Movies We've Just Watched discussion
Foreign Films
>
Sword of Doom (Kihachi Okamoto, 1965)
date
newest »
newest »
I've seen this one several times. It's one of the finest films of its type, at times even clever with its symbolism. In this film, the swordplay choreography is a work of art in its own right.
Yes, it is an excellent flic but takes second place to SEVEN SAMURAI.
they're very different films, i think. seven samurai is a classic, nothing can really touch it for its remarkable pace, and all the humanity it explores. but sword of doom is a different kind of film, tells a very different story - a kind of samurai vision of crime and punishment if you like. sword of doom is a personal tale, whereas seven samurai is more epic in scope - it focuses on an entire community - and suggests that survival cannot be managed by an individual, it is a communal act. they are trying to achieve different things, so i would tend to resist comparison.
One of my fave's too!!THE SWORD OF DOOM (Kihachi Okamoto, 1966, Japan) Ryunosuke Tsukue has become Death, the destroyer of worlds. He is a weapon, his steely willpower contaminated by apathy, a natural disaster lacking empathy or remorse that leaves the stink of the grave in his wake.
But he is not Evil; this would assume a possession of some outside force, a demonic influence to account for his actions. No, Tsukue is infused with an effervescent spirit of destruction but maintains a corrupt Buddhist morality. His is not the wanton killing on a whim; he kills when attacked, he kills when challenged, he kills when asked, and he kills for profit. His morality leads to the grave because he cannot forgive, feel compassion; he stares into the abyss and becomes the abyss. Often, his dark eyes seem to peer into the void, seeing Nothing, revealing Nothing, feeling Nothing.
Tatsuya Nakadai’s performance is perfect as his blank visage reflects this unforgiving nihilism, and subtle inflections convey a wry emotional mimicry. Director Kihachi Okamoto films in a very Western style of extreme close-ups: a tight shot of eyes peering through wicker, a hand reaching skillfully for a sword, a silent step shifting bodyweight, or a severed wrist blackening the purest snow.
He utilizes the Cinemascope composition to its fullest with warriors divided by space, each silently observing the other’s technique looking to strike the fatal blow. When the violence begins this becomes a dance of death, a brutal ballet, revealing a ferocious mise-en-scene with lightening strikes of steel upon flesh. He doesn’t resort to quick gimmicky montage; he shoots much of the savage combat in medium shot requiring well choreographic sequences that add a heightened realism.
The ominous musical score owes more to Ennio Morricone than it does to any traditional Japanese rhythm.
Finally, Ryunosuke must face his greatest foe: himself. His descent into madness is brilliantly captured as shadows haunt his vision, ghosts of his many victims, his sword now powerless against these shades. Then a ruthless gang attacks him and he fights with a reckless abandon, killing scores, bleeding from the few wounds they could inflict. But there is no escape or salvation; he is forever frozen in time, an inhuman weapon of mass destruction.
Finl Grade: (A)
Yes, very different from Kurosawa's classic and I love both.
Thanks for the info about this movie. I've put it on my list. Some of these old Japanese films can be fantastic.
i haven't got anything more to add than what's already been said (so well) about this flick other than it swept me up, spun me around and left me breathless ... i loved every beautifully shot second
amazing film. you can't believe how many brilliant shots there are, right? it's kind of overwhelming. no, it is overwhelming.
Sounds great! I've been looking to see more samurai movies after working through most of Kurosawa's. This one sounds like the first I'll go after.
baxter - hell yes!i would also include hara kiri, samurai rebellion, and sword of the beast (sounds like sword of doom - different movie) ... for starters
never thanked you for that amazing review, alex - ooooo, doggies! you sure can make pretty with them words
There`s another Japanese flic from the same era of film making that I very much enjoyed. I believe it was BANSHO THE BAILIFF but correct me if I am wrong. The scene that I recall the best was the very last one in which an overhead camera at the top of a cliff swoops over a small beach between cliffs and there is one small peasant`s hut where the protaganist and his sister will live for the remainder of their lives. In the course of the story, the hero loses his sister, thinks her to be dead, only to be united at the end. The parents are killed off in the beginning.
I may be uncertain of this plot narrative as it has been over 25 years since I saw this flic. It was not a Kurasawa, nor a Osuzu I believe. Phillip, can you help me on this?
you're thinking of sansho the bailiff, an outstanding film by mizoguchi - i love that one - criterion released it last year, or the year before in a beautifully packaged set. they've been releasing several of his films (finally!), which have been hard to find in the us for decades. they also released a box set of his post-war films entitled "fallen women", which includes classics like street of shame. he also directed "ugetzu", one of my favorite japanese ghost stories brought to the screen.
Yup I recall that UGETZU was also a winner but I can hardly recall the narrative. Good that Criterion is releasing them....I will definitely put their purchase on my "to do list".
ugetzu is the one where the soldier abandons his post because he falls in love with a beautiful woman, and they live (happily?) together until one day she vanishes ... and he discovers that all along he has been in love with a ghost.
Hello, all film talked here is my favorite.1.Sword of Doom..Nakadai was in his heyday. His eye scared me very much. Can samurai's honor be equivalent to woman's chastity ? interesting! 2.Ugetsu.. I recommend this one. Very mysterious. 3.Sansho the bailiff .. Very Japanese.
May I (Japanese) join this discussion? I will be able to convey the nuance of the Japanese actor/actress (maybe).
yes, please - it's been a while since we've discussed any of these films, but i would love to hear your opinion on those three films, or any other film you want to talk about. thanks for writing!
I impressed the scene where the opponent's wife beg Nakadai to be defeated in the fight. He can't accept her request, because he lives in the world of Samurai. He compared his pitilessness to the woman's chastity. He just wanted to say the dignity of Samirai is as same as her chastity. But she seems to give her chastity if Nakadai was lost. At this moment, Nakadai showed his interest to her. He wanted to confirm the dignity of Samurai by her response. This is the conflict of their value frame. Ironically, this woman's care for her husband leads to his death in the fight...
This conflict is very impressive for me.
Another movie I like is the Korean Movie. I recommend this.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring (Director:Kim Ki-duk)
I'm a big fan of samurai films myself -- that's how I first got turned on to Kurosawa. And I agree with Masashi's assessment of Nakadai's eyes. He's one creepy-looking dude -- very blank, hollow and emotionless. I would have no problem believing he was a killer.
an entire squadron of SPOILERS will follow shortly...
Tatsuya Nakadai leads the pack in this tragic samurai classic which hints that the obsession with honor leads to madness. Nakadai plays a highly skilled swordsman who kills without remorse, illustrated in the film's opening scene on a mountain top.
Nakadai is to face an opponent at a school for samurai, and his opponent's sister comes and begs him to spare her husband's life. He tells her that to lose honor like that would be like losing a woman's chastity. They "negotiate" this discussion in a broken down shack by waterwheel and the woman makes a sacrifice for her husband's life.
The next day at the face off, Nakadai's opponent (who has divorced his wife that very morning because he heard some gossip about his wife's conversation with Nakadai) comes into the ring filled with hatred and emotion. His anger causes him to advance with an illlegal stroke of the sword, and Nakadai defends himself honorably, killing his opponent in a single blow.
This sets off numerous moral complications, and Nakadai is left to wander with little financial support other than killing for hire. His life veers onto the path of madness as the killings gather in his consciousness like the echo of so many cries for help or anguish. In the final scene he faces off with numerous assasins that have come for him, and the film ends on one final image of the swordsman striking out like a mad dog.
Sword of Doom is my all-time favorite samurai film; the film is laden with countless breathtaking images and masterful shots. The acting is superb and the moral minefield the film posits will keep audiences engaged from start to finish.