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Review #202 of 365
Film: The Hidden Blade [NR] 132 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.00
Where Viewed: Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 1 August 2006
Time: 5:20 p.m.
Soundtrack: CD available below.
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One of the many, many cool benefits I have enjoyed once I committed to movieEVERYday.com, is an entirely new world of cinema has met my eyes. I can safely say that there is probably no way on earth I would have ever seen Yamada Yoji's samurai film The Hidden Blade—not because it's not a good movie, not because it's in Japanese with subtitles, not because it's a Japanese film in general, but simply because I would have prioritized movies like You, Me & Dupree above it. Big mistake! We USAers have a habit of avoiding international films and subtitles and small independent theatres in the first place. Which I now feel fully qualified to say is a terrible mistake. Sure, you will see some films that won't engage you, but isn't that true of USA-made films too? I won't pick on You, Me & Dupree a second time, so think: Slither, Hostel, Date Movie, etc. Actually, I've not seen an international nor independent film this year that was as atrocious as any of these three. My advice is to approach each film with a sense of wonder and adventure. Open your mind to seeing another culture through the eyes of resident and local filmmakers. You can see Memoirs of a Geisha or The Last Samurai and learn a lot, but not nearly as much as you will from a real Japanese movie made by a legendary Japanese director with over 77 films to his name including, according to the IMDb, the world's longest theatrical film series, the Tora-san series. If you are fortunate enough to see, The Hidden Blade, it won't take you very long into the movie to get a sense that its Tokyo University-graduated, Osaka-born, director, Yamada Yoji, is indeed a master of filmmaking.
"… very beautiful and moving…it is easy to get caught up in the pastoral shots of the beautiful and flowing snow seasons of Japan and lose all track of time."
The story concerns the period of history during the mid-19th century when the Japanese are beginning to realize that they must open up to western ways or be subjugated by them in the future. This means the learning of new traditions and abandoning others. Not since The Gods Must Be Crazy, have I laughed so hard observing the clash of cultures as a sensei from Edo is brought into a small clan's village to re-train the local samurai in the arts of western warfare and weapons. He tries to get them to march, to load a canon, to execute gun drills, and to run with their arms in motion. All of this while wearing the traditional sandals with socks and kimono attire in place. I laughed not at the people's inability to catch on to the drills with ease, but rather at their bemusement at the oddity of these practices as if to say, "How could anyone ever win a fight with these idiotic movements?" The samurai are hand combatants and believe that there is honor only in death at the hands of one's own or another's sword. To die by gunfire is a complete disgrace. To use a gun is to be a coward. How many times has it been written of modern warfare that it simply wouldn't exist if people today still had to fight hand to hand? There is something so much more elegant if not more gruesome than death at the hands of the sword of an enemy. True enough, it requires far more courage to slay the enemy when risking so closely the life of oneself.
Well, samurai education and warfare is but one dimension of The Hidden Blade. The film concerns primarily the life of one samurai named Munezo Katagiri played by veteran Japanese actor and screen legend himself, Masatoshi Nagase. When younger, his family takes in a young woman and his mother teaches her how to be a house maid so that eventually she can go and marry and run a proper household. Her name is Kie (Takako Matsu), and she is a rare beauty. Instantly, she catches the eye of Munezo, but he refuses to break customs and pursue her in any way. Instead, he looks over her from afar. Eventually, he finds that she is married to someone who does not care for her properly, and he brings her to his home to look after her and nurse her back to mental and physical well being. Despite having no wife of his own, he keeps his professional and courteous behavior toward her, while secretly pining away. The depth of his love is matched only by the seriousness of his honor. Toward the climax of the film, his morals are challenged when an imprisoned, former, samurai-training school mate of his named Yaichiro Hazama (Yukiyoshi Ozama) escapes, and he is blackmailed and ordered by the head of the clan to go and assassinate him. Munezo seeks out his former sensei for assistance in learning how to defeat his former friend and reputed best swordsman in the clan. He is given a new maneuver that takes advantage of a bold and brazen fighter. In the interim, Yaichiro's wife begs Munezo to let her husband escape in exchange for favors. Munezo turns her down, so she goes to the head of the clan to change his mind about the order in the first place. Munezo faces his friend now adversary and wins, but a twist of fate causes him to learn that Yaichiro's wife gave sexual favors to the clan leader who promised to call off the execution privately while publicly keeping the order alive. Knowledge of this causes her to kill herself. This so enrages Munezo that he utilizes the "hidden blade" to murder the clan leader in broad daylight and escape. The plot is a wee bit slow at times, but it is easy to get caught up in the pastoral shots of the beautiful and flowing snow seasons of Japan and lose all track of time. In general, the film is very beautiful and moving. It was as fascinating to follow the development of the western-style army among the samurai ranks, as it was to see the relationship between Munezo and Kie blossom like the signature Japanese cherry trees in spring. Do they end up together? Well, you'll just have to see the film to find out, now won't you?
Well, samurai education and warfare is but one dimension of The Hidden Blade. The film concerns primarily the life of one samurai named Munezo Katagiri played by veteran Japanese actor and screen legend himself, Masatoshi Nagase. When younger, his family takes in a young woman and his mother teaches her how to be a house maid so that eventually she can go and marry and run a proper household. Her name is Kie (Takako Matsu), and she is a rare beauty. Instantly, she catches the eye of Munezo, but he refuses to break customs and pursue her in any way. Instead, he looks over her from afar. Eventually, he finds that she is married to someone who does not care for her properly, and he brings her to his home to look after her and nurse her back to mental and physical well being. Despite having no wife of his own, he keeps his professional and courteous behavior toward her, while secretly pining away. The depth of his love is matched only by the seriousness of his honor. Toward the climax of the film, his morals are challenged when an imprisoned, former, samurai-training school mate of his named Yaichiro Hazama (Yukiyoshi Ozama) escapes, and he is blackmailed and ordered by the head of the clan to go and assassinate him. Munezo seeks out his former sensei for assistance in learning how to defeat his former friend and reputed best swordsman in the clan. He is given a new maneuver that takes advantage of a bold and brazen fighter. In the interim, Yaichiro's wife begs Munezo to let her husband escape in exchange for favors. Munezo turns her down, so she goes to the head of the clan to change his mind about the order in the first place. Munezo faces his friend now adversary and wins, but a twist of fate causes him to learn that Yaichiro's wife gave sexual favors to the clan leader who promised to call off the execution privately while publicly keeping the order alive. Knowledge of this causes her to kill herself. This so enrages Munezo that he utilizes the "hidden blade" to murder the clan leader in broad daylight and escape. The plot is a wee bit slow at times, but it is easy to get caught up in the pastoral shots of the beautiful and flowing snow seasons of Japan and lose all track of time. In general, the film is very beautiful and moving. It was as fascinating to follow the development of the western-style army among the samurai ranks, as it was to see the relationship between Munezo and Kie blossom like the signature Japanese cherry trees in spring. Do they end up together? Well, you'll just have to see the film to find out, now won't you?
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The Hidden Blade (Kakushi-ken: Oni No Tsume) [DVD](2005) DVD
| CD Soundtrack | DVD | |
You can see Memoirs of a Geisha or The Last Samurai and learn a lot about Japanense culture and history, but not nearly as much as you will from a real Japanese movie made by a legendary Japanese director Yamada Yoji. One of his recent of 77 films, The Hidden Blade is enjoying a limited USA run this summer. The story concerns Japanese history during the mid-19th century when the Japanese begin to realize that they must open up to western ways as seen through the eyes of one samurai, Munezo Katagiri (Masatoshi Nagase). As a young man, he falls for a servant girl, Kie (Takako Matsu), taken in by his family. His mother teaches her so she can marry and run a household. The plot is a wee bit slow at times, but it is easy to get caught up in the pastoral shots of the beautiful and flowing snow seasons of Japan. In general, the film is very beautiful and moving. It was as fascinating to follow the development of the western-style army among the samurai ranks, as it was to see the relationship between Munezo and Kie blossom like the signature Japanese cherry trees in spring. Do they end up together? Well, you'll just have to see the film to find out, now won't you?
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