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Author Topic: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!  (Read 9646 times)

oldkid

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Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« on: May 29, 2013, 11:32:49 AM »


I don't know why, but I've really been into samurai movies.  Perhaps I love the fact that in the movies the good samurai always follow a strict code.  Anyway, thought I'd make my interest a marathon.  There's nothing like a marathon to make you completely sick of a genre!

I want to thank those who made suggestions for the marathon.  I am still taking suggestions, if you have any ideas I haven't posted yet.

But I want to thank my main sponsor of this marathon: Multnomah County Library!  All of the movies below I have put because my library system had them.  The other suggestions I couldn't find.  (Maybe Martin Teller could find them, then I would put them on the list).

For right now, here is my marathon list for the summer:

The Last Samurai
Ichi
Harakiri
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
The Men who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail
Chushingura
Sanjuro
The Hidden Fortress
Kagemusha
Samurai Rebellion
Kill!
When the Last Sword is Drawn
Sword of the Beast
Samurai Assassin
Lady Snowblood
Sword of Doom
Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai
Seven Samurai
The Twilight Samurai

I might also watch a couple I've already seen, like Seven Samurai, The Twilight Samurai, Ghost Dog and Ran, because I love them so and need to see them again.

Again, I'm still taking suggestions, so if the library has them, I might very well add them to my list!
And, please, if anyone wants to add their own reviews of samurai movies, I'd be happy to have them located here!

Current ranking is on my list at Letterboxd
« Last Edit: July 05, 2013, 01:05:10 AM by oldkid »
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

1SO

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Re: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2013, 11:48:15 AM »
These boards have needed a Samurai Marathon. This is very exciting.

Verite

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Re: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2013, 12:23:40 PM »
Again, I'm still taking suggestions, so if the library has them, I might very well add them to my list!

Assassination (1964, Shinoda) -- http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/assassination/
Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937, Yamanaka) -- http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/humanity-and-paper-balloons/
The Sea is Watching (2002, Kumai; script by Kurosawa) -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316829/
Miyamoto Musashi serial (1961-1965, Uchida) -- http://www.animeigo.com/products/samurai/miyamoto-musashi
Hana (2006, Kore-eda) -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464038/
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sdedalus

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Re: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2013, 12:37:40 PM »
I've said it before, I'll say it every time a samurai marathon gets proposed: Sword of Doom.
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MartinTeller

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Re: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2013, 12:45:21 PM »
I've said it before, I'll say it every time a samurai marathon gets proposed: Sword of Doom.

Oddly, MultCoLib doesn't have it.  I'm certain that they used to, they usually get all the Criterions (though they've been slow picking up the new ones).

AAAutin

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Re: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2013, 01:18:25 PM »
Again, I'm still taking suggestions, so if the library has them, I might very well add them to my list!

TABOO (GOHATTO)
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Melvil

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Re: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2013, 01:46:53 PM »
Awesome, Steve! This is pretty exciting. I haven't seen quite a few of those, so I'll be paying a lot of attention to the discussion to see what I should seek out myself.

oldkid

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Re: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2013, 03:16:07 AM »
Well, Melvil, you need to check this one out for certain:

Hara-Kiri


All I can say is, watching this at the beginning of the marathon, it will be a tough one to beat.

The best of all possible movies is a marvelously scripted one which is marvelously played by marvelous actors.  And that is what we have here.  The script unfolds like Rashomon… or perhaps like the end of a Colombo mystery… step by step pulling us in, revealing to us a bit more truth.   This is the very rare samurai movie where action is almost unseen because it is about people and events, carefully plotted, carefully paced.

The centerpiece performance of the film is played by Tatsuya Nakadai, who here is equal to Mifune at his best.  In fact, I wonder if Mifune didn’t borrow some of Nakadi’s inflections for his performance in Red Beard a few years after Hara-Kiri.  But I also have to laud Rentarō Mikuni, who played, but didn’t overplay, the perfect foil.   The conversation between these two was not only believable, but grew in intensity as the film wore on.

The only weakness I would have to give the film is the choreography at the end.  The action suited the plot well, but it was simply unbelievable.  Let’s face it, our hero should have died many times over, and it was obvious with what we saw.  But that’s just five minutes of cringing for me in the midst of two hours of 12 Angry Men-level  performance.  It’s worth it.

One thing I noted is the placement of this film historically.  It speaks of the habit of ronin (masterless samurai)  asking to commit suicide in a town in order to obtain money.  This particular town is horrified at the dishonor of the samurai and determines to force honor, even if the samurai has no honor themselves.   This film was made in a time when Japan’s suicide rate soared, and people were desperately impoverished after the end of WWII.  I wonder if the film isn’t encouraging those contemplating suicide to not do so, but to fight back.
But even today, it speaks to  all societies of a too-high code of honor and how that effect the most vulnerable parts of society. 

Powerful movie.   4.5/5
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oldkid

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Re: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2013, 03:18:34 AM »
Thank you all for your encouragement.  Sean, I'll try to get Sword of Doom from Netflix, as my library doesn't seem to have it.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Steve's Summer Samurai Spectacular!
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2013, 03:47:03 AM »
Ichi



As much as Hara-Kiri wasn’t about the choreography and battles, Ichi is full of them, with plenty of blood to go around.

Ichi is a goze, a blind woman who has learned the trade of playing her musical instrument in order to make her living.  And she also learned a few tricks with her hidden blade in order to protect her from unwanted attentions.  In these tricks, she is a master and always takes her opponent by surprise.  She runs across two friends,  Toma, a samurai inflicted with trauma, and Kotoro, a boy who wants Ichi to be his stepmother. 

There’s some fun action, but the plot is full of tropes from the Zatochi stories as well as Yojimbo and the occasional nod to spaghetti westerns and John Ford.  In the end, this is a comic book, and it has the feel of one.  It is interesting that it is distributed by Funimation, a company best known for their anime series, because this film could easily be one of their middle-of-the-road series.  Most telling is the bad guy, head of a series of bandits that have overrun the inn town.  Honestly, he reminds me of no one else more than Quentin Tarantino, the actor.  I mean, really, did he look at Tarantino’s films and say, “I want to be just like that guy.”  Not just when Tarantino is trying to act, but in his most gut-clinching overdrawn performances.  Wow, that was bad. 

There’s nothing believable here, but it’s still a decent action flick to while away the time.  3/5

P.S. I almost forgot my favorite part of the film where they keep looking for an unnamed blind samurai.  They never find him, but find out that he passed away before the film began. Awesome
« Last Edit: June 02, 2013, 03:49:56 AM by oldkid »
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

 

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