The title of master director Takeshi Kitano’s new movie can be translated as “neck” or “nape,” dozens of which are slit and sliced in this wild, gory samurai epic. The tyranny of mighty lord Nobunaga must come to an end in the year 1582, at least if his right-hand man Mitsuhide and his lover Murashige have anything to say about it. Kitano, whose Kubi is the adaptation of his eponymous novel, has long freed himself from any film-industry shackles, directing as liberally, brutally, and erratically as only a person who has already achieved everything can. What a feast! (mk)