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The Sword of Doom (1966) By Kihachi Okamoto
The synopsis: "Japan, 1860. In the twilight of an Age, we follow the bloody journey of an amoral samurai who kills without compassion or scruples, dedicating his life to evil."
In the words of Morgan Freeman: "It's more fun to play the villain," perhaps Nakadai thought so in the distant 60's when he played Ryunosuke in 'The Sword of Doom', because such is his connection to the character. All the malice of the disturbed character needs nothing more than the expressive looks of the actor to demonstrate the amount of layers that evil adds to a being who devotes his life to cruelty. How else could this character created in the pages of the novels of Kaizan Nakazato be transported to the screen, if not by a great actor? With a carrer that already had excellent performances, like in The Human Condition trilogy, Harakiri, Kwaidan, Sanjuro — what else can this man achieve as an actor after all these classics? The answer comes in this work by Kihachi Okamoto.
Released in 1966 — the same year that was released The Face of Evil and Cash Calls Hell, both with Nakadai in the lead role — 'The Sword of Doom' was initially planned to be a trilogy, but for mysterious reasons (money maybe?), the trilogy was never continued, leaving everything in the vacuum soon after the end of that would be the first film of the saga of Ryunosuke. It is interesting to note that at the beginning of the same decade, director Kenji Misumi had already started a trilogy based on the same literary work called Satan's Sword, a trilogy that was completed one year after its conception (1960 - 1961).
Regardless of the motivations for the discontinuation of the work, the abrupt end that leaves many things in the vacuum ends up working in favor of the movie, creating a well-structured anticlimax with loose ends fit in the imagination of the viewer.
Hiroshi Murai, who has worked on the photography of many other films of the genre, such as Samurai Assassin (also by Okamoto), performs one of his most remarkable works in black and white. It is wonderful to see the battle in the forest around the mist, the battle in the snow where Toshiro Mifune is battling dozens of enemies and the violent sequence in the brothel, which contains a breathtaking aesthetic beauty.
"Evil is the revenge of man against society, by the restrictions it imposes. The most unpleasant characteristics of man are generated by this precarious adjustment to a complicated civilization. It is the result of the conflict between our instincts and our culture."
[Sigmund Freud - Excerpt from interview given to George Sylvester Viereck in 1926.]
In the first few minutes, goodness is expressed by mutual fraternal love. The relationship between grandfather and his niece, the affection, the delicacy of words. The tone that overflows well-being has always been a cultural factor in feudal Japan, speaking is almost a chant. From behind, a shadowy figure approaches, and we are introduced to Ryunosuke, who kills the old man for no apparent reason. On the surface, at least, there is no concrete reason. His granddaughter is spared from the presence of Ryunosuke, solely for having left to fetch water minutes before. After committing such an atrocity, Ryunosuke finds another potential victim walking towards him, this one is saved by little, not by mercy, but by negligence. Evil does not need apparent motivation to perform its function.
Ryunosuke is a samurai, so he should serve one honorable purpose, the code, Bushido, be true to his culture. How can a man of this cycle be adept at misanthropy? His aversion is not only against human nature in general, it is also cultural. "Man must know his soul first, then know his sword," is the phrase uttered at one point by Toranosuke Shimada (the ever-great Toshirô Mifune), such a phrase added by the demonstration of skill and confidence against Ryunosuke's companions causes it to create instability. This comes to be reclaimed once his own hatred is restored. Hate is its true essence, and it is only in times of anger that we see the character emerge from his constant coldness.
Everyone around Ryunosuke is sucked into this great evil vortex, his 'wife' is the fruit of a murder, his son is nothing more than an embarrassment, his companions are nothing more than mere flesh in the wind (whether his companions clan or his murderous cronies from which he would come together in the future), the brother of one of his victims is seized by a blind desire for revenge. All are swallowed up in the evil way, but they are always given the power of final decision, yet the evil pathe is the chosen choice.
When all the evil he has done returns to confront him, his eyes cease to be the only evidence of his humanity, here shines the genius of Nakadai. A palpable despair! Shadows of lots of victims, bathed in the fury of an adept at wickedness, vengeful against their own cultural sense. Then a very strong violence compose the final moments of the film, when finalized, we can only imagine how they would have been two other films that would continue making an anatomy of all the evil that inhabits the interior of the one who is cursed by its own nature.
Rating: ★★★★★ (Masterpiece)
Duration: 1 hr 59 min (119 min)
Language: Japanese
Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Yûzô Kayama, Toshirô Mifune
Director: Kihachi Okamoto
The synopsis: "Japan, 1860. In the twilight of an Age, we follow the bloody journey of an amoral samurai who kills without compassion or scruples, dedicating his life to evil."
In the words of Morgan Freeman: "It's more fun to play the villain," perhaps Nakadai thought so in the distant 60's when he played Ryunosuke in 'The Sword of Doom', because such is his connection to the character. All the malice of the disturbed character needs nothing more than the expressive looks of the actor to demonstrate the amount of layers that evil adds to a being who devotes his life to cruelty. How else could this character created in the pages of the novels of Kaizan Nakazato be transported to the screen, if not by a great actor? With a carrer that already had excellent performances, like in The Human Condition trilogy, Harakiri, Kwaidan, Sanjuro — what else can this man achieve as an actor after all these classics? The answer comes in this work by Kihachi Okamoto.
Released in 1966 — the same year that was released The Face of Evil and Cash Calls Hell, both with Nakadai in the lead role — 'The Sword of Doom' was initially planned to be a trilogy, but for mysterious reasons (money maybe?), the trilogy was never continued, leaving everything in the vacuum soon after the end of that would be the first film of the saga of Ryunosuke. It is interesting to note that at the beginning of the same decade, director Kenji Misumi had already started a trilogy based on the same literary work called Satan's Sword, a trilogy that was completed one year after its conception (1960 - 1961).
Regardless of the motivations for the discontinuation of the work, the abrupt end that leaves many things in the vacuum ends up working in favor of the movie, creating a well-structured anticlimax with loose ends fit in the imagination of the viewer.
Hiroshi Murai, who has worked on the photography of many other films of the genre, such as Samurai Assassin (also by Okamoto), performs one of his most remarkable works in black and white. It is wonderful to see the battle in the forest around the mist, the battle in the snow where Toshiro Mifune is battling dozens of enemies and the violent sequence in the brothel, which contains a breathtaking aesthetic beauty.
"Evil is the revenge of man against society, by the restrictions it imposes. The most unpleasant characteristics of man are generated by this precarious adjustment to a complicated civilization. It is the result of the conflict between our instincts and our culture."
[Sigmund Freud - Excerpt from interview given to George Sylvester Viereck in 1926.]
In the first few minutes, goodness is expressed by mutual fraternal love. The relationship between grandfather and his niece, the affection, the delicacy of words. The tone that overflows well-being has always been a cultural factor in feudal Japan, speaking is almost a chant. From behind, a shadowy figure approaches, and we are introduced to Ryunosuke, who kills the old man for no apparent reason. On the surface, at least, there is no concrete reason. His granddaughter is spared from the presence of Ryunosuke, solely for having left to fetch water minutes before. After committing such an atrocity, Ryunosuke finds another potential victim walking towards him, this one is saved by little, not by mercy, but by negligence. Evil does not need apparent motivation to perform its function.
Ryunosuke is a samurai, so he should serve one honorable purpose, the code, Bushido, be true to his culture. How can a man of this cycle be adept at misanthropy? His aversion is not only against human nature in general, it is also cultural. "Man must know his soul first, then know his sword," is the phrase uttered at one point by Toranosuke Shimada (the ever-great Toshirô Mifune), such a phrase added by the demonstration of skill and confidence against Ryunosuke's companions causes it to create instability. This comes to be reclaimed once his own hatred is restored. Hate is its true essence, and it is only in times of anger that we see the character emerge from his constant coldness.
Everyone around Ryunosuke is sucked into this great evil vortex, his 'wife' is the fruit of a murder, his son is nothing more than an embarrassment, his companions are nothing more than mere flesh in the wind (whether his companions clan or his murderous cronies from which he would come together in the future), the brother of one of his victims is seized by a blind desire for revenge. All are swallowed up in the evil way, but they are always given the power of final decision, yet the evil pathe is the chosen choice.
When all the evil he has done returns to confront him, his eyes cease to be the only evidence of his humanity, here shines the genius of Nakadai. A palpable despair! Shadows of lots of victims, bathed in the fury of an adept at wickedness, vengeful against their own cultural sense. Then a very strong violence compose the final moments of the film, when finalized, we can only imagine how they would have been two other films that would continue making an anatomy of all the evil that inhabits the interior of the one who is cursed by its own nature.
Rating: ★★★★★ (Masterpiece)
Duration: 1 hr 59 min (119 min)
Language: Japanese
Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Yûzô Kayama, Toshirô Mifune
Director: Kihachi Okamoto
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A very fine review. I haven't seen a great deal of samurai movies. A lot of them are hard to find. But now I've got another one on my to-do list.
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Old Stone (2016) by Jhonny Ma
The scene that opens Old Stone is composed of a wide catch of trees in the wind, swaying while nature blows from one side to the other. This place will be revisited by us some other times during the long!
Far from this serene backdrop, in the busy streets of a Chinese city, but which could be anywhere else in the world, a group of curious people clusters. The camera shows us that there's a man lying in the middle of the asphalt, with his motorcycle broken at his side, having convulsions, probably due to an extremely strong blow to the head, the crowd offers no help, just watching, as the victim writhes in pain. The furious crowd begins to try to find someone responsible for this tragedy, someone would need to be judging as guilty. It is in this situation that we find there, away from the group, with a cell phone in hand, the only person who seems to do something through this extreme situation, this man is Lao Shi (Chen Gang), the taxi driver who hit the poor boy stretched out on the ground, waiting for the emergency... It is well known that one should not touch a bumpy body before the rescue arrives, however, tired of waiting for the ambulance and fearing for the poor boy's life, Lao decides to take the victim to the hospital on his own, even though he is warned that such attitude is against the law and that could further aggravate the physical situation of the injured.
At the police station, we find a Lao Shi tired, having already delivered the victim to the hospital, having already paid the very expensive entrance fees on his debit card, even without being able to do so and even without any kinship with the now hospitalized boy, who has been in a coma due to the accident. Then it is revealed to us through his testimony that the accident was caused by an alcoholic passenger, who turned the wheel in a bumpy moment inside the Lao's Taxi. His words are enough to convince us, without images or witnesses, that this man tells the truth about the accident, he was not to blame, but it does not seem to be enough, and now he have the responsibility to pay the medical expenses, he will have to cover all expenses while the victim is in a coma. "The drunk passenger left the crime scene on another taxi," Lao tells the police officer who seem not to take him too seriously...
When we know his house and his family, we are sure of what was already expected, Lao is a humble man. He lives in the interiors of a kindergarten, where his wife uses it as a breadwinner. Under the same roof, we also know the daughter of Lao, with her expression of who would like more attention from the super busy father, who works to support his home.
From here on we follow the life of this ordinary, honest, hardworking man who has his life turned upside down through a hurricane of situations he can not control. We witness his fight against the judicial system, his attempt to try to find the drunk passenger, and we will also come to know his fears and imperfections. We are given the task of accompanying this struggle of the honest man against all the demons that inhabit our present society, the victim of all this failed system, thirsty for pointing a culprit.
At one point in the journey, honesty and the beautiful consideration for the others begins to crumble, all his willpower is replaced by indifference. Lao is sucked into his own world of obligations, increasingly becoming part of the society from which he still remained untouched. A victim of society, a victim of indifference to others. An ordinary man, played like an ancient stone, amidst a stormy river and composed of a deep emptiness.
The soundtrack of the film comes on rare occasions, mostly it composes moments of uncertainty through unrealized actions of revenge, of hatred, in other words it is what accompanies Lao in this journey without back to the bottom of the pit where we are all paying and evildoers. Even if he seems to regain his good sense at times, Lao immediately finds himself practically immersed in this situation that is aggravated at all times, which leaves him with little to do if he doesn't becomes a bad person. Going deeper and deeper, we do not have much left, unless witness another victim of society.
During this process, back and forth we accompany the serene soul of Lao, who are like beautiful trees in the wind, letting themselves be carried from one side to the other. This comparative reaches the apex in the middle of the climax, where the trees become alien to the wind that surrounds them and become static.
Rating: ★★★★★ (Great)
Duration: 1:21:08
Language: Chinese
Cast: Gang Chen, Nai An, Hongwei Wang, Zhang Zhang
Director: Johnny Ma
The scene that opens Old Stone is composed of a wide catch of trees in the wind, swaying while nature blows from one side to the other. This place will be revisited by us some other times during the long!
Far from this serene backdrop, in the busy streets of a Chinese city, but which could be anywhere else in the world, a group of curious people clusters. The camera shows us that there's a man lying in the middle of the asphalt, with his motorcycle broken at his side, having convulsions, probably due to an extremely strong blow to the head, the crowd offers no help, just watching, as the victim writhes in pain. The furious crowd begins to try to find someone responsible for this tragedy, someone would need to be judging as guilty. It is in this situation that we find there, away from the group, with a cell phone in hand, the only person who seems to do something through this extreme situation, this man is Lao Shi (Chen Gang), the taxi driver who hit the poor boy stretched out on the ground, waiting for the emergency... It is well known that one should not touch a bumpy body before the rescue arrives, however, tired of waiting for the ambulance and fearing for the poor boy's life, Lao decides to take the victim to the hospital on his own, even though he is warned that such attitude is against the law and that could further aggravate the physical situation of the injured.
At the police station, we find a Lao Shi tired, having already delivered the victim to the hospital, having already paid the very expensive entrance fees on his debit card, even without being able to do so and even without any kinship with the now hospitalized boy, who has been in a coma due to the accident. Then it is revealed to us through his testimony that the accident was caused by an alcoholic passenger, who turned the wheel in a bumpy moment inside the Lao's Taxi. His words are enough to convince us, without images or witnesses, that this man tells the truth about the accident, he was not to blame, but it does not seem to be enough, and now he have the responsibility to pay the medical expenses, he will have to cover all expenses while the victim is in a coma. "The drunk passenger left the crime scene on another taxi," Lao tells the police officer who seem not to take him too seriously...
When we know his house and his family, we are sure of what was already expected, Lao is a humble man. He lives in the interiors of a kindergarten, where his wife uses it as a breadwinner. Under the same roof, we also know the daughter of Lao, with her expression of who would like more attention from the super busy father, who works to support his home.
From here on we follow the life of this ordinary, honest, hardworking man who has his life turned upside down through a hurricane of situations he can not control. We witness his fight against the judicial system, his attempt to try to find the drunk passenger, and we will also come to know his fears and imperfections. We are given the task of accompanying this struggle of the honest man against all the demons that inhabit our present society, the victim of all this failed system, thirsty for pointing a culprit.
At one point in the journey, honesty and the beautiful consideration for the others begins to crumble, all his willpower is replaced by indifference. Lao is sucked into his own world of obligations, increasingly becoming part of the society from which he still remained untouched. A victim of society, a victim of indifference to others. An ordinary man, played like an ancient stone, amidst a stormy river and composed of a deep emptiness.
The soundtrack of the film comes on rare occasions, mostly it composes moments of uncertainty through unrealized actions of revenge, of hatred, in other words it is what accompanies Lao in this journey without back to the bottom of the pit where we are all paying and evildoers. Even if he seems to regain his good sense at times, Lao immediately finds himself practically immersed in this situation that is aggravated at all times, which leaves him with little to do if he doesn't becomes a bad person. Going deeper and deeper, we do not have much left, unless witness another victim of society.
During this process, back and forth we accompany the serene soul of Lao, who are like beautiful trees in the wind, letting themselves be carried from one side to the other. This comparative reaches the apex in the middle of the climax, where the trees become alien to the wind that surrounds them and become static.
Rating: ★★★★★ (Great)
Duration: 1:21:08
Language: Chinese
Cast: Gang Chen, Nai An, Hongwei Wang, Zhang Zhang
Director: Johnny Ma
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A very fine review. I haven't seen a great deal of samurai movies. A lot of them are hard to find. But now I've got another one on my to-do list.
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Great reviews UV! Two films that are both on my list to see. Sword of Doom looks/sounds particularly awesome.
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Violent Cop (1989) by Takeshi Kitano
Let's skip the introductions, actor Takeshi Kitano and his directorial debut: "Violent Cop" marked the beginning of a deconstructive career in the various images of Yakuza (Sonatine, Outrage) or/and human emotions (Hana-Bi: Fireworks, Dolls). In his first full length of 1989, Kitano kills the 'right cop' image and turns into a destructive and explosive machine, a Dirty Harry raised to fifth power.
During the investigation of some homicides linked to the Yakuza, police officer Azuma (Kitano in an interpretation of faces and mouths) discovers that a co-worker is connected to drug trafficking. From that point on, - along with a novice cop who serves as a counterpoint - Azuma embarks toward this web of information world below. He's capable of everything: Torture, forging evidences, impulsive persecutions and everything that is not possible to him in the thresholds of the law, of which Azuma seems to have the left foot rooted, to exterminate the evil by the root.
The violence is exposed in plastic form, futilized, like in almost all Kitano films, an aesthetic option to show the relation of the man with the violent acts. The false blood gushing down and up are almost as false as the operatic interpretations of the violent acts.
The long take sequences with cut angles are unconventional, which at first seems a total misunderstanding, this shows a battle of two men who seem to have struck the whole project. It is the confrontation between Kitano and his director of photography Yasushi Sasakibara. The unthinkable abstract plan that cuts off the head of one of the characters while walking, demonstrates the folly of this realization divided into two layers: deconstruction and its polyphany!
Unintentionally, both created a film full of visual bipolarity. Not enough, Daisaku Kume's mocking soundtrack seems alittle out of place in the beginning, but it gains power in the course of our contact with this contradictory character.
From the more laid-back silly chase through the streets of Yokohama (with a song in the background as baffling as the situation itself) until the second half accentuated by the dark end, Violent Cop marks the beginning of the genial Japanese director: Takeshi Kitano.
Rating: ★★★★★
Duration: 1 hr 43 min (103 min)
Language: Japanese
Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami, Makoto Ashikawa
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Original text (portuguese): https://orienteextremo.art.blog/2018...-da-violencia/
Let's skip the introductions, actor Takeshi Kitano and his directorial debut: "Violent Cop" marked the beginning of a deconstructive career in the various images of Yakuza (Sonatine, Outrage) or/and human emotions (Hana-Bi: Fireworks, Dolls). In his first full length of 1989, Kitano kills the 'right cop' image and turns into a destructive and explosive machine, a Dirty Harry raised to fifth power.
During the investigation of some homicides linked to the Yakuza, police officer Azuma (Kitano in an interpretation of faces and mouths) discovers that a co-worker is connected to drug trafficking. From that point on, - along with a novice cop who serves as a counterpoint - Azuma embarks toward this web of information world below. He's capable of everything: Torture, forging evidences, impulsive persecutions and everything that is not possible to him in the thresholds of the law, of which Azuma seems to have the left foot rooted, to exterminate the evil by the root.
The violence is exposed in plastic form, futilized, like in almost all Kitano films, an aesthetic option to show the relation of the man with the violent acts. The false blood gushing down and up are almost as false as the operatic interpretations of the violent acts.
The long take sequences with cut angles are unconventional, which at first seems a total misunderstanding, this shows a battle of two men who seem to have struck the whole project. It is the confrontation between Kitano and his director of photography Yasushi Sasakibara. The unthinkable abstract plan that cuts off the head of one of the characters while walking, demonstrates the folly of this realization divided into two layers: deconstruction and its polyphany!
Unintentionally, both created a film full of visual bipolarity. Not enough, Daisaku Kume's mocking soundtrack seems alittle out of place in the beginning, but it gains power in the course of our contact with this contradictory character.
From the more laid-back silly chase through the streets of Yokohama (with a song in the background as baffling as the situation itself) until the second half accentuated by the dark end, Violent Cop marks the beginning of the genial Japanese director: Takeshi Kitano.
Rating: ★★★★★
Duration: 1 hr 43 min (103 min)
Language: Japanese
Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami, Makoto Ashikawa
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Original text (portuguese): https://orienteextremo.art.blog/2018...-da-violencia/
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