Friday, April 1, 2011
The Hidden Blade, also known as : Kakushi ken oni no tsume
An excellent movie. It is a drama centered around a love story. Its focus is Samurai warrior Munezo, who strains at keeping loyal to his Samurai beliefs and keeping his moral code intact in an imperfect world. Munezo must fight the caste system in mid 19th century Japan. Along his path Munezo must find his way, loose himself and redeem himself. It is a touching portrait of a Samurai's path to find a better life in a flawed world. While it is a Samurai film, there is only one fight scene and even the Samurai warrior is abhorred at the act of violence. This is not a glamorization of violence but an accounting of what a single act of conflict can bring to those involved and its consequences.
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4 comments:
I saw this movie a while ago and I enjoyed it very much actually. Very good movie.
You do extensive movie reviews on your blog. Since I enjoy Japanese Cinema as well, I enjoy your selections.
I came across this film almost by accident. Like Japanese cinema, the very beginning does not come into play well into the sequence of movie events, which ties it together. Very poignant film and believable characters.
The name of main character is not "Yaichiro" but "Munezo". :p
I think that the story itself is a bit better than "Tasogare Seibei(The Twilight Samurai)". "The Twilight Samurai was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and this movie was not, though. But this may mean nothing. I enjoyed both of them very much.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hidden_Blade
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Samurai
Thanks for that comment. I fixed the post.
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