Starting from the same story on which Kurosawa built Sanjuro, Kihachi Okamoto’s Kiru throws everything from sixties chanbara into the pot and stirs it all up into a unique and arguably great film. What could easily have resulted in a derivative mess, a pale imitation, or a Mel Brooks parody instead comes out as an … Continue reading Kill! / Kiru (1968)
Bushido
Secret of the Urn / Tange Sazen: Hien iaigiri (1966)
One of the most popular characters in Japanese films has been Tange Sazen (as he insists on being called in this version), the one-eyed, one-armed ronin. How he is depicted in his movies has been a good sign of the mood of the times, with the character usually featuring a number of comic traits. By … Continue reading Secret of the Urn / Tange Sazen: Hien iaigiri (1966)
The Loyal 47 Ronin / Chushingura (1958)
The story of the 47 Ronin had a particular resonance for Japanese audiences, and it has been told on screen numerous times. Thus, it is no surprise to find that Daiei, the studio that was most deeply committed to the jidai-geki and chanbara in the fifties and sixties, should turn to the story for one … Continue reading The Loyal 47 Ronin / Chushingura (1958)
Samurai Assassin / Samurai (1965)
Based on a famous incident in Japanese history, Samurai Assassin assumes a certain amount of historical knowledge on the part of its audience, but don't let that put you off. Most of the movie is fiction. After the Americans arrived, the new Tokugawa Shogun was a child, so Chief Elder Ii actually ran the country … Continue reading Samurai Assassin / Samurai (1965)
Revenge / Vengeance / Adauchi (1964)
Tadashi Imai and Kinnosuke Nakamura had earlier collaborated in Bushido on a detailed exposure of the cynical emptiness of samurai code, and in this follow-up they push that criticism about as far as it can possibly be pushed, culminating in one of the most ethically appalling swordfights in all of Japanese film. As so often … Continue reading Revenge / Vengeance / Adauchi (1964)
Sanjuro (1962)
Among other things, Sanjuro asks us, "When is a sequel not a sequel?" Though generally seen as a sequel to Yojimbo, and marketed as such by Toho in 1962, it is not altogether clear that they are even related. There's no doubt that Toshiro Mifune is playing the same character: He has the same costume, … Continue reading Sanjuro (1962)
Third Shadow Warrior / Daisan no kagemusha (1963)
The idea of a kagemusha or stand-in for a lord is best known from Kurosawa's Kagemusha, to which Third Shadow Warrior has some similarities. Made in black and white at only a bit more than half Kagemusha's length, it is necessarily a less spectacular movie, but it is much more cynical and negative about the … Continue reading Third Shadow Warrior / Daisan no kagemusha (1963)
Bushido / Bushido zankoku monogatari (1963)
Now and then, what starts out as a star vehicle turns into something much more significant. Such is the case with Bushido, in which Kinnosuke Nakamura gets to satisfy his urge to play multiple characters by taking on eight different roles in the same movie. The result is a long way from the ego trip … Continue reading Bushido / Bushido zankoku monogatari (1963)
The Conspirator / Hangyakuji (1961)
The title's translation is a bit deceptive, because the hero Nobuyasu is about the only person in the movie who is not involved in a conspiracy of some kind. He is the son of Ieyasu Tokugawa, one of the most devious (and successful) conspirators and generals in Japanese history, ultimately the first of the Tokugawa … Continue reading The Conspirator / Hangyakuji (1961)
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