FRIDAY, AUGUST 19 - THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 • ONE WEEK
SAMURAI REBELLION
2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30(1967) A samurai paces restlessly alongside a sand garden, then suddenly stalks diagonally across the carefully raked pattern. Think he’s made a decision? In a time of peace under the shogunate, faithful retainer Toshiro Mifune tests swords on straw dummies and always plays it his Lordship’s way, even when the lord decides to unload mistress Yoko Tsukasa (ladylike Ozu regular and female lead of Yojimbo), who has already borne him a son, on Mifune’s son Takeshi Kato. When the couple actually find love and have a child of their own, everything seems for the best. But when the lord’s eldest son dies, making Tsukasa’s first child the heir, the lord wants her back.. . The incredibly built-up tension is orgasmically released in Mifune’s — or anybody else’s — most dramatically powerful one-against-all fight (“the sight of Mifune cutting, turning and crashing through paper walls has rarely been equalled” – Richard Tucker), with Mifune acting throughout the flailing steel: there’s one thing he wants, and that’s all he’s focusing on, no matter how many warriors jump him. And in some ways topping that, in the final sequence, one of the cinema’s greatest images: the wounded Mifune’s bracing himself with his sword to rise. But since powerful social critic Masaki Kobayashi (The Human Condition, Harakiri, Kwaidan) uses the period form for a devastating take-no-prisoners attack on feudalism, and ultimately, the arrogance of power and mindless loyalty in any context, even this is not the end. Produced by Mifune himself, and with a screenplay by unsung writing titan Shinobu Hashimoto (Harakiri, Samurai Assassin, Sword of Doom, not to mention eight collaborations with Kurosawa, including Seven Samurai) and a score by the great composer Toru Takemitsu. Winner, Kinema Jumpo Award for Best Japanese film of 1967.
A Janus Films RELEASE.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 & 27
SEVEN SAMURAI
1:00, 4:40, 8:20(1954, AKIRA KUROSAWA) In 16th century Japan, as proud samurai end up as masterless, wandering roninand farmers are prostrate under the heel of marauding bandits, a village patriarch counsels resistance. How? Hire samurai, “hungry samurai.” Under the calm leadership of Takashi Shimura (Kurosawa regular and Ikiru and Godzilla star), that magic number enlist for a war against 40 mounted bandits, winding up at the most hair-raising battle ever filmed. One of the most influential films of all time, but nothing can top the original: Kurosawa’s orchestration of swords, spears, arrows, men, horses, rain, wind, and mud; blazing tracking shots; giant close-ups; chiaroscuro lighting; telephoto lenses that put us underfoot as horses crash amid struggling men; deep-focus shots that render the tip of a sword poking into the lens equally clear with scurrying figures fifty feet away; transitions that effortlessly whip us from scene to scene; and ensemble performances that give three-dimensionality to every character, topped by Toshiro Mifune’s eventual transition from manic goofball to tortured, self-hating tragic hero. Voted in the 1979 Kinema Jumpo critics’ poll as the Best Japanese Film ever.
SUNDAY & MONDAY, AUGUST 28 & 29
HIDDEN FORTRESS
2:00, 4:40, 7:00, 9:40(1958, AKIRA KUROSAWA) Two constantly bickering and bumbling farmers on the run from clan wars are dragooned by superman general Toshiro Mifune into aiding his rescue of fugitive princess Misa Uehara and her family’s hidden gold; at the last moment help arrives from a completely unexpected source. Probably Kurosawa’s most dazzling exercise in pure filmmaking (his first use of Scope includes a Potemkin-in-reverse slave revolt; elaborately choreographed fire festival; and one of the greatest entrances in film history), and perhaps Mifune’s most purely swashbuckling vehicle. Like the greatest of screen action heroes, he did all his own stunts — including a fight on horseback at full gallop, an extended spear duel with the opposing general; and effortlessly yanking up a cohort behind him as his mount thunders toward a hairbreadth escape. This richly comic fairy tale for adults is pure entertainment from the masters, acknowledged as the source for Star Wars — didn’t that plot synopsis sound familiar?
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30 & 31
(2 FILMS FOR 1 ADMISSION)
YOJIMBO
1:10, 5:20, 9:30(1961, AKIRA KUROSAWA) “You can’t get ahead in this world unless folks think you’re both a cheat and a killer.” Met at the entrance to a seemingly deserted village by a stray mutt sauntering past with a severed hand in his jaws, grubby wandering and unemployed samurai Toshiro Mifune, after a suitable double take, realizes a skilled yojimbo (bodyguard) could rake in a few ryo in this town. And after checking out the sake merchant’s thugs squaring off against the silk merchant’s goon squad, twice as much, if he hires out to both sides. Venice Festival acting prize to Mifune, with Tatsuya Nakadai as the pistol-waving killer.
SANJURO
3:20, 7:30(1962, AKIRA KUROSAWA) In a secluded temple, painfully sincere young samurai meet in secret to plan how to save the day in their clan’s power struggle — then they hear this yawn. A wandering samurai just can’t get enough sleep: it’s Mifune, repeating his role (with variations) as Sanjuro of Yojimbo, grudgingly proceeding to straighten out, bail out, and shock the straight arrows; while contending with the delicate sensibilities of a rescued lady aristocrat, a captured spy who keeps forgetting what side he’s on, and a debate over which color flower should be the signal for the final attack. Tatsuya Nakadai, resurrected from Yojimbo, is an even more formidable antagonist; his showdown with Mifune comes to a startling conclusion.
THURSDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2 & 3
KILL!
1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00(1968, KIHACHI OKAMOTO) “Kill all samurai!” Corrupt officials square off against idealistic young retainers, Tatsuya Nakadai as a dropout samurai pacifist plays it cool, and the ensuing mass fights, nonstop scheming, mountain sieges, last-minute rescues, and final showdown — here a duel with darts in a closet-sized room — proceed at a machine-gun tempo. (Director Okamoto remarked that the pace of his rapid-fire editing was perhaps due to his pulse beating faster than other people’s.) With all the multiple factions and serial treacheries, the plot can be an obstacle course for the logically minded until a single incident near the halfway point, where everything almost magically falls into place; but that’s part of Okamoto’s skillful combination of violence and hilarity — amidst all the carnage, the film begins and ends with Nakadai hungrily pursuing a chicken. Surprisingly, adapted from the same novel as Sanjuro, made six years before.
SUDAY, MONDAY & TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 5 & 6
HARAKIRI
2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30(1962, MASAKI KOBAYASHI) “Nothing unusual happened today” — Ii clan record book. At an Edo clan mansion, ronin Tatsuya Nakadai, so penniless that ritual suicide is the only honorable way out, asks for a haven to commit his seppuku, and three named samurai as his seconds. But as retainer Rentaro Mikuni fills in the time while they wait by telling, in flashback, of the horrific outcome of a recent similar request, each of the seconds calls in “sick” — and Nakadai begins his own story. For aficionados who may find the swordplay strange, note that the actors used real swords. The eerie score was recorded in advance by the great Toru Takemitsu, a frequent Kobayashi collaborator. “Played with something like demonic self-possession by Nakadai... The pace is calculated to extract every ounce of suspense.” – Vernon Young. “The director’s finest film.” – Donald Richie. Cannes Festival Special Jury Prize.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
(2 FILMS FOR 1 ADMISSION)
SAMURAI ASSASSIN
1:00, 5:10, 9:10(1965, KIHACHI OKAMOTO) 1860: and while “snow seldom falls in March,” it’s coming down hard as progressive regent Naosuke Ii starts his heavily- guarded daily procession, even as fanatical anti-shogunate samurai move in for their attack. A tour-de-force in dynamic framing for the wide screen, this is director Okamoto’s masterpiece, with its stunning mass fight showdown made up of 300 separate shots, filmed — as planned! — in just two days: see The Sword of Doom, Sept. 9 & 10. (Okamoto claimed that this pace kept the energy up and nobody had time to fall out of character.) Kabuki actor Koshiro Matsumoto plays Ii while Toshiro Mifune’s fictional character is arguably his most complex non-Kurosawa portrait. A brutal personalization of the end of an era, this is a powerful and punishing tragedy of near-Greek inevitability.
ZATOICHI THE FUGITIVE
3:20, 7:30(1963, TOKUZO TANAKA) On a pilgrimage of repentance to the mother of a man he was forced to kill, Shintaro Katsu’s Zatoichi, a blind, seemingly bumbling masseur, finds himself caught in a morass of scheming among three gang bosses — one ambitious, one reluctant, and one forcibly retired but looking to get back in the game: a gold-hungry wandering master swordsman, an old flame, and Japan’s real life Robin Hood figure Chuji Kunisada, even as the bounty on his head skyrockets from 10 ryoto 300. But when there’s one killing too many, it’s time for our hero to break out that cane sword. Number four in the legendary action/comedy series.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
THRONE OF BLOOD
1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:40(1957, AKIRA KUROSAWA) . . . or Castle of the Spider’s Web, the literal translation of the kanji title above. Macbeth transformed into a medieval Japanese legend, as General Toshiro Mifune, with Minoru Chiaki’s “Banquo” at his side, gallops through a seemingly endless forest to his encounter with a single witch, then, as dense fog lifts, finds himself before a looming castle. With the legendary Isuzu Yamada as his Lady, this is a partnership of titans. Mifune’s takeover after the murder, and the castle’s bird invasion are powerful and fascinating additions to the text in this heavily Noh-influenced adaptation. How-they-do- it department: except for the last hit, there is no camera trickery in the famous final scene. Real archers fired real arrows from just off camera range. “Who wouldn’t be scared?” remarked Mifune when complimented on his acting.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 & 10
SWORD OF DOOM
2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30(1966, KIHACHI OKAMOTO) Against the background of the Meiji Restoration — with plenty of actual historical characters getting ruthlessly debunked — evil fictional character Tatsuya Nakadai carves his way to an incredible climax, going beserk in a burning building filled with enemies. (The final battle once again contains 300 camera setups, shot in a stupefying two days). A classic among aficionados, this is the ultimate in action, boasting as it does three of director Okamoto’s superbly staged one-against-all sword fights (one, at night as snow softly falls amid the carnage, with guest star Toshiro Mifune). Since 1935, at least the third filming of a never-ending bestseller published episodically from 1913 to 1941, with only a third used for this version. The final freeze frame was to lead to part II of a planned but unmade trilogy.
SUNDAY & MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 & 12
BANDITS VS. SAMURAI SQUADRON
1:30, 4:30, 7:30(1978, HIDEO GOSHA) Under the titles dark-clad figures ride in classic big caper style, and from then on it’s nonstop plotting, hairbreadth escapes, and breathtaking mass swordfights, including a nighttime struggle on a torchlit beach, as enigmatic bandit chieftain Tatsuya Nakadai uses elaborate con games and robberies to finance a desperate revenge plot — while relentless shogunate policeman Shogoro Ichikawa calls on double crosses of his own to stop him. But even as the already breathless pace steps up, 360 degree plot twists inject nerve-shredding tension until a final, bitingly ironic shock. A big budget grafting of Sting-style chicanery onto the samurai tradition, this was also the triumphant return to the genre for Gosha, director of Goyokin (see Sept. 15) — and probably the top samurai film of the 70s.
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 & 14
SAMURAI SAGA
1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:40(1959, HIROSHI INAGAKI) Toshiro Mifune’s 17th century samurai responds to jibes about his enlarged proboscis with witty haiku and slashing swordplay, then plays ghost writer for tongue-tied Akira Takarada’s courting of Yoko Tsukasa, even though he secretly loves her himself. Sound familiar? Of course, it’s Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, and, long a staple of the Japanese stage, the French neo-classical verse drama fits quite neatly into samurai modes. And it’s a unique experience for Mifune fans to see him take on a legendary role of world theater. Not surprisingly he is superb, alternately hilarious and moving, most notably in the last scene as the leaves fall. And his nose, in contrast to the Pinocchio-like protuberances normally favored, is the best yet, both physically believable, and, well, kind of ugly — as called for in the text.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
(2 FILMS FOR 1 ADMISSION)
ZATOICHI MEETS YOJIMBO
1:00, 5:30, 10:00(1970, KIHACHI OKAMOTO) Irresistible Force Meets Immovable Object as Toshiro Mifune squares off with Shintaro Katsu’s Zatoichi in the DUEL OF THE SUPER-STARS. Twentieth in the Zatoichi series boasts direction by Okamoto (his only episode in the series), and raucous comedy teamwork by the stars, ravishing widescreen color photography by the great Kazuo Miyagawa (Rashomon, Yojimbo), amid a typically complicated plot — craven gang boss, crooked silk merchant, and Mysterious Stranger vying with our heroes for a cache of embezzled gold. So who does win the final duel between the invincible Mifune and the equally invincible Katsu? Our lips are sealed.
GOYOKIN
3:10, 7:40(1969, HIDEO GOSHA) “Swept away by the gods,” an entire village disappears overnight; a Shogunate gold shipment (goyokin) sinks in a storm; and feudal retainer Tetsuro Tamba, faced with clan bankruptcy, decides he must take the ultimate step. But when a similar horror looms again, Tatsuya Nakadai, the one retainer who originally protested, must return from self-imposed exile as a carnival swordmaster to face both the extinction and the salvation of his clan amid a nighttime duel on a wintry beach lit by bonfire lights. With Nakadai reaching new heights of derring-do amid color location shooting on Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, leading up to the final duel in yard-deep snowdrifts, this was a last peak in the genre even as it headed toward extinction.
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