05-30-2020, 12:22 AM
This is based on Yukio Mishima's The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, where a young Buddhist acolyte with a stutter grows disillusioned and commits a heinous act.
The young acolyte is played by none other than Haizo Ichikawa (later to become the Blind Swordsman). He is befriended by a young cripple who delights in using his handicap to take advantage of people (especially pretty young women). This young cripple is played by Tatsuya Nakadai, the gun-toting villain with the smirk from Yojimbo (also the protagonist in The Sword of Doom).
The movie seemed a bit more heavy-handed than I recall Mishima's novel to have been, though it's been eleven years since I read The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Interesting, but a bit slow, and not many surprises. Also, in a departure from the book, it's told largely in flashback. Not certain that was wise.
The young acolyte is played by none other than Haizo Ichikawa (later to become the Blind Swordsman). He is befriended by a young cripple who delights in using his handicap to take advantage of people (especially pretty young women). This young cripple is played by Tatsuya Nakadai, the gun-toting villain with the smirk from Yojimbo (also the protagonist in The Sword of Doom).
The movie seemed a bit more heavy-handed than I recall Mishima's novel to have been, though it's been eleven years since I read The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Interesting, but a bit slow, and not many surprises. Also, in a departure from the book, it's told largely in flashback. Not certain that was wise.
I'm nobody's pony.
