Review: "THE SWORD OF DOOM" is a Thrilling Jidaigeki

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 24 of 2021 (No. 1762) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

The Sword of Doom (1966)
Dai-bosatsu tôge (original title)
Running time:  119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Kihachi Okamoto
WRITER:  Shinobu Hashimoto (based on the novel by Kaizan Nakazato)
PRODUCERS:  Sanezumi Fujimoto, Konparu Nanri, and Masayuki Satô
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Hiroshi Murai
EDITOR:  Yoshitami Kuroiwa
COMPOSER:  Masaru Satô

MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION/DRAMA

Starring:  Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Yuzo Kayama, Yoko Naito, Kei Sato, Tadao Nakamaru, Ichiro Nakaya, and Toshiro Mifune

Dai-bosatsu Tōge (The Pass of the Great Buddha) is a 1966 Japanese period drama (a “jidaigeki”).  Also known by the titled, The Sword of Doom (the title by which I will refer to this film for this review), the film is directed by Kihachi Okamoto from a screenplay by Shinobu Hashimoto and is based on a novel written by Kaizan Nakazato.  The Sword of Doom focuses on a sociopathic samurai who relishes killing people.

The Sword of Doom introduces Ryunosuke Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadai), a master swordsman with an unorthodox fighting style.  Amoral and ruthless, Ryunosuke believes that one's sword is one's soul.  We see him kill an elderly pilgrim; needlessly kill a man in a duel; and kill several of that man's clansman who ambush him shortly afterwards.

To make a living, Ryunosuke joins the “Shincho Group,” a rogue band of ronin who take it upon themselves to murder and assassinate for whatever reason they decide.  However, the wanton murders and other unconscionable acts he has committed have created a trail of vendettas that follows Ryunosuke closely.  He has also drawn the notice of two people in particular:  a young man, Hyoma Utsugi (Yuzo Kayama), whose brother Ryunosuke killed, and Shimada Toranosuke (Toshiro Mifune), another master swordsman, whose skill unnerves Ryunosuke.

First, I feel obligated to give you a warning, dear readers.  The Sword of Doom ends abruptly during the middle of a fight between Ryunosuke and dozens of assassins in a burning courtesan house.  It leaves many plot elements and subplots unresolved, including those involving Hyoma Utsugi and Shimada Toranosuke.  Apparently, Kihachi Okamoto, the director of The Sword of Doom, planned to adapt the novel upon which the film is based as a trilogy, but the other films were never made.

That said,  I think that The Sword of Doom is a tremendous samurai film, and, while I have not seen that many samurai films, it is one of the best I have ever seen.  There are three things that draw me to this movie.  First, I like the way the film focuses on Ryunosuke.  It is as if Okamoto points his camera through Ryunosuke's flesh and blood and into his soul.  This film is an examination of an amoral man's interior life; it is an investigation of how such a man lives with and justifies himself.  While Ryunosuke may act as if he does not care about anyone, as the film goes on, he clearly cannot deal with a reckoning – odd for a man who acts as if he is above it all.

The second element that makes me really like this film are the sword duels and group battles.  The battle between Ryunosuke and his victim's clansman at the end of the Spring 1860 segment is bracing, while the duel that initiates this battle is a feast of anticipation.  The fight at the end of the film is just crazy, mad, and crazy-mad-good; seeing Ryunosuke hack, slash, and stab so many of the men trying to kill him made me fell almost delirious or almost sick.  However, I think the best fight in this movie involves the character played by one of my favorite actors.

The late Toshiro Mifune could have made a toilet paper commercial exciting filmed entertainment.  His mere presence in The Sword of Doom elevates the film.  It is as if Mifune first appears in this film to let the viewer know that this movie has a higher purpose than being just another jidaigeki.  When Mifune's Toranosuke kills the perpetrators of a botched assassination attempt, he defines this movie as both a rumination on the evil actions of an evil man and as a tale about the kind of bold men who must fight powerful evil men.

The Sword of Doom is about the struggle of good men of good action against men with evil minds and evil swords.  If not for the abrupt ending, I would say that The Sword of Doom is a perfect film.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, October 22, 2017


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Seven Samurai" is One of the Best Films Ever (Happy B'day, Akira Kurosawa)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 81 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Shichinin no samurai (1954) – B&W
Seven Samurai (1954) – USA title
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Japan
Running time:  206 minutes (3 hours, 26 minutes) - USA restored version
DIRECTOR/EDITOR:  Akira Kurosawa
WRITERS:  Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni, and Akira Kurosawa
PRODUCER:  Sojiro Motoki
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Asakasu Nakai
COMPOSER:  Fumio Hayasaka
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION

Starring:  Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji  Miyaguchi, Minoru Chiaki, Daisuke Katô, Isao Kimura, Keiko Tsushima, Kamatari Fujiwara, Yoshio Kosugi, Bokuzen Hidari, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Yukiko Shimazaki, and Kokuten Kodo

The subject of this movie review is Seven Samurai (original Japanese title: Shichinin no samurai), a 1954 samurai drama and period adventure film from director Akira Kurosawa.  Set during Japan’s Sengoku period (warring states period), the film focuses on a poor village, the bandits that attack the village, and the seven unemployed samurai that the villagers recruit to help defend themselves.

Not only do I consider Seven Samurai to be one of the ten best films every made, but I also love it as one of my all-time favorite movies.  I was surprised to learn that the film is believed to have contributed structural narrative innovations to film storytelling or was among the first to use those innovations.  That’s great, but I don’t need that information on innovations to know that Kurosawa’s film overwhelms me.

Late 16th century, Japan:  a small farming village finds itself annually besieged by bandits, who usually arrive just after harvest so that they can steal the villagers’ crops.  Tired of being beaten into starvation, a small group of farmers leaves the village and heads for a town in hopes of convincing a large number of samurai to defend their village from the encroaching bandits.  The farmers happen upon a scene wherein a master samurai, Kambei (Takashi Shimura), disguises himself as a monk in order to save a child kidnapped by a madman.

Impressed by his bravery, the villagers convince Kambei to help their village, although the only payment that the farmers can offer the samurai is enough rice to eat.  Kambei and the farmers make the same offer to a number of samurai, many of whom are greatly insulted by the offer.  However, six others eventually accept, including a scruffy ronin (Toshirô Mifune) and a novice samurai.  The seven samurai and the farmers return to the village, where together they build the rest of the villagers into a militia, while the bandits lurk in the nearby forest.  Eventually, the bandits’ raids on the village begin, and it culminates in an epic, bloody battle pitting the samurai and villagers against the bandits.

Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is one of the ultimate auteur films, coming from a director, who like Stanley Kubrick, is an ultimate auteur.  It’s hard to believe that there is anything on the screen that Kurosawa didn’t want, and everything is so carefully considered:  the composition of scenes, the cinematographer, the execution of the action, the editing, the lighting, etc.  The film filled my senses, controlled my emotions, and had my mind on overdrive as I tried to figure out the next move, the next scene, or the narrative flow.  I have found very few films to so move me with such power, exhilaration, fear, anticipation, and Seven Samurai even has a few laughs.

If you’re looking for flying, super powered samurai, this isn’t it.  If you want an epic film about honor, sacrifice, and duty set in a romantic past, Seven Samurai is it.  This is easily one of the ten best motion pictures ever made.

10 of 10

NOTES:
1957 Academy Awards:  2 nominations:  “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White (Takashi Matsuyama) and “Best Costume Design, Black-and-White” (Kôhei Ezaki)

1956 BAFTA Awards:  3 nominations:  “Best Film from any Source (Japan), “Best Foreign Actor” (Toshirô Mifune of Japan), and “Best Foreign Actor” (Takashi Shimura from Japan)

Friday, April 21, 2006

Updated:  Sunday, March 23, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Sanjuro" is Full of Dull Characters, Except for Sanjura (Happy B'day, Toshiro Mifune)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 141 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux


Tsubaki Sanjûrô (1962) – Black and White
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan

Sanjuro (1963) – U.S. release
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
Unrated by the MPAA
DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
WRITERS: Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, and Akira Kurosawa (based upon the novel Peaceful Days by Shugoro Yamamoto)
PRODUCERS: Ryûzô Kikushima and Tomoyuki Tanaka
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Fukuzo Koizumi and Takao Saitô
COMPOSER: Masaru Satô

COMEDY/DRAMA with elements of action

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yuzo Kayama, Reiko Dan, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Takako Irie

The subject of this movie review is Sanjuro, the 1962 Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa. This black-and-white movie is a sequel to Kurosawa’s film, Yojimbo, which starred Toshirô Mifune as a wandering ronin. Mifune returns in Sanjuro as the title character who helps a young man save his uncle who was falsely convicted by a corrupt official.

Ever adrift in an era of fading tradition and increasing lawless, Sanjûrô the ronin (masterless samurai) finds himself instructing a band of ne’er-do-wells in the art of samurai wisdom. A follow-up to Yojimbo, Akira Kurosawa’s film, Tsubaki Sanjûrô, features this movie’s title character (and the hero of Yojimbo), a crafty samurai (Toshirô Mifune), helping a naïve young man and his eight fellow clansman save the young man’s uncle who is falsely accused and imprisoned by a corrupt local official.

Not nearly as good as Yojimbo, Tsubaki Sanjûrô, for all its sword play and violence, is really about politics, especially the element of corruption that rules so much of politics. Picture Sanjûrô the swordsman as a master mediator, a centrist moving from one side to the other learning what he can, being quick on his feet, and shrewdly negotiating his way out of trouble. The nine young men will learn much from him before the master swordsman must move on…to where, they nor we know.

The film is, however, flat, and the characters, except of course for Sanjûrô, are woefully dull. The film’s best moments are the scenes in which Sanjûrô easily dissects his opponents with his verbal flare or swiftly dispatches his challengers with deadly quick sword strikes. The film really peaks in the last ten minutes when Sanjûrô faces a rival he respects and when he grudgingly accepts the admiration of his pupils before he heads off into the unknown.

6 of 10
B

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Review: "Rashomon" Defies Time (Happy B'day, Akira Kurosawa)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 60 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux


Rashômon (1950) – Black and white
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
Not rated by the MPAA
EDITOR/DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
WRITERS: Shinobu Hashimota and Akira Kurosawa (based upon stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa)
PRODUCER: Minoru Jingo
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Kazuo Miyagawa
EDITOR: Fumio Hayasaka
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/MYSTERY/CRIME with elements of a thriller

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijiro Ueda, Fumiko Honma, Daisuke Katô

Rashômon is a 1950 Japanese crime drama from director Akira Kurosawa. In 1952, the film won an Honorary Academy Award as the best foreign language film released in the United States in 1951. The film is based on two stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa and is the story of a murder told from differing points of view.

The fact that Akira Kurosawa’s Rashômon is considered by critics to be one of the best films ever made and that it is also one of the most influential films every made should be enough of a recommendation. However, I’m well aware of how put off many people are by “serious film” or movies that critics hail as masterpieces. Rashômon is simply a good movie, and virtually anyone who likes crime dramas or mysteries will love this philosophical and psychological thriller.

An incident involving the murder of a husband and the rape of the wife in the forest is reported to local authorities, but what really happened? The horrible incident is told from the point of view of four witnesses: the alleged murderer/rapist, the wife, the murdered husband (the husband’s spirit speaks through his wife as a medium, nonetheless), and someone who watched part of what happened from a hidden vantage point. Who is telling the truth, and, in this case, just what is truth?

One of the many wonderful things about this film, like all the great stories, is that it spins a good yarn while simultaneously examining the state of man. Why are people selfish? Why do they lie? And are all humans basically selfish creatures who (when it comes down to it) really serve their own individual interests? The film is a fine mystery/crime drama with some amazing twists and turns (the husband’s tortured spirit telling his side of the tale is unforgettable) that will keep the viewer riveted, but that it also makes you think about us, about humanity, pushes it over the top. Except that Rashômon seems a bit too slow from the top, it nears perfection in the art of cinema and in making good use of the medium.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
1952 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Honorary Award” (Japan) – Voted by the Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1951.

1953 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White” (Takashi Matsuyama and H. Motsumoto)

1953 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Film from any Source” (Japan)

Review: Takashi Miike Does Epic in "13 Assassins"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 60 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

13 Assassins (2010)
Jûsan-nin no shikaku (original title)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of bloody violence, some disturbing images and brief nudity
DIRECTOR: Takashi Miike
WRITER: Daisuke Tengan (based upon a screenplay by Kaneo Ikegami)
PRODUCER: Minami Ichikawa, Tôichirô Shiraishi, and Michihiko Yanagisawa
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Nobuyasu Kita (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Kenji Yamashita
COMPOSER: Kôji Endô

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION

Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Gorô Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura, Mikijiro Hira, Hiroki Matsukata, Ikki Sawamura, Arata Furuta, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Masataka Kubota, Sôsuke Takaoka, Seiji Rokkaku, Yûma Ishigaki, Kôen Kondô, and Ikki Namioka

13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku) is a 2010 Japanese period drama (a jidaigeki) from prolific director, Takashi Miike. This samurai epic is based on a true story and is also a remake of the 1963 Japanese film, Jûsan-nin no shikaku. The story is about a band of samurai warriors out to kill a tyrannical young lord. 13 Assassins is also one of the best films of 2010.

The film is set in the last decades of Feudal Japan, when the era of the samurai is waning. The sadistic young Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu (Gorô Inagaki) rapes and kills at will. He is seemingly untouchable because he is the former Shogun’s son and the current Shogun’s younger brother. After Naritsugu’s actions lead to the destruction of a prominent family, a senior political figure, Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira), decides that Naritsugu must be killed. Doi hires Shinzaemon Shimada (Kôji Yakusho), an older samurai whom he can trust, to assassinate Naritsugu.

Shinzaemon, who was once a Shogun’s samurai, gathers 11 other samurai, including his nephew, Shinroukuro (Takayuki Yamada), and the 12 plan the assassination. Lord Naritsugu is traveling to his family’s territory, so Shinzaemon plots to steer him to the small village of Ochiai, in the province of Mino, where they will ambush him. Along the way, Shinzaemon adds a thirteenth member to his group, a mysterious woodsman who says his name is Koyata Kiga (Yûsuke Iseya). Meanwhile, the assassins learn that Naritsugu’s security detail is much larger than it was supposed to be.

13 Assassins is the first Takashi Miike film I’ve seen. Before this movie, I’d heard of him via the controversy around his work, such as Ichi the Killer (2001) and his episode, “Imprint,” of the “Masters of Horror” television anthology series. In 13 Assassins, Miike certainly doesn’t spare the audience of blood, dismemberment, and assorted wanton murder. Lord Naritsugu is one of the vilest characters I’ve ever seen depicted on screen, and he is the instigator of some of the most vicious murders portrayed in the 13 Assassins. Kudos to Gorô Inagaki for his brilliant performance as Naritsugu.

However, the depictions of violent death both in battle and in character drama shouldn’t be the only thing people take away from 13 Assassins. What audiences should recognize is Miike’s supreme skills as a helmsman, particularly as a director of this grand, historical epic. In 13 Assassins’ climatic battle, there are a little more than 200 combatants, but you might think there were 10 times more.

Miike and his collaborators and crew, in particularly director of photography, Nobuyasu Kita, and film editor, Kenji Yamashita, stage a fight that makes battles in films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, Cold Mountain, etc. look small. Such films use computers and digital technology to make their battles look super-sized, while Miike goes intimate – up close and personal – with the mayhem, desperation, and frantic pace of battle. That makes this battle look grand and glorious, but also sad, wasteful, and pathetic.

I find that with only a few exceptions, notably Shinzaemon Shimada and his nephew Shinroukuro, Miike misses the chance to really delve into the many wonderful characters fashioned by screenwriter Daisuke Tengan. That’s a shame because some of them have gripping back stories and engaging personalities. Still, that really isn’t much of a blemish, if it’s a blemish at all, on this superb film. 13 Assassins is one of the best samurai dramas I’ve ever seen, and it is one of the best historical films of the new century. Film lovers should not miss 13 Assassins.

9 of 10
A+

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

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Review: "The Last Samurai" is a Fine American Jidaigeki (Happy B'day, Tom Cruise)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 179 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Last Samurai (2003)
Running time: 154 minutes (2 hours, 34 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and battle sequences
DIRECTOR: Edward Zwick
WRITERS: John Logan, Edward Zwick, and Marshall Herskovitz, from a story by John Logan
PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise, Tom Engelman, Marshall Herskovitz, Scott Kroopf, Paula Wagner, Vincent Ward, and Edward Zwick
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Toll (D.o.P)
EDITOR: Victor Dubois and Steven Rosenblum
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/ADVENTURE/ROMANCE/WAR/HISTORICAL

Starring: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Tony Goldwyn, Shichinosuke Nakamura, Masato Harada, Timothy Spall, Billy Connolly, Koyuki, Shin Koyamada, Aoi Minata, Hiroyuki Sanada, Seizo Fukumoto, Shoji Yoshihara, and William Atherton

My beat up, worn copy of the 1980 edition of The Random House Dictionary defines romance as “having feelings and thoughts of love and adventure” and “fanciful and impractical.” It defines romanticism, “as a style of literature and art of the 19th century that encouraged freedom of form and emphasized imagination and emotion.” Director Edward Zwick's (Glory, Legends of the Fall) new film, The Last Samurai, fits all of those definitions quite well, and that’s a blessing for moviegoers. In the tradition of The Lord of the Rings films, The Last Samurai is a gloriously romantic epic of war and of warriors fighting for tradition, honor, and the old way.

Captain Woodrow Algren (Tom Cruise) is an alcoholic veteran of the War Between the States. He was also an “Indian fighter” for the United States Army where he participated in a horrible massacre of native people by the Army. By the late 1870’s, he is a spokesman for Winchester guns when he gets an offer to go to Japan and train troops for Emperor Meiji (Shichinosuke Nakamura).

Japan is trying to break away from the centuries long tradition of employing samurai to protect the territories and serve the emperor. Advisors close to the emperor want a modern army, and it wants Algren and the Americans to train the new army to wipe out the remaining samurai warriors, who have rebelled and hide in the forests.

The first battle between Algren’s troops and the samurai is a rout as the army is ill prepared to face the ferocious warriors. Algren is wounded in combat, and the samurai capture him after he fiercely defends himself against the highly trained warriors. This impresses the samurai’s legendary leader Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), who teaches Algren the warrior’s code of honor. The rest of the men respect and him and teach Algren their techniques. As he embraces this new way of life, Algren must chose upon which side of the conflict he is on, even as he recalls how his old life tormented him.

Zwick has a gift for filming powerful war epics, as he shows in Samurai’s stirring and elegantly mounted battle scenes. The film is gorgeously designed and is awash in rich colors, from the intense earth tones of the countryside to the opulent yet practical costumes. Zwick is ably assisted by talented set designers who created fabulous structures that looked simultaneously lavish and new but also lived in. Hans Zimmer’s score really sells this film; it’s the sweet and tempting icing on the cake.

This is a good performance by Tom Cruise, but not one of his best. Here, both his star power and acting experience serve him quite well. He can hit all the marks, but his personality seems to get in the way. Sometimes Cruise is too cool for his own good, to laid back, sexy, and confident in his screen presence. Other times on screen, he seems to unleash so much anger and aggression in portraying the character, but that juxtaposition of too cool and simmering anger adds to the sense of mystery and danger in many of his characters, almost as if he’s crazy. Still, the camera loves Cruise, and the big screen maximizes the power of his matinee idol looks.

In one of the few times this will happen, Cruise has to share the screen with another maximum presence, Ken Watanabe as the majestic warrior Katsumoto. His deep and powerful presence really add weight to this story, making it seem less fanciful. The idea of the almighty whitey going to another culture, embracing it, and learning its ways to become just like one of the other natives is laughable and old fashioned, but when it works, it’s high romance that’s hard to resist. Watanabe is the balance, and he creates a character and gives a performance that embraces the foreigner. Katsumoto is tremendous intelligence, great patience, and gigantic wisdom; if he accepts Captain Algren, then so can we.

The supporting cast does major work here, especially the largely Asian and likely Asian-American cast. Tony Goldwyn is an under appreciated actor, and he shows once again that he can turn a character into an interesting and engaging character. Mr. Nakamura plays the Emperor Meiji with perfection, making his personality fit into the politics of the story. In his face, we see Japan’s struggle to both hold onto the past and the necessity to move forward.

Who is the “last samurai?” It could be Algren, but more than likely, it’s Katsumoto. Even though the film has a muddled, neatly packaged Hollywood ending, Katsumoto’s spirit, discipline, and way of life gives The Last Samurai a strong pleasant fragrance. When you see this film, you’ll know how it should have ended and what it says about Japan then and the way we live now.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards: 4 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Ken Watanabe), “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Lilly Kilvert-art director and Gretchen Rau-set decorator), “Best Costume Design” (Ngila Dickson), and “Best Sound Mixing” (Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, and Jeff Wexler)

2004 Golden Globes: 3 nominations: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Hans Zimmer), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Tom Cruise), and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Ken Watanabe)

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Review: "The Twilight Samurai" Different and Moving

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 53 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux


Tasogare seibei (2002)
International English title: The Twilight Samurai (2003)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)
DIRECTOR: Yoji Yamada
WRITERS: Yoshitaka Asama and Yoji Yamada (based upon the three novels by Shuuhei Fujisawa)
PRODUCERS: Hiroshi Fukazawa, Shigehiro Nakagawa, and Ichiro Yamamoto
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mutsuo Naganuma
EDITOR: Iwao Ishii
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA with elements of romance

Starring: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Min Tanaka, Reiko Kusamura, Erina Hashiguchi, Miki Ito, Mitsuro Fukikoshi, and Tetsuro Tamba

Although trained as a samurai and belonging to a samurai clan, Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) doesn’t fight alongside his clan in any battles. In the late Edo period of Japanese history, this samurai is a bookkeeper who rushes home at dusk, but doesn’t join his comrades in any festivities. Instead, the recent widower devotes himself to his two young daughters, Kayana (Miki Ito) and Ito (Erina Hashiguchi), and his ailing mother, Kino (Reiko Kusamura); that and his lack of hygiene make him a curiosity to his fellow clansmen, who call him Twilight Seibei. However, his defense of his friend, Michinojo Iinuma (Mitsuro Rukikoshi), and his unusual fighting technique bring him unwanted attention and soon an assignment that could cost him his life – just as he is accepting his love for his childhood friend, Michinojo’s sister, Tomoe Iinuma (Rie Miyazawa).

Tasogare seibei or The Twilight Samurai is a heartfelt elegy about man who doesn’t want to rise above his station in the world, but just wants to take care of his children and mother. Director Yoji Yamada takes a huge risk in losing his audience’s patience with the film’s slowly moving character drama. He focuses on somber, everyday detail to build Seibei’s character, a taciturn and impoverished man who eschews happiness for duty to family, as if they were mutual exclusive.

One might be fooled by the title, but this isn’t some martial arts slash fest. Seibei’s existence is bookkeeping and piecework to put food on his family’s table. However, there are hints at his past, both as a warrior and as a husband who believes that his late wife was disappointed in his material status, that come through gradually in this film. Thankfully, Sanada has the patience and acting chops to play with such sorrow until the film does have a chop-socky moment – a muscular and awkward fight scene that is more about one’s status in society than it is about power and violence.

There are good performances all around, and the voice over narration by an adult Kayana enhances the story of the father and adds easy commentary about this particular era of Japanese history. The Twilight Samurai, a 2004 Oscar nominee for best foreign-language film, is an eloquent domestic drama that doesn’t play to the usual samurai melodrama and shtick, but is still as moving as the most battling samurai films.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film (Japan)

Review: "Yojimbo" is One of the Great Crime Comedies

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 133 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Yojimbo (1961) – Black & White
Running time: 75 minutes-U.S.
DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
WRITERS: Ryuzo Kikushima and Akira Kurosawa; from a story by Akira Kurosawa
EDITOR/PRODUCER: Akira Kurosawa
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Kazuo Miyagawa
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/CRIME with elements of drama

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katô, Seizaburô Kawazu, Takashi Shimura, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Yosuke Natsuki, and Eijirô Tono

Akira Kurosawa’s darkly comic film, Yojimbo, is without a doubt one of the great screen comedies. Despite it’s violent moments, the film is a hilarious tale wherein all the vices and all the things about man that we think of as wrong, are on display: wanton lust, naked greed, blatant envy, crude deception, consistent hypocrisy, murder, rage, and a whole lot more.

In the film, Sanjuro Kuwabatake, (Toshirô Mifune), a crafty ronin (masterless samurai) finds himself in a small village divided by two merchants, who more or less operate criminal gangs. Sanjuro decides that the only way to rid the town of the rivals is to get them to kill each other. Thus, he pretends to work for both sides, feigning indifference and interest in each side’s offer for his service, while they steadily kill each other. Two things complicate Sanjuro’s plan. The gun-slinging son (Tatsuya Nakadai) of one of the merchants arrives in town and, having the lone firearm in the village, easily begins to bump off rivals. The second thing is that Sanjuro frees an imprisoned wife and reunites her family which causes the gunslinger, Unosuke, to closely scrutinize Sanjuro’s role in the town.

Kurosawa’s film is one of the great contributions to cinema, one that so impressed American directors that Yojimbo was the template for many American hit films including the Clint Eastwood western, A Fistful of Dollars. The film is on the surface hilarious, but on a deeper level is a careful examination of motivation, selfishness, and desire or want. Kurosawa also composed the film with brilliant wide shots that encompass a feeling of openness. This method seems to give the story and actors room to breath and to stretch, and that allows the story’s ideas to fully develop.

If I had to point to one thing that stands out about the film (and there are actually many), it is the energetic performances of the cast. They demonstrate such timing and rhythm that the performances are almost like a dance routine. Through voice, facial expressions, and movement, they truly bring Yojimbo to life.

10 of 10

NOTES:
1962 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best Costume Design, Black-and-White” (Yoshiro Muraki)

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