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What is this giant evil King Kong sized samurai dude? He's rising out of the sea with this creepy face and destroys a town...what year is this movie set in? What is Daijiman about? Is it a samurai horror movie?
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Here is a review of the film which provides a little more detail on the setting and time period....Lady Keiko_ronin Usagi wrote:what year is this movie set in? What is Daijiman about? Is it a samurai horror movie?
http://www.gotterdammerung.org/film/rev ... majin.htmlharusame wrote: Daimajin (1966)
Yasuda Kimiyoshi
Japan
84 mins, color, Japanese (English subtitles)
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A period film masquerading as a monster flick, or a monster flick with an art-house flair? You decide. I was warned that DAIMAJIN is one of those old cheesy Japanese films, where giant monsters wreak general havoc on badly constructed sets the likes of which the world hasn't seen since the latest Godzilla-Gamera rampage. To make things worse, the giant monster this time is a pissed-off warrior god trapped in a stone statue, in which uncomfortable form he lugs around, trampling countless extras. Well, whoever told me this, was wrong, dead wrong at that. The god does not even appear until the last 20 minutes or so, and most of the film is a very well done samurai film with a trite plot.
Once upon a time in 17th century Japan, the evil Samanosuke (Yutaro Gomi) plots with the Chamberlain Gunjuro (Tatsuo Endo) the overthrow of their Lord Hanabusa. When they attack and try to murder the entire family, the young children Tadafumi (Yoshihiko Aoyama) and Kozasa (Miwa Takada) escape with the help of the retainer Kogenta (Jun Fujimaki) and his aunt, who happens to be the priestess of the local kami, Majin. Fast-forward ten years. Samanosuke is now beyond evil: he's sets his sights on Kyoto (why? it should have been Edo) and mercilessly exploits local labor at minimum wage. So far, so good. Naturally, the surviving young Hanabusa and retainers have to avenge the murder of the Lord (and free the peasants, if possible). Your average samurai plot.
The real twist begins when the incompetent avengers get caught in what can be only classified as a dilettantish rescue mission. Kozasa offers herself as a sacrifice to the stone god, who wakes up and goes for a walk around the castle. Fine, except the peeved deity doesn't stop there but goes after the villagers until Kozasa offers herself up again, at which point he flies off. As far as deities go, Majin is pretty reasonable. He's quite petty and doesn't care about his followers much. In fact, he only stirs when some idiot henchmen of the nonbeliever Samanosuke ruin his perfectly good helmet with an unsightly chisel. Of course, the warrior god only listens to beautiful girls, and only after the aforementioned propose to leap from a waterfall. Reminiscent of every myth out there.
All in all, DAIMAJIN is a thoroughly enjoyable fare, maybe far-fetched, but nowhere near the cheesiness of the monster flicks we all love. Remarkable attention is paid to the sets, the camera work is very stylish, and the feature is letterboxed too. The effects were also quite all right, as I could only tell the dolls in few scenes. If one ignores the ludicrous premise, even for Shinto beliefs, which I don't believe have a tendency to personify the deities, then the entertainment is full. The music is decent and especially creepy when the little boy wandered around the cursed forest. Recommended.
May 19, 2001. BLS
Daimajin was one of the magic drawings which came to life in the Sumi-E story.Lady Keiko_ronin Usagi wrote:really? which book? (I go by the book series)Daimajin also appears in Usagi Yojimbo.........
