Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto.

Review #2173: Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto. 

Cast: 

Toshiro Mifune (Miyamoto Musashi a.k.a. Takezo), Rentarō Mikuni (Honiden Matahachi), Kuroemon Onoe (priest Takuan Sōhō), Kaoru Yachigusa (Otsu), Mariko Okada (Akemi), Mitsuko Mito (Oko), Eiko Miyoshi (Osugi), Akihiko Hirata (Seijuro Yoshioka), Kusuo Abe (Temma Tsujikaze), and Eitaro Ozawa (Terumasa Ikeda) Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki.

Review: 

The career director is a respectable one, identifiable pattern of direction or not. Hiroshi Inagaki directed over eighty films from a span of 1928 to 1972. He was the son of a shinpa actor (i.e. a modern form of Japanese theater) that became an actor himself with the Nikkatsu studio. He had aspirations of directing and did so with Chiezō Productions and then Kikkatsu. In 1935, the first part of a serial, as written by Eiji Yoshikawa, was released in the newspaper Asahi Shimbun. Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era eventually finished in 1939 with a novel release and translation following decades later. It detailed the exploits (fictionized) of swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, a legend who lived from 1584 to 1645 in Japan. It made ideal sense to make a film about Musashi, because, well, there have been dozens of them, with Inagaki having done a serial in 1941 about him to go with directors such as Kenji Mizoguchi and Daisuke Ito doing their own films during the same era. Inagaki made Conclusion of Kojiro Sasaki: Duel at Ganryu Island [Kanketsu Sasaki Kojirô: Ganryû-jima ketto] (1951), which had Mifune play Musashi. At any rate, this is a film belonging to a genre labelled the "jidaigeki", or more specifically, a period drama, with this being set around the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. This was released by Toho in September of 1954, which was behind countless films that would be considered classics that included Seven Samurai (released in April, which also had Mifune) and Godzilla (October). It was this one that was awarded an Honorary Academy Award among the international films, the last "Honorary" award before a formal category was created. Inagaki did further jidaigeki films such as the epic Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki (1962) prior to his death in 1980 at the age of 74.

Two further films followed with Inagaki as director among a cast led by Mifune (who appeared in twenty (!) films directed by Inagaki): Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955) and Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956). The pursuit of spiritual wisdom makes for an interesting start with this film, which makes for a worthy folk tale where fact and fiction do not entirely matter when it comes to an entrancing presence and the promise for more. One loves those period dramas that give time to build on the desire to see people use swords in graceful execution. The 93 minutes is handled in two ways: building the legend that must rise from low beginnings (a battle that sees a quest for glory turn to being a fugitive) to the realization of the ways that come in a samurai. In short: it isn't all talk or all about finding where to put the sword in someone's gut. Mifune is at the heart of it all in ways that come in appreciating how he puts his energy into the role that encompasses all of the impulse and rawness that comes in a person wracked in having to figure out who they really are. Sure, Seven Samurai may have been the big Mifune spotlight film of that year (where he played a would-be samurai), but this is just as interesting to watch him in raptured roughness, whether that involves women (such as trying to not cling on Yachigusa) or hanging from a rope. One can only be on the road so much before either stumbling onto enlightenment of some kind of crashing into the end of a sword (literal or not), you might say. Filmed in Eastman Color, you can't beat a film that looks the way it does in showing the landscape of a time long ago with a workman spirit that likes a good legend for the public to see play out for more than just one time, where one really will return without hesitation.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next: Robert Bresson's Angels of Sin.

Kwaidan.

Review #1900: Kwaidan.

Cast: 

"The Black Hair" [Kurokami]: Michiyo Aratama (First Wife), Misako Watanabe (Second Wife), Rentarō Mikuni (Husband), Kenjiro Ishiyama (Father), and Ranko Akagi (Mother); "The Woman of the Snow" [Yuki-Onna]: Tatsuya Nakadai (Minokichi), Keiko Kishi (the Yuki-Onna), and Yūko Mochizuki (Minokichi's mother); "Hoichi the Earless" [Miminashi Hōichi no Hanashi]: Katsuo Nakamura (Hoichi), Tetsurō Tamba (Warrior), Takashi Shimura (Head priest), Yoichi Hayashi (Minamoto no Yoshitsune), Kazuo Kitamura (Taira no Tomomori), Yōsuke Kondō (Benkei); "In a Cup of Tea" [Chawan no naka]: Haruko Sugimura (Madame), Osamu Takizawa (Author / Narrator), Nakamura Ganjirō II (Publisher), Noboru Nakaya (Shikibu Heinai), Seiji Miyaguchi (Old man),Kei Satō (Ghost samurai) Directed by Masaki Kobayashi.

Review: 

"My main intention was to explore the juxtaposition between man's material nature and his spiritual nature, the realm of dream and aspiration. I wanted to create a drama which dealt directly with the spiritual importance of our lives. I also enjoyed conveying the sheer beauty of traditional Japan."

Admittedly, there aren't that many three-hour anthology films to go around. This seemed right just the right feature to do when it comes to talking about the 1960s and in talking about a new director as well. Masaki Kobayashi started his career a bit later than usual directors. He was 36 when he made his debut, having studied at Waseda University to study art before aspiring to work in film before being drafted by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He returned from the war and worked as assistant director. His most noted features came because of his war experiences with The Human Condition trilogy (No Greater Love (1959), Road to Eternity (1959), A Soldier's Prayer (1961)). He directed twenty films in the span of 33 years before he died at the age of 80 in 1996. The book is based on Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, a 1904 book by Lafcadio Hearn that was a collection of several ghost stories that were based off either old Japanese texts or experiences lived by the author (of course, there also is a section to close out the book that includes insect study by the author, where he connects them to Chinese and Japanese beliefs). Hearn was born on a Greek island before he eventually was raised in Ireland through a series of parental abandonments; when living with his aunt as a teenager, he had an accident that gave him both poor vision and the loss of his eye. He moved to the United States at 19 (being told to have good luck with $5) and worked in the newspaper business in both Cincinnati and New Orleans before moving abroad to work as a correspondent in the French West Indies before he finally found a true home in Japan, where he lived out the last fourteen years of his life (his exploits as a writer led to a museum alongside preservation of his residence in Matsue). The film uses the same spelling of a term that is actually known as Kaidan, since the old term is actually an archaic spelling of the term. Incidentally, there were versions of the film release that cut down the film to either 160 minutes or two hours, notably by cutting "The Woman of the Snow" when it came to release it in America, although nowadays you can find releases with it intact. It was filmed in TohoScope by cinematographer Yoshio Miyajima, who had worked with Kobayashi on the aforementioned Condition trilogy among others, and Toru Takemitsu (a mostly self-taught composer with numerous noted works in his time) provides the musical score, which results in a soothing and eerie and atmospheric film.

Sure, Kobayashi may state that he made a drama, but this is a horror movie through and through, one that looks at how people approach spirituality where the dead seem more alive than the living. Sometimes, you have to understand folklore beyond just the literal meaning of the words The movie is quite colorful for one that is also pretty mournful in its telling of ghost stories that work out for varying quality of elegance. The first tale in "The Black Hair" (roughly 36 minutes) is a decent one to start things off with, albeit one that relies on its narrator a bit much when compared to the next two stories. "The Woman of the Snow" (32 minutes) might be the most diverting of the stories when it comes to refreshing climaxes.  It is the most soulful of the works, which all go at their own pace to dwell in the macabre without needing to be outright spooky. "Hoichi the Earless" (74 minutes long) is the longest of the stories and probably the most poetic to focus on with pictorial beauty when it shows a ballad of a battle. Sure, the title might give you a clue about the character to follow, but it still makes for a suitable story in haunting elegance, right down to its climax. "In a Cup of Tea" (25 minutes) is a riff on what happens if a ghost story is "unfinished", to varying results. It probably is the lesser of all the stories told, mostly because it tries to play it both ways with the climax along with being the shortest of the stories despite its interesting premise (drinking one's soul in tea) that will either fall as challengingly abrupt or just an okay story. As a whole, it is the handling of folklore with reverence by Kobayashi that makes it a fascinating movie for those who have the time to spend with it.

The actors, tasked with a movie that dwells in quiet patience, do pretty well for what is needed. The Yuki-Onna is a spirit with many interpretations over the years, and Kishi makes a valuable presence in the story with haunting grace. Mikuni makes a suitable cad to go against Aratama and Watanabe in the art of desperation. Nakamura does well in holding his ballad together as a blind seer with worthy calmness. There is plenty of key highlights to think about, whether that involves a quieting climax of despair for the end of the first and second stories (each with a key realization) or how the third story manages to stay together for so long in eerie mystery. Even the fourth story, one with a bit of awareness about itself in offbeat sensibility, is still interesting to see play out to the true conclusion reached in where the spirits can take a person. It is a soothing movie that makes time seem to run as a state of mind, where illusions and reality swirl on their own pattern until all that remains is oblivion. As a whole, it is a great curiosity piece for those who wish to seek something a bit different from the usual anthology, one with conviction in its spirituality that achieves most what it sets to do in storytelling that would make an intriguing pick for the horror season.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Himiko.

Review #922: Himiko.

Cast:
Shima Iwashita (Himiko), Masao Kusakari (Takehiko), Rie Yokoyama (Adahime), Choichiro Kawarazaki (Mimaki), Kenzo Kawarazaki (Ikume), Yoshi Kato (Ohkimi), Jun Hamamura (Narrator), Tatsumi Hijikata (Dancer), and Rentarō Mikuni (Nashime) Directed by Masahiro Shinoda.

Review:
Ah yes, another world cinema film, this time from Japan. What is it about? Well...it's a movie about a shaman queen who falls in love with her half-brother and how this love jeopardizes her powers. When it comes to fantasy-dramas, this certainly stands out as something different. There is a good deal of surreal nature to everything, with blends of myth and passion. Obviously this is not a movie striving for too much historical accuracy (seemingly reminding me of a soap opera at times), but Shinoda seems to know what he is doing with his vision for the movie with regards to mood. It's not always easy to solve the cipher that is this movie, but it is at least somewhat compelling enough to at least see how it plays itself out. There definitely is a good deal of style with regards to how the movie looks (along with how it is shot), with numerous shots having a black background among the set pieces.The score is also pretty eerie and striking for the movie and deservingly so. Iwashita is pretty decent in the title role, expressing numerous moods and expressions usefully enough, with some strange chemistry with Kusakari. Speaking of which, Kuraskari is okay, even if he doesn't give too much expressions at points, though his passion is evident at times. Yokoyama is also pretty alright in the film. Mikuni is also fairly adequate. The movie is likely more entertaining to watch for what it shows rather than the performances, but there is enough spectacle and other-worldly nature to make for a useful watch. What other movie can have its climax include a sword fight in the middle of a mountainside after having one of its characters get tortured (along with a twist that isn't as strange as the movie is)? The experimental nature of the film may not be for everyone, but if one can find this I'm sure that you'll get something out of it.

When it came time for April Fool's Day to come about, I wanted to review something a bit on the weird side (previous April 1st reviews include #033 - Smokey and the Bandit, #115 - Return of the Jedi and its Redux Review, #362 - Mac & Me, #788 - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with the latter two ending up as jokes on myself), so I decided to do a bit of searching and this one had come up as a choice. Strange how it had been six months since the last world cinema film. In any case, I hope for a happy month of April for all of you at home.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.