Chushingura

October 6, 2009 — Zack Davisson

chushigura

4.0 out of 5 stars Loyalty

Based on actual events, the story of the loyal 47 ronin is probably the most dramatized story in Japanese theatrical tradition. Appearing originally as a bunraku puppet play, it was soon followed by a fantastically successful Kabuki adaptations and more than eight cinematic versions. Its enduring popularity is based on the core Japanese values it represents; loyalty to a superior, at the cost of all things including life, love and personal happiness. Like the Western King Arthur and Robin Hood, the 47 ronin have passed from history to legend.

This version, “Chushingura” (Full Japanese title is “Chushingura: Hana no maki yuki no maki,”) is a sprawling 3 hour epic from the Japanese master of legendary films. Director Hiroshi Inagaki, probably best known in the West for his 3-film Miyamoto Musashi masterpiece “Samurai I,II and III,” brings his unique eye to the familiar story, blending a quiet human touch into the massive picture. He has assembled the all-stars of the Japanese chambara (“swordfight”) genre. Tatsuya Mihashi (“Tora Tora Tora,”) Takashi Shimura (“Seven Samurai,”) Yuzo Kayama (“Red Beard”) and of course Toshiro Mifune (“Seven Samurai,” “Yojimbo,” too many films to mention…), each name on the roster is one of the best, each with at lease on Kurosawa-credit on their resume, if not more.

The story unfolds at a long, dense pace, leaving you wondering along the way which of Lord Asano’s 60-plus samurai will remain loyal, and which will give into fear. By no means is this an action film, but a didactic tale stuffed with politics and the disintegrating nature of modernization and the loss of traditional morality and ethics. However, the film is a long slow fuse, building to the dynamite that is the rightful vengeance of the loyal 47. The final battle in the snow is a beautiful ballet of swords and blood.

Unfortunately, the DVD does not live up to the promise of the movie. It is a bare bones disk, with a decent widescreen presentation and nothing else. Due to the historical and important nature of “Chushingura,” there is room for so much more. However, beggars can’t be choosers, and having the movie alone is a treat. Maybe someday a better release will come along, but until then it is enough to watch the unfolding drama of 47 men willing to die for what they believe in.

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The Ballad of Narayama

September 30, 2009 — Zack Davisson

ballad

5.0 out of 5 stars Life and Death

There are some classic images in Japanese film, scenes that stick with you long after the film is over. Takakura Ken, tattooed and brandishing his sword, about to take vengeance for his master. A hill with five mounds, each with a sword sticking from the top. This scene of Ogata Ken carrying his mother on his back, climbing up the mountain where he will leave her to die, has got to be among them. It is a powerful and moving image.

“The Ballad of Narayama” (“Narayama Bushiko”) is a re-make of the 1958 film of the same name, which is in turn an adaptation of two books by Fukuzawa Shichiro, “The Ballad of Narayama” and “The Men of Tohoku”, which were in turn based on an old folk legend called “The Mountain where Old People were Abandoned” from the 11th Century book Konjaku Monogatari. This is not true history, and there is no evidence that such a tradition ever existed outside of folktales. Life in the mountains was undeniably harsh, but not to the extent that human beings were abandoned like so much garbage.

A film does not have to be historically accurate, however, to have impact. Under the skilled hand of director Imamura Shohei, the story becomes an allegory for the physicality of human life, for the ephemeral nature of being alive. Characters reduced to their most primal aspects of survival do little more than gather food, have sex when they can, making new people to repeat the cycle, then grow old and become a burden with the younger generation silently hoping they would die off and clear some room. I was struck by how little human society has changed over the years, and by how much of my life I spend doing those very same things, just following my instincts and obeying my biological imperative.

“The Ballad of Narayama” is all about the biological imperative, and the conflict involved when animals are allowed to think and feel. Ogata Ken (Vengeance Is Mine) plays Tatsuhei, a strong and gruff man who is the leader of his family. He is a violent and primal character, but even this is mostly bluster. Inside, he is torn up over the ritual of carrying his beloved mother up the mountain to her death. But she will not be shamed, and demands that her son complete his task with dignity. All of the needs of survival and the pressures of survival drive him towards this, but he lacks the strength of will to stand against it.

While a brilliant film, it is not without its faults. Imamura intercuts the film with images of animals procreating, birthing and dieing, but sometimes the metaphor is too heavy handed. We get it, OK? Tone it down a little. Also, during the most dramatic part of the film, the climb up the mountain, the music is a synthesized bass line that does not suit the mood at all. For such a powerful and primal scene, electronic music was not the best choice.

These are minor faults though, and completely overshadowed by the rest of the film. An amazing movie by an amazing director.

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Mikogami Trilogy

September 29, 2009 — Zack Davisson

miko

4.0 out of 5 stars Bloody vengeance

Samurai flicks, like all long-running genres, have their eras. The Golden Age of the 1950s and 60s had directors like Kurosawa and Kobayashi telling stately stories of honor and politics, with classical samurai themes and tropes. In the 70s, however, it was all about the crowd-pleasing spectacle of blood and vengeance.

The “Mikogami Trilogy” is a perfect example of the 70s samurai. This is Shaft compared to The Godfather, with Harada Yoshio’s (Lady Snowblood – Love Song of Vengeance) character Jokichi slaughtering and swaggering to funky baselines rather than austere koto music. This is all style and fun, without the social themes and bottomless depth of the Golden Age films. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Obviously, there are three films in the trilogy, but it seems likely that more were intended. Director Ikehiro Kazuo was a veteran of “series” flicks, having filmed a few Zatoichi entries, like Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword and Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold, as well as several “Sleepy Eyes of Death” flicks. It is possible that Mikogami was supposed to be the start of a new series that never really took off, or maybe they just wanted to leave the trilogy open-ended. The series is based on a serialized novel by Sasazawa Saho, and was originally marketed in the US as the “Trail of Blood” series when released on VHS, although the official title “Mushukunin mikogami no Jokichi” translates as “The Drifter Jokichi of Mikogami”. For this DVD release, Animeigo has re-titled the series “The Mikogami Trilogy”.

The first film “Trail of Blood” (original title “Kiba wa hikiretsuita” or “The Fang has been torn loose”), sets the stage with Jokichi as a bad man reformed by the love of a bad woman. A prostitute loves a killer, and together they vow to leave behind their world of bodies and blood to start a new life in peace. Jokichi’s former enemies don’t want to let him off so easy, however, and things don’t go well for his new wife and child (or for Jokichi, for that matter, who tries to pay his debt the old-fashioned yakuza way). With everything he loved take from him, the path of vengeance is the only road he can walk.

The next film, “Fearless Avenger” (“Kawakaze ni kako wa nagareta” or “The past has flowed away with the breeze from a river”), gives Jokichi a detour from his vengeance. He is commanded to protect the daughter of a powerful ganglord, who will in return help Jokichi find the men responsible for killing his wife and daughter. This almost feels like a Zatoichi set-up, but Jokichi’s world is not as kind as the blind swordsman’s, and things quickly go from bad to worse.

The final film, “Slaughter in the Snow” (“Tasogare ni senko ga tonda” or “Sparks fly in twilight”) finishes off the trilogy, but not in the way expected. Make no mistake, there are buckets of blood splattered across the white snow, and Jokichi gets to do some fine slaughtering, but he has also matured in his quest, and no longer seems to have the drive to revenge. He hooks up with a partner named “Whirlwind” Kobunji and they set off on a different quest. I don’t want to give away too many plot points, but this is definitely not the ending I had foreseen.

The “Mikogami Trilogy” is far from the greatest Japanese film series ever made, but it is still a good time and worth checking out. There are some fantastic visuals, my favorite of which is Jokichi’s basket-like hat slowly falling apart as the series progresses, showing more and more of his face. The sword fighting is also excellent; Jokichi loses some of his fingers in the first film, and has to adopt a creative style in order to keep cutting his enemies, as well as using his remaining fingers as a lethal claw. As always, Animeigo has put together a nice package, with top-quality subtitles, production notes and some other bonus features.

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Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor

September 23, 2009 — Zack Davisson

shinsen

5.0 out of 5 stars New Model Army

The shinsengumi are unusual heroes. Not only did they lose their battle, which can sometimes be seen as honorable as in the case of the defenders of the Alamo, but they fought for the wrong side entirely. The group supported the military Shogun government against the efforts to restore Imperial rule which eventually led to the Meiji Restoration and the modernization of Japan. No doubt they would be little more than a footnote in history if they just weren’t so darn cool. And of course the uniforms.

There are dozens of movies about the shinsengumi, but this is the only one starring Mifune Toshiro. Mifune slips easily into the role of leader Kondo Isami, a farmer-caste born warrior who rose through the ranks by his strength and skills. Recruiting amongst the ronin and non-samurai warriors, Kondo and his co-commander Hijikata Toshizo (Kobayashi Keiju, Battle of Okinawa) develop a stern code of rules that keeps the rough crowd in-line. Completely devoted to the samurai ideals, even though many of them are not samurai themselves, including leader Kondo, the shinsengumi wage a lost battle against the overwhelming forces of the Emperor. Even losing, however, they do it honor and without compromise, so that their deaths continue to ring through the ages.

This was director Sawashima Tadashi’s last film, and he played it right for the heroic machismo. Although they do dwell somewhat on the outdated morality they are defending, showing off their cool uniforms and strict code there is no mistake who the heroes are in this conflict. Other films, like Taboo and When the Last Sword Is Drawn, delve deeper into the dubious morality of the conflict and the group, but not this one. Sawashima just plays it straight, and with the charismatic Mifune in the lead that is exactly the way to go. Sometimes it is alright to cheer on in film those you are secretly glad lost in real life.

As usual, Animeigo put together a great DVD for this classic flick. One of the most difficult parts to grasp about “Shinsengumi” is that it is a famous historical story, and the director doesn’t feel the need to explain who each and every character is. It is like watching a Revolutionary war picture and having a “General Washington” appear. There is no need to explain that this is the future first president of the country; we all know that. Same thing here. Characters appear without explanation because they would be familiar to every Japanese person. Animeigo’s unique “captioned subtitles” helps deal with this by popping up historical facts and character introductions. There is also a brief introduction to the history of the shinsengumi included as an extra feature.

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The Samurai I Loved

July 29, 2009 — Zack Davisson

4.0 out of 5 stars Autumn Rain of the Cicadas
 

The Samurai I Loved

“The Samurai I Loved” (Original title “Semishigure” or “Autumn Rain of the Cicadas”) is the fourth film to be released in the West based on the novels of Fujisawa Shuhei. The other three films make up the “Samurai Trilogy” by Yamata Yoji (The Twilight Samurai, based on a short story collected in The Bamboo Sword: And Other Samurai Tales, The Hidden Blade and Love and Honor) and are instant classics of the genre.

“The Samurai I Loved” is not directed by Yamata, but instead by Kurotsuchi Mitsuo, who had personally acquired the rights to the story from author Fujisawa decades before. Kurotsuchi had only previously directed two films (Jutai 1991, Orugoru 1989) and spent the in-between time working on the screenplay for the Fujisawa adaptation.

Fujisawa’s work is all about capturing the humanity behind the mythos of the samurai, and “The Samurai I Loved” is no exception. A young boy, Bunshiro Maki (famed kabuki actor Ichikawa Somegoro, Ashura) lives an unexceptional village life until his samurai father (legendary actor Ogata Ken, The Ballad of Narayama) is disgraced for supporting a rival lord’s grasp for succession and is sentenced to perform seppuku. Bunshiro and his mother share the shame of the father’s dishonor, to the extent that Bunshiro’s childhood sweetheart, Fuku (Kimura Yoshino, Wakeful Nights), is no longer permitted to come calling. Severing the ties completely, Fuku is sent to Edo as a maid to the fief lord. Years into the future, Bunshiro slowly sees his place in society restored, but is shocked by the return of Fuku, no longer the pretty village girl but now the stunning Lady O-Fuku, concubine to the fief lord and carrying his child. Succession plots are gathering supporters again, and Bunshiro is asked to abandon his hard-won respectability to protect his long-lost love and her child from another man.

I dearly love Fujisawa’s style of writing, which has been captured beautifully in “The Samurai I Loved.” There are scenes that are absolutely heart-wrenching, and the subtlety of the love between Bunshiro and Fuku is touching and elegant. An ocean of depth lies behind those cool faces, and the ability to project so much while saying so little is what I love about Japanese film. Director Kurotsuchi has also made the most of the beauty of the changing Japanese seasons. The same location is seen in winter, autumn and spring, and the yearly song of the cicadas always brings us back to summer.

Which is not to say this is a perfect film. “The Samurai I Loved” is sort of a first-cousin to Yamata’s “Samurai Trilogy,” and isn’t really on the same level. Yamata’s films are based on his long experience as a filmmaker, and are modern works of film art. By contrast, Kurotsuchi is simply not the director that Yamata is, and the story is not evenly paced. Even for a Japanese film, there are times when “The Samurai I Loved” is agonizingly slow and some scenes, like the big battle showdown, that step too closely to parody.

But what works far outweighs what doesn’t, and the ending of “The Samurai I Loved” is so powerful that it overwhelms any flaws that may have distracted from the movie earlier. Ichikawa and Kimura deserve special notice. I can’t recall seeing a dialog-free scene before that spoke so loudly.

The DVD for “The Samurai I Loved” is very nice, and includes and interview with director Kurotsuchi Mitsuo. Animeigo has written the book on effective subtitling for modern DVDs, including options for subtitles in either yellow or white, and “dialog only” or “enhanced” versions that offer cultural hints and translations that go deeper into the meaning rather than just translating the dialog.

(On one aside, I don’t know who gave this film the name “The Samurai I Loved,” but it is a particularly cheesy title and a bad choice. A literal translation of “Semishigure” might have been strange, but not every period Japanese film needs the word “samurai” stuck in the title. They should have gone with something like “Cicada’s Song” or even just left it as “Semishigure.” Whatever you do, don’t let the silly title keep you away from this beautiful film.)
Posted in Animeigo, Japanese Film, Jidai Geki, Samurai. Tags: , , . 5 Comments »

Shinobi No Mono 3: Resurrection

June 11, 2009 — Zack Davisson

shinobi no mono 3

 
5.0 out of 5 stars Hideyoshi vs Tokugawa, June 11, 2009
         

When we last left our hero, Ishikawa Goemon, was in some pretty hot water. His wife and child cruelly murdered, he revenged himself on Nobunaga Oda, but was betrayed by the nightingale floors in Hideyoshi’s castle and was captured and sentenced to execution. Things were not looking good.

“Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection” (“Shin Shinobi no Mono”) picks up right on Shinobi No Mono 2‘s cliffhanger ending. Of course, Ishikawa survives his execution (otherwise he couldn’t complete the remaining films in the eight-film series!) and does so in a ninja-spectacular style. Now in hiding, he resumes his course of vengeance against Hideyoshi Toyotomi. As partner’s, Goemon recruits his old allies Hattori Hanzo and Nobori no Inuhachi.

Meanwhile Hideyoshi, secure in his position as Taiko and essentially ruling Japan, takes a little too much delight in the birth of his first natural son, Hideyori. Although he had promised succession to his adopted son, Hidetsugu, Hideyori’s birth to a concubine changes everything. Seeing a chance for true vengeance, Goemon plots to teach Hideyoshi what it feels like to loose an innocent wife and child that one loves in the same way that his own wife and son were taken from him.

So far, “Shinobi no Mono 3″ has been my favorite in the series. There is less ninja skills at work here, and more political intrigue, but the political maneuvering between Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hidetsugu and Goemon more than makes up for the lack of action. Tono Eijiro (Battle of Okinawa) is particularly effective as Hideyoshi, the low born and ugly thug who fights to a position of power but still worries about his inferiority next to the noble born and handsome Tokugawa Ieyasu (Mishima Masao from “Zatoichi 14: Zatoichi’s Pilgramage”).

Not to say that there are not some spectacular scenes. One in particular has Goemon and Inuhachi using the tatami-mat flooring to defend themselves from a rifle barrage that was very cool. Ichikawa Raizo (Sleepy Eyes of Death) is the cool hard-man of Japanese film, and even though he doesn’t get so much screen time in “Shinobi no Mono 3″ he fills up every inch of it with dynamite.
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