05-03-2025, 12:18 AM
Rewatched because after I posted my endorsement, I couldn’t quite remember what this was about. I only remembered the final fight, which is ridiculous as Nakadai fights through a horde of samurai, and snow fight where Mifune just tears through some ronin assassins.
It kinda bugs me that this is B&W as it’s several years after the Samurai Trilogy and that’s all in color. Nakadai plays the psycho ronin with an unconventional sword style that makes him unbeatable. He’s an anti-hero, a drunk raping murderer with little redeeming qualities. It begins with the senseless murder of an old pilgrim that triggers a karmic tale of woe, dishonor and political intrigue. Nakadai is solid in the role with his bulging eyes and rbf. It’s a perfect role for him. It got a tad confusing because there are a lot of characters and their hairstyles set them apart until they don’t. I got a few characters twisted because some appear similar. There aren’t that many sword fights, but the two mentioned earlier and great - long one-er sequences requiring both Nakadai & Mifune to deliver long complicated long single shot takes - beautiful to watch as they have very different sword styles. Another Bechdel fail with the female characters. I fixing notice that so much as I was watching it, but in retrospect, it got very obvious. Nevertheless, this is a true classic of the genre.
Seen on criterion
D00M recommended
It kinda bugs me that this is B&W as it’s several years after the Samurai Trilogy and that’s all in color. Nakadai plays the psycho ronin with an unconventional sword style that makes him unbeatable. He’s an anti-hero, a drunk raping murderer with little redeeming qualities. It begins with the senseless murder of an old pilgrim that triggers a karmic tale of woe, dishonor and political intrigue. Nakadai is solid in the role with his bulging eyes and rbf. It’s a perfect role for him. It got a tad confusing because there are a lot of characters and their hairstyles set them apart until they don’t. I got a few characters twisted because some appear similar. There aren’t that many sword fights, but the two mentioned earlier and great - long one-er sequences requiring both Nakadai & Mifune to deliver long complicated long single shot takes - beautiful to watch as they have very different sword styles. Another Bechdel fail with the female characters. I fixing notice that so much as I was watching it, but in retrospect, it got very obvious. Nevertheless, this is a true classic of the genre.
Seen on criterion
D00M recommended
Shadow boxing the apocalypse