLATING SWORDPLAY AND NITRO-INJECTED ACTION ENCOUNTERS OF THE HYPER REALISTIC KIND, GASPING FOR MORE.

A LETHAL SAMURAI ASSASSIN FOR A SECRET CHINESE ORGANISATION, WHO SHEDS TEARS OF REGRET EACH TIME HE KILLS, IS SEEN SWIFTLY AND MERCILESSLY EXECUTING THREE YAKUZA GANGSTERS BY A BEAUTIFUL ARTIST SHE IS CAPTIVATED BY THE GRACE OF HIS KILL AND LATER FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM

AN INTENSE POWER STRUGGLE FOR THE LEADERSHIP OF THE YAKUZA CLANS ENSUES AS THEY SEEK VENGEANCE FOR THE DEATH OF THEIR LEADER THEY SOON REALISE THE FATAL MISTAKE OF UNDERESTIMATING THE DEADLY SKILLS OF THE CRYING FREEMAN

CAST

Mark Dacascos as Yo Hinomura, the "Crying Freeman", a skilled assassin who sheds tears for every target he kills.

Julie Condra as Emu O'Hara, a woman who witnesses a murder committed by Freeman and eventually becomes his lover.

Condra's voice was dubbed over by Deborah Kara Unger.[5]

Tchéky Karyo as Detective Netah, an Interpol agent assigned to assist Vancouver police in protecting Emu from the Freeman.

Karyo's voice was dubbed over by Ron Perlman.[6][7]

Byron Mann as Koh, Freeman's handler.

Masaya Kato as Ryuji "The Blade" Hanada, Shimazaki's right-hand man until Shimazaki's death makes him leader of the Hakushin Society.

Yoko Shimada as Kimie Hanada, Ryuji's wife who has an extramarital affair with Netah.

Rae Dawn Chong as Detective Forge, a Vancouver detective partnered with Netah.

Mako as Shido Shimazaki, leader of the Hakushin Society until his death at the hands of the Freeman.

Ivy Ng as Hu Feng-ling, leader of the Sons of the Dragon.

Jerry Wasserman as Chief of Police Randall

Alex Diakun as Antonio Rossi, a mobster and Freeman's first victim.

Kevan Ohtsji as Takeshi Shimizaki, Shido Shimazaki's son.

Paul McGillion as Detective McClinon

PRODUCTION

Producer Brian Yuzna came across the manga Crying Freeman while negotiating with various Japanese companies for possible rights to manga that could be adapted to features. He thought the series would lend itself well to adaptation not only because of the storyline, but because the series had a very "cinematic" quality in its drawing style that would lend itself well to adaptation. The film draws primarily upon the "Portrait of a Killer" arc.

Jason Scott Lee was originally wanted for the lead role, but he had a three-picture obligation for Universal Pictures and could not commit to the project. Mark Dacascos lobbied for the part and eventually went on to become Christophe Gans' actor of choice for future and upcoming films.

Yuzna then contacted producer Samuel Hadida, with whom he had worked on Necronomicon, and as Hadida was already a fan of the manga, he helped to get the project in motion. The duo met with Taka Ichise, president of Ozla Pictures in Tokyo, who had also previously collaborated with the two on Necronomicon. Christophe Gans was hired as director on the basis of the strength of Gans' segment The Drowned from Necronomicon. As the film was independently financed, the production experienced delays in receiving the budget with the promised budget of US$15 million reduced to US$9 million which truncated the shooting schedule. Principal photography took place in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, and completed December 1994.

Roger Avary was an uncredited script doctor.

Dacascos and his co-star Julie Condra met on the set of this film, and later married in 1998.

RECEPTION

Reviews for the film have been mixed. Leonard Klady of Variety wrote a favorable review of the film, citing it as "one of the few of the recent batch of comic-book adaptations that works, Crying Freeman has the potential to ring up the type of big numbers that would warrant a franchise. It's hoped that those involved with the first will still be aboard." Jake Hamilton of Empire magazine gave the film two out of five stars, commenting: "Adapted from Kazuo Koike's ace comic book, Crying Freeman can claim absolute perfection with its faithfulness to the original text. The script is identical in all but speech bubbles, the acting is paper thin and the action very colourful. There's plenty of occult talk by leather-clad blokes to up the cult appeal, and the nudity should prevent the audience from nodding off, but this $15 million kung fu fantasy really should have been better." Kung-Fu Cult Cinema gave the film a score of 3.5 out of 5, citing that it "is very well worth its weight in action." Beyond Hollywood, however, commented on their review that the acting was sub-par and the film's subplot of Yo's relationship with Emu is "not the best story in the world. It's really rather, well, stupid."