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TOKYO -- Takeshi Kitano will star as a talentless-but-dedicated artist in his latest pic, "Achilles to Kame" (Achilles and the Tortoise). He unveiled details on the pic Wednesday at Tokyo's Nikkatsu Studio.

Kitano's character plugs along with the support of his long-suffering wife, played by Kanako Higuchi. Comic Yurei Yanagi and Kumiko Aso play the couple in their youth.

Shooting started on Feb. 10 and is skedded to wrap in the mid-April. Release is set for this fall.

Separately, sources said the film is being eyed for a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where Kitano won a Golden Lion for his cop drama "Hana-Bi" in 1997.

The message of the film is "that even people without talent should live for all they're worth, facing reality -- it's a story about the harshness of the artistic life," Kitano told reporters.