Instead of sitting through the entire academy awards by myself, I turned to watching this film, which is Yamada’s next film after the academy award winning TWILIGHT SAMURAI, and very much shares a similar feel. Again this film is set in the waning period of the Samurai in Japan, when guns are beginning to take over, and depicts a very realistic, non glamorous tale of that period. And in my opinion is a film of equal quality. In fact once I have some more work I plan collecting as many more of Yamada’s films as I can find with subtitles. This film is an incredibly well done period drama in a period where the whole country is changing and the lives of the people are in flux, they are used to the old ways, but can’t escape the new ways. I highly recommend this film if you can find it (I have the region 2 Japanese DVD).

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Nagase Masatoshi stars as Katagiri Munezo a low level samurai living on a stipend of 30 kokus a year, whose family lost prominence when his father had to take blame for something that was in fact the fault of the head retainer. Now he spends his day with his fell low level retainers being trained in the ways of modern combat by an exasperated teacher from Edo, who can’t get these hicks to do anything. Katagiri can’t even be bothered to reshave his pate. His best friend Hazama Yaichiro (Ozawa Yukiyoshi) is sent off to Edo as a posting, leaving behind his beautiful wife. And his beautiful sister is married off to another friend, who marries her though her family has been disgraced. Katagiri then must marry off his maid Kie (Matsu Takako) and is left unmarried and with only 2 old servants. It is obvious that Katagiri cares for her, but can’t do anything about it because they are of different casts. 3 years later Katagiri realizes Kie has been married into a horribly abusive family, and he takes her in when she is seriously ill and nurses her back to health, and she once again becomes his made, and his obvious infatuation grows, while she decides to never marry again. Then Hazama is brought back by the clan in disgrace, having not been allowed to commit hari kari, after plotting with friends to reform the Shogunate. Katagiri is questioned since the two of them were trained by one master, and while Hazama is considered the better swordsman Katagiri beat him in 2 out of 3 battles of mock combat. Katagiri takes Kie to see the ocean, and orders her to return to her family, because she is young and must marry, and even when she tells him she refuses to marry and would rather stay with him till he marries, he refuses, and sends her away. When Hazama escapes it is Katagiri that is sent to kill him. First he goes to his old master who has bee made a farmer, and is taught a move that can beat Hazama, through some trickery, Then Hazama’s wife comes to Katagiri to beg for her husbands life, and when she can’t get it heads to the head retainer to try and get him to let her husband live. Katagiri sets off and with a group of gunners with him. He fights his friend, but all the while trying to get him to kill himself to keep his honor and save the honor of his wife. Katagiri uses his move and slashes his friend, and then the gunners take him out. On his way back Katagiri runs into the wife and learns the head retainer promissed to save her husband, so Katagiri knows the head retainer slept with her and lied to her, and he realizes she will kill herself. So he accuses the head retainer. And shortly after finally shows his skill his master only taught him, which is the hidden blade, and stabs and kills the head retainer in the heart without drawing blood, taking revenge for his friend, and his wife, and really his father as well. Having made his first 2 kills, he loses his taste for it, and gives up his position as a samurai and becomes a townsman, and heads to the north to become a trader, and but stops to visit Kie on the way, and asks her to marry him. She tells him how she never even thought that was possible because of their caste differences, but now that their isn’t one, she agrees to go with him.

Yamada is really a genius. He weaves this tale together perfectly, with a reality that belies pretty much all other samurai films. This film like it’s predecessor are really masterpieces of modern Japanese cinema, and I am looking forward to this getting a region 1 release so more Americans can get a taste of this film, which really should get a run through art house theaters.