The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)

[Drunk Monk]

An early Kurosawa. A lord on the run and his six vassals attempt to get through a guarded pass. I saw this decades ago and didn’t understand it. I still don’t. But now I can see some of Kurosawa’s nascent filmmaking techniques - trappings that would underpin his style - the quiet forest with only a chirping bird, the goofy overacting peasant, the bushido conundrums, the back peddling sword fodder. It’s an odd tale because so little happens - a samurai must defy his code to obey it, and then gets drunk and does a fan dance. I kinda get that but I’m still left questioning why it was such a generated story. Not to be overly shallow but this really needed a sword fight.

Not D00M recommended.

Seen on criterion.