Samurai III: Duel At Ganryu Island

Was it a satisfying end?

In some respects, absolutely. I've made my peace very quickly with this series, it was never meant to be an action trilogy but a persoanl story. It's actually really interesting to go from movie to movie and to see the genre change each time, the first movie had quite a bit of action mixed with a touch of drama, the second movie focused more on Musashi's journey with equal amounts action and drama, but this movie fits squarely in the drama and romance department despite there being slight instances of swordplay. I'm not going to bash the movie for not being totally accurate, the parts that did happen were a joy to see in action, but there were slight issues with this. Now I have no problem that the movie picks up a year since the last, and Musashi has almost fully centered himself into his swordsman demeanor being much more calm and collected than brash and wild. But the part that just made me go, whaaaat was the young boy that traveled with Musashi in the last film for a bit looks like a teenager while in the last movie he seemed to be maybe 10 years old, so I was slightly confused with the timeline for a bit. But hey if Rocky's kid can jump from 7 or 8 to 12 or 13, between Rocky 4 and 5 then I can't hold it against the movie too much. I will fully admit the romance did not grow on me much, it has it's moments, good moments at that, but it kind of drags the movie down for me because we're still dealing with this love triangle and it's undoubtedly very soap opera and old fashioned. I have nothing against Otsu but lady, you kinda need to just let him go cause it was harboring on desperate and just plain overreacting in the second movie but now, it's just old. Am I saying I could have made this trilogy better? No, but I could have streamlined a lot and thusly make more room for the important story bits. It's not sloppy and poorly executed by any stretch, but I do wish the main plot would have been to see a very bull headed, very anger and energy filled young man slowly form his own identity and to learn the way of the sword and to cement his own style. Which spoiler alert was the real story of this man, he was brash and arrogant, he did go too far in duels, but as he got older he better understood himself and his lifelong commitment to be a respected swordsman, he had a great appreciation and affinity for the arts (which I'm very happy to see in this movie a bit), and taught his own unique fighting style before putting it down in words so close to his death. But again, it's based on a body of work that was very loosely based on his life so that's kind of the reason the films are the way they are. Am I still happy to have seen it? Hell yes. Toshiro Mifune gets to show a bit of his acting chops in certain scenes throughout, the action bits while brief are done so well, the cinematography and sets are gorgeous, it's a good introduction to this genre if you want something more deep than the usual hack and slash, but even then every movie we have seen this week has an amazing and wonderful spin on it, whether it be story elements or purely stylistic choices. It's a good trilogy to be sure, and should be viewed on it's own merits than the genre that it's situated in. To be honest, I feel the whole movie is worth it just for the final scene where Musashi goes to duel with Kojiro, not only is it the common story that Musashi fashioned a sword out of a boat oar on the way to the island where they agreed to meet, but the visuals are breathtaking. Almost the entire fight is shot in silhouette against a sunrise, and it is so dang pretty. And really you can knock this trilogy out in a day, in about 5 hours to be a bit more precise, and I can think of worse ways to spend 5 hours of my life than to watch these movies. 4 stars, 8/10, another week gone. So what comes next? Difficult to see, always in motion is the future. But I have high hopes.

Samurai II: Duel At Ichijoji Temple

A fair improvement over the last.

The realization just hit that this was very much a Lord Of The Rings situation with this trilogy, each entry was released the next year from 1954 to 1956, all were directed by the same person, and so far the cast has all returned with new additions. I think that's what boosted my enjoyment of this movie was the fact that all the characters from the last movie get to be expanded a bit, I honestly was not expecting to really see them again after Musashi set out on his own. The film doesn't fit the action genre quite as much as the rest of the movies I reviewed this week, it focuses much more on Musashi trying to better his swordsmanship than duels. In fact the movie kinda goes out of it's way not to show a lot of action till near the end, every fight scene either cuts away or is stopped which might disappoint people a lot but I genuinely didn't mind. I found the story to be much better than the first as we see our main character come to terms with his own emotions and seeks to learn how to improve not only his sword skills but his character, with a bit of a love triangle interwoven with it. Now I personally don't care too much for the romance, because I know for a fact Musashi Miyamoto was never married and never had kids, he had adopted sons but not children of his own so I sort of already know where it ends. But the rest of the movie is mighty good! The majority of the film is shot on sets, but it never distracted me from the movie because they are wonderful sets that convey a lot of beauty and atmosphere in them so I just really appreciated the craftsmanship of it all. The choreography of the fight scenes are also good, once again knowing how to charge the scene with tension. I was picking up on a lot of the fighting stances and strategy that were brought up in The Five Rings, from the various holding positions of the sword, to remembering strategic points about how to fight against certain weapons for instance a longsword, and seeing the dual wielding trademark of Miyamoto's fighting style was great. I just hope that this series doesn't pull a Godfather and drop drastically in quality come the third movie, cause I do consider this to be a better film than the first which I already thought was pretty dang good. No doubt we'll see our original cast back once again, it had a lot of good dynamics in this movie that I truthfully felt was better than the first and rightfully so because it's a sequel that builds upon the foundations, so the thought of Musashi and Matahachi meeting again after so long got me excited, the thought of Otsu and Akemi fighting possibly to the death for Musashi's love kinda got me worried because I didn't want to see anyone die. That's good character development, and I honestly can't wait to dive right into the final installment just to see where it all goes and where it decides to end. This was a damn good movie, full 4 stars, 8.5/10, let's finish this.

Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto

Humble beginnings indeed.

Full disclosure, I knew quite a bit about the real world figure of Musashi Miyamoto before jumping into this. I have read The Five Rings twice and find him to be a truly interesting figure. Now the movie trilogy was based off an author's work rather than very muddled historical accounts that have made it impossible to discern fact from legend, and with individuals going into this movie blind you'll have nothing to worry about. But for me I had to keep reminding myself this is an adaptation, but the film was still very good. The only thing that sort of surprised me and yet made me enjoy this movie more is it believe it or not has a Hollywood epic feel to it, think Ben Hur or The Ten Commandments. The scope of the shots, the musical cues, the path of the story that plays out, you honest to God could have swapped the original actors with americans and I would bet every cent in my bank that the lead would be played by Charlton Heston. So in a way the plot was very familair in execution, but the concept follows a young Miyamoto as he runs away from home to join the samurai ranks only for their side to lose, and eventually a manhunt is issued against him. Nothing major happens in this movie, it is a very straightforward beginning that will no doubt pick up in pace with the other two movies, but it nevertheless is still interesting to watch. And who better to play one of the most famous swordsman in history but Toshiro Mifune, top form as always with a very strong performance, wild energy, and just enough enigmatic intrigue to make you want to see how the story truly ends. Supporting cast is mighty good with my particular favorite of the whole show being Kuroemon Onoe as a wily and fun priest, he was an absolute joy to watch. The action bits are well spread out, and fit more with the traditional quick slash style of fighting with small groups facing off with our protagonist. Very well shot and choreographed, but the real wow factor comes in the environment. This was literally the second film produced in color by Toho, and it looks great! Yet another element that reminds me a lot of Ten Commandments, but that movie focused more on the sheer size of the egyptian city and the massive number of extras in a scene, where this focuses on the grand scope of nature with still admirable amounts of extras here and there. But the color is so rich and a wee bit saturated that really makes it pop, it's nothing fancy but still wonderful in it's own way. It probably doesn't seem like I have a lot to say about this movie, but I really did enjoy it and we'll have the other two out before the day is done. 4 stars, 8/10!

The Sword Of Doom

Damn.

I kept hearing this was the most violent of samurai films and uh, yeah they were not lying. Most bloody? No, but if you want hack and slash to the 100th power look no further. The odd thing about this movie aside from the ending itself is that our main character that we follow from the first to last shot is not a hero, or even an anti-hero, but a full on villain. Now on one hand I greatly appreciate this, film no matter where it originates from hardly ever has the balls to make a villain the main character. And not even a fall from grace, was once a hero but is now a villain, no no no you get a complete sociopathic blood thirsty samurai. Tatsuya Nakadai has well proven his place as one of the best japanese actors I've seen and if that wasn't a cemented fact before, this movie just further proved it. It's like Anton Chigurh but a ronin, like that level of scary crazy. And to be perfectly honest this film fully understands the term 'cinematic', the shots are spectacular in every sense, and know how to build tension when called for, it just looks un-f***ing-believable. So the stroy as I said follows this ronin character as he leaves bodies and vendettas in his wake, and one particular warrior seeks vengeance for his brother and undergoes training to defeat a seemingly impossibly strong foe. So basically it's every western movie ever but instead of the revenge seeking gunslinger, you follow the murderous bandit for the film's duration. That's brilliant. The action might just be the best I've seen, with long takes and tracking shots through waves of enemies that incorporates a bit more blood with the classic quick slash deaths. By the end there was not a doubt in my mind that this psychotic sword wielding bastard racked up more kills in one movie than Jason Voorhee's movies combined, and the movie actually ends in the middle a fight scene. Not a cliffhanger, not a conclusion, but while knee deep in death. The story behind that was this was supposed to be the beginning of a trilogy but the sequel never got off the ground and even the original story was so long that the author couldn't even finish it before he died, so it's inconclusive on all fronts but did it affect my overall enjoyment? No, not at all. It was a trip to see this horrible man just live it up in his twisted reality and to not really get a comeuppance. Again, very much like Anton in No Country For Old Men. I heard this was the most bloody samurai film ever made but after seeing this and the little fact that the next movie I'm reviewing is called Lady Snowblood, I'm gonna hold that reservation. Easily 4 stars across the board, 8.5/10, it's a 2 hour movie that does not stop and does not disappoint.

Yojimbo

It's always good to go back to the source.

You know, it's funny. Yojimbo was the brainchild of Kurosawa who loved western cinema and wanted to bring it full front to Japan and was inspired by the Western genre, which led the world to appreciate his cinema leading to a Western remake of his Samurai film. We all come full circle some point in life. So how is Yojimbo? Well truthfully if you've seen A Fistful Of Dollars, you've seen Yojimbo. It's almost point for point the same film not just in terms of plot, but characters, scenes, and even certain shots. But I greatly enjoy Fistful Of Dollars, and to see it with samurai instead of cowboys is a really cool idea. I look at it almost as an Elseworlds story, they really should do more stuff like that where you take a popular concept and put a unique twist to it. Like if Star Wars was not a space opera but a Shakespearean drama, or if The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly was told in modern times or hell how about a Scream-esque idea but set in the 1940s. You can find cool and interesting ideas like that. So seeing Yojimbo though heavily familiar, was still really good and kept my attention the whole time. So if you want to know story just read my Fistful Of Dollars review and swap the word cowboy with samurai, it's a good story and though our main character is sort of enigmatic to the point where we have no idea what his name even is, you can tell a lot. This is one of, if not the only Kurosawa film that has a sequel so it greatly intrigues me to see what this ronin samurai will see next, it gives both films this sense of an actual world and it's not just a single adventure with this guy but he's a real person and continues on after the events have played out. So just to be able to see what he gets into next is really fascinating to me, I wish a tv series could do something like that. Take like a Sherlock run time, make it about 6 episodes, and just follow this character whether they be samurai or not and kinda do this movie for the first episode. You run into them, no idea who they are or where they come from, and just sort of follow their lives which will have some major and minor moments that shape their character. Even to the point where we don't care where they came from but we are interested in where they are going. That could be an incredible show and really be something no one has seen before. So I am thrilled to see what happens next in the sequel, Sanjuro.

The Hidden Fortress

Yeah I can draw the connections here.

So after several dramatic and adult stories, Kurosawa decided to do Toho a favor and create a more widely enjoyable, sort of film for anybody, where it was more fun and adventure than serious storytelling, leading us to The Hidden Fortress. The story follows two peasants who encounter a general and a princess, who bribe them with gold to help them reach friendly territory after they have lost a war. Similar aspects to another popular film, but it's own entity it still is. It's actually a leisurely paced movie for a good long while, dang near to the end. So it gives you plenty of time to get to know these characters, and I really have to say for once Toshiro Mifune was not the stand out actor in this film though he gives a very strong yet mostly silent performance, Misa Uehara who plays the princess is incredible. Though she doesn't speak that much her physical acting demands a strong presence, there's one scene where this guy is being a complete creep and she looks like she is about to kick his ass 8 different ways till Sunday all through facial expression and body stance. That is really good acting, and I would love to see her work in other films! So yeah, yet again Kurosawa gives a very different film from my expectations but was really good nevertheless! Story is the strong point, but the characters, scenery, and dialogue are excellent as well. And that is all for today, tomorrow we go double feature yet again with Yojimbo and Sanjuro.

Throne Of Blood

The first thing I have to say is, if literal Shakespearean drama is not your style of movie, though I do urge you to see this movie I can understand.

Throne Of Blood is Macbeth set in feudal Japan, and told accurately but with such a different twist obviously due to the culture but I'll be damned if I said it did not work. And what really shocked me was how unsettling and eerie it got, not just with the spirit in the woods but the atmospheric shots are creepy man and you feel this uneasiness in the forest where the spirit lives, I dare say both technically and immersively those are the best scenes. And strangely it was calming for me, hearing this spirit softly speak and sing of things to come in this eerie but beautiful location was a real treat. And apparently they built the sets near Mt. Fuji to get the mist and fog effect which I have to applaud for sticking that close to the scottish geography the story is set in, but man does this film look gorgeous at times. I got two words why you should see this movie: Mifune and climax. Ask anybody who has seen this movie and they will say the best part of the whole film is the ending. But Mifune man, I mean he goes out there and just wrecks this role, in the best way possible. This is acting if I have ever seen it, and even then I can't say some of it is not genuine. In the climax, well....when you see it you will know what I am talking about but let's just say, the terror in his eyes is incredibly real. And the actress who plays the role of Lady Washizu, who is clearly not mentally well from scene one is what sets the film into motion and drives events forward, she is enigmatic to me. Like I can't stand her, she's not a nice or even normal person, like I said she is off her rocker fast in this movie, and yet I cannot take my eyes off her when she is on screen. She is that character you love to hate without a doubt. But yes, if Shakespeare is something you like by all means watch Throne Of Blood. It is a very, very good movie and I genuinely enjoyed it a great deal. I wonder what tomorrow will hold though, seeing as The Hidden Fortress is next on my list. Will it enhance my enjoyment of Star Wars? We shall see.

Seven Samurai

Okay fine, this movie topped Ikiru!

So yeah, I don't think it's any mystery Seven Samurai is a great film, made in the golden age of Japanese cinema with Kurosawa on top form throughout. It's funny I've seen this movie before, or rather should I say I have seen this story before. Concerning a group of villagers that have been raided by bandits on a regular basis, a group of farmers set out to hire samurai in order to protect their town and kill the bandits. Not only was this made into The Magnificent Seven, a trend in western films that happened several times with Kurosawa films essentially being remade, with Yojimbo and A Fistful Of Dollars, this movie and The Magnificent Seven, and obviously The Hidden Fortress and Star Wars. But to the people out there who are my age and grew up watching Pixar movies in their early years, this plot may sound very familiar to A Bug's Life. You think I'm fooling around, but it's true! Go watch the movie, I'll wait......we back? Good, on with the review! Yet again here we are with a character driven film, and I have to admire the fact that all seven samurai are given a lot of character and have their own individuality, and though I am terrible with names each I can tell from the other. And I couldn't help but notice the characters of Kikuchiyo and Kyuzo seem oddly familiar to Mugen and Jin from Samurai Champloo so that was a great realization for me. I do firmly believe Kurosawa peaked with this movie, I mean all of his movies have his visual style and there are some really good shots through Stray Dog, Rashomon, and Ikiru but he perfected his editing and camera shots in this movie, and from what I've heard the shooting was strenuous and went over schedule and budget to the point where Toho almost went bankrupt but thankfully they are still around. So Japan got a double dose of greatness in 1954 with Seven Samurai and Gojira, cementing the company's status as THE major succesful movie studio in Japan to the point where you can see murals of both Kurosawa's films and Godzilla on either sides of the studio's entrance. Kurosawa put a lot of attention, and detail, and passion into this film and it does show. He knew exactly what shot he wanted, how to get it, and how to edit it all together. And while there were issues on set and during all stages of production, it became a succesful film and still renowned over 60 years later leading yet another point to the term "art through adversity". And we will continue the samurai trend tomorrow with a twist in Throne Of Blood.

Rashomon

Yet another very unpredictable but very good film.

The film that put Japanese cinema on the map, Rashomon takes the story of a bandit, a newlywed wife, her husband samurai, and a woodcutter that discovers the samurai's body. A court hearing is issued where all the parties speak their own truths, and the woodcutter along with a monk and a random passerby tries to piece the crime together and know the real story. I greatly enjoy this form of storytelling, yes I admit crime stories are far from something I enjoy but mysteries can be very entertaining. This is a film that you don't casually watch from the sidelines, you're right in there piecing the stories together and finding common facts that are in all the accounts. But the film does go much deeper than just, oh we gotta figure out what all happened between these people and the death of a samurai, the concept of good and bad more specifically morality are called into questioning. Because as you hear each person recount the events, differences come up and they all have reasons to lie. So it takes a much deeper look at people in terms of desires, character, and choices which I think is why so many people consider this film so great. And Kurosawa's directing style has pretty much hit the mark we will see throughout his other films, with dynamic and fluid camera movement, long takes that can showcase so much even at a distance, and the cuts though seeming a little off do work to the movie's advantage. I gotta say though Mifune is glorious in this movie, his whole attitude towards acting in this movie I can sum up in a simple phrase, go hard or go home. The frantic and deranged energy he potrayed in Stray Dog is multiplied tenfold in this movie, I cannot take my eyes off him when he is on screen! He's such a wild card which means you can never tell what on earth is gonna happen next, I swear you can see the literal fire in his eyes in some shots, the man just conquers this role and this film singlehandedly. We see Takashi again in another smaller role, but he makes up for it entirely in the last scene in my opinion. Usually most people when they decide to watch Kurosawa they start here, and I'm not arguing this is a bad place to start. If you want the feudal, samurai driven Kurosawa films then this is the place to start, but I didn't want to do strictly his samurai films. I really wanted to reach all corners and have a real Kurosawa 101, spanning his career from the beginning to the end. Which will lead us into his next film, Ikiru.

Stray Dog

I felt it was time not just in terms of reviews, but my life to finally see some Kurosawa films. We'll go chronoligically with his directed films to see how it all began and how it will end.

I didn't know what to really expect with Stray Dog, considered to be Kurosawa's first major succesful film, it sounded very simple. A young rookie cop has lost his colt handgun to a pickpocket and must track him down. Ridiculously simple plot, straight out of a detective novel but done very well. It was very different from what I expected, when I read the plot synopsis I pictured a Japanese noir film with a lot of close calls, dark atmosphere, and one hell of a climax. The movie was far from it but still very engaging and great. I have to admit the film took me for a few loops, for instance after we've followed our protagonist and seen a pretty good procedural set up which is quite interesting to see especially in 1949 before police procedural media was a dime a dozen, we follow this guy for a good near 10 minutes just wandering the streets. We have no idea who he is, why he's roaming about, or where he is going. At first, it seems kind of obvious who this guy is, but we keep following him, he looks for people but is always on the move. Again, you can guess kind of why he is looking for specific people, but it turns it completely on it's head and surprises you not once but twice. Despite me not greatly loving crime dramas that much, this movie did a good job at keeping the story interesting and entertaining. Toshiro Mifune had his first collaboration with Akira Kurosawa in this movie, a relationship that lasted the majority of Kurosawa's career as a filmmaker, and this is a good bar he set for his performance. They constantly refer the pickpocket to a mad dog, but I feel Mifune is the eponymous stray dog, not as experienced as his older partner played by Takashi Shimura and often feverishly distraught and highly punishing of himself for losing his gun. He looks at this particular case as the end all be all of his career as a police officer, not focusing on the bigger picture of serving the citizens but serving himself, just trying to correct his mistake and is faced with heavy consequences that he constantly berates himself for, even though some of it is not his fault. A stray dog roaming the streets in search of his own personal gain. I love that, and Kurosawa's directing style though not at his height of technique as later on is still great. His cuts are still based around motion, and despite it being black and white the film has depth and good contrast, he knows when to crank up the pressure and energy but also takes lots of time building to it. I would say this is the place to start with both Kurosawa and Mifune, it's a humble beginning to an incredible duo and sets the stage for future classics of film which we will be continuing tomorrow with the movie that made Kurosawa known around the world, Rashomon.