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I've seen the old greats: Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, RAN, etc. but...
It's not your typical good guy wins the universe (in a sense), but a very real film about loyalty to duty despite personal resentment. It's different to other Samurai movies, it's very dark but sincere. It was made in 2002 so it's not an old movie.
Have anyone seen this, if not, go check it out. Do you guys recommend any new Samurai flicks that you recommend?
Dear Readers,
"new Samurai flicks that you recommend?"
Love and Honor
Hana the Tale of a Reluctant Samurai
When the Last Sword is Drawn
The Blind Swordsman Zatoichi (Takeshi Kitano) can be purchased in a double set with Sonatine a great gangster movie.
Not for children.
Best wishes to all!
go
I decided to check out Twilight Samurai when it won the Oscar; it's a bit slow and there's not much sword action but there's plenty to chew on dialogue wise and think about given (as the name suggests) it is set in the waning period of the samurai era (the 1870s). I enjoyed it. My brother enjoyed it too and he's definitely the more explosion/action orientated film person.
With a breeze comes a storm, but then you'll all be washed away...
Yoji Yamada's follow-up to The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade, is another good one (Frederik L. Schodt mentioned it in the introduction to Book 20). I think that all of the other recent samurai movies that I've seen have already been mentioned. I have a feeling that, sort of like the western, the samurai movie had its "heyday" a long time ago, and I would bet that the number of them that are made is much smaller today than in the 50s or 60s. Of course, it could be that some recent samurai movies just haven't been seen much outside of Japan.
"It doesn't matter whom you are paired against;
your opponent is always yourself."
So, if we are talking just in the last 10 years or so?
AME AGARU (1999) After the Rain
The last screenplay written by KUROSSAWA Akira is a wonderful film which returns to the feeling of his greatest works, films like YOJIMBO and SANJURO. Ihei Misawa and his wife Tayo, stranded by rains at a country inn, bring a great deal of happiness to the other residents of the inn by means of Ihei's generosity and good spirit. Ihei is a ronin (Masterless Samurai) and a Master Swordsman. When Ihei comes to the attention of Lord Shigeaki (MIFUNE Shiro, the son of Toshiro Mifune), he hires him as sword instructor for Lord Shigeaki's men. But Ihei's expertise causes friction and jealousy in Shigeaki's castle and his future there comes into doubt.
Directed by: KOIZUMI Takashi
Cast: TERAO Akira, NAKADAI Tatsuya, MIFUNE Shiro
DORA-HEITA (2000) Alley Cat
In 1969, four of Japan’s greatest directors, Akira Kurosawa, Kon Ichikawa, Keisuke Kinoshita and Masaki Kobayashi, formed the "Yonki-no-kai" (Four Musketeers) production company, only to see it close down after its first film was a commercial failure. Now Kon Ichikawa, the last surviving Musketeer, has brought their long-lost samurai classic to the screen as a tribute to his fallen comrades!
Koheita (Koji Yakusho) is a samurai with such a reputation for debauchery that his nickname is "Dora-Heita" (Alley Cat), so his appointment as magistrate of the most corrupt township in all of Japan raises a few eyebrows on both sides of the law... But little does everyone know that it's all a carefully constructed front to outwit the criminals and outfight the righteous samurai who think he's too disgraceful to live!
Directed by: ICHIKAWA Kon
Cast: YAKUSHO Kôji, SUGAWARA Bunta, UZAKI Ryudo, KATAOKA Tsurutaro, ASANO
SUKEDACHI-YA SUKEROKU (2001) Vengeance for Sale
This is the final movie from Okamoto Kihachi, the filmmaker who directed such great movies as “Sword Of Doom”, “Kill”, and “Red Lion”. With an equal mix of violence and humor he has forged a career that spanned over 4 decades and created some of the most memorable films to ever come out of Japan. This is no exception, and the hand of a master is evident in his treatment of this highly entertaining story.
In a world where vendettas are officially sanctioned, the people sometimes needed help in carrying out their vengeance. Sanada Hiroyuki stars as Sukeroku the Helper, a ‘cool and rambling yakuza’ that has made a business out of helping victims carry out their revenge. When he returns to his hometown to pay a visit to his mother’s grave he meets a deadly ronin who carries a secret which eventually leads him into a vendetta of his own. With terrific performances by Sanada and Nakadai Tatsuya as the mysterious old ronin, this film brings back the golden era of Japanese cinema!
Directed by: OKAMOTO Kihachi
Cast: SANADA Hiroyuki, SUZUKI Kyoka, NAKADAI Tatsuya
UMI WA MITEITA (2002) The Sea Is Watching
To film lovers around the world, The Sea Is Watching is a welcome parting gift from Akira Kurosawa, who wrote the screenplay based on two short stories by one of his favorite authors, Syugoro Yamamoto, but was unable to make the film prior to his death in 1998. Kurosawa left detailed storyboards and production notes, entrusting veteran director Kei Kumai to bring his vision to the screen. The results are both glorious and rather mild, by Kurosawa standards, but this gentle melodrama about love, loss, and survival retains much of the peaceful optimism that informed Kurosawa's final films. Set in the 19th century Edo period, the story focuses on the prostitutes of a seaside village brothel, where the vulnerable geisha O-Shin (Nagiko Tohno) endures one heartbreaking love and a potential second, while the more cynical Kikuno (Misa Shimizu) combats misery with harmless fantasies that bolster her spirits. Nature plays a role, and a climactic typhoon has a cleansing effect, offering hope in the wake of destruction, as if the sea had been watching all along.
Directed by: KUMAI Kei
Cast: TONO Nagiko, YOSHIOKA Hidetaka, NAGASE Masatoshi
TASOGARE SEIBEI (2002) Twilight Samurai
Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is a low-ranking samurai living in the fading days of the Shogun period in Japan. His wife has died of tuberculosis, and with two daughters and an elderly mother to support, he and his family must survive in austerity. The divorce of his childhood friend Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa) leads him into a confrontation with her violent ex-husband, a high ranking samurai, and Seibei triumph against all odds. Just Seibei as begins to dream that despite his impoverishment he might win the hand of the long loved Tomoe, he is caught in the shifting turmoil of the times. His superiors, having heard of his sword-fighting prowess, order him on a dangerous mission: kill a renowned warrior who is on the wrong side of a clan power struggle.
Directed by: YAMADA Yôji
Cast: SANADA Hiroyuki, MIYAZAWA Rie, KOBAYASHI Nenji, OSUGI Ren, FUKIKOSHI Mitsuru
KAKUSHI KEN ONI NO TSUME (2004) The Hidden Blade
The epic tale of Katagiri Munezo, a samurai being displaced in a rapidly changing japan. After a failed political coup he is ordered to prove his innocence by finding and killing Yaichiro, a former friend who is both an honorable samurai and brilliant swordsman. Munezo enlists the help of their old teacher who entrusts him with a secret technique.
Directed by: YAMADA Yôji
Cast: NAGASE Masatoshi, MATSU Takako, YOSHIOKA Hidetaka, OZAWA Yukiyoshi, TABATA Tomoko, BAISHO Chieko, TANAKA Kunie
SEMISHIGURE (2005) A Chorus of Cicadas / The Samurai I Loved
Bunshiro, a young samurai finds himself on the wrong side of clan politics when his father is accused of plotting against the clan and forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). He and his mother find themselves evicted from their home and forced to live in a hovel. But Bunshiro is a talented swordsman and after a time he is reinstated and becomes a magistrate, filling the same job as his father. As he tours the countryside he discovers the political maneuvering which led to his fathers death is still widespread, and his childhood love who is now one of the lord's concubines has become an unwilling pawn. She has given birth to a boy and a rival faction has decided to kill the boy and blame Bunshiro. Based on a story by Shuhei Fujisawa, who also wrote the stories "Twilight Samurai" and "Hidden Blade", Semi Shigure is a personal and intimate portrait of the life of a lowly ranked samurai. For fans of the genre, it's a must see.
Directed by: KUROTSUCHI Mitsuo
Cast: ICHIKAWA Somegoro, KIMURA Yoshino, IMADA Koji, FUKAWA Ryô, HARADA Mieko, OGATA Ken
BUSHI NO ICHIBUN (2006) Love and Honor
Shinnojo Mimura is a samurai sharing a hand-to-mouth existence with his beautiful wife, Kayo. Frustrated by his lowly status within the castle ranks, Shinnojo dreams of better days instructing children in the way of the sword. But destiny, it would seem, has other plans… A freak accident takes the warrior’s sight, leaving Shinnojo cursed. Losing his status and pride, his hopes and dreams, and even himself to this life of eternal darkness, only one path lies open for Shinnojo: That of the true and noble samurai. This domestic drama by Yôji Yamada, based on a story by Shûhei Fujisawa, has the slow, somber tone both of ritual and a tragedy unfolding behind closed doors. A climactic fight scene gets one's adrenaline going, though nothing tops the promise of forgiveness and reconciliation for real excitement here.
Directed by: YAMADA Yôji
Cast: KIMURA Takuya, DAN Rei, BANDO Mitsugoro, SASANO Takashi, MOMOI Kaori, KOBAYASHI Nenji, OGATA Ken
ICHI (2008)
A redux of the classic and long-running "Zatoichi" franchise, Ichi is a blind musician who happens to have incredible sword fighting skills. In her quest to find the man who brought her up, she encounters numerous swindlers, villains, and gangsters who try to take advantage of her disability, but she fights back using the sword hidden inside her walking stick. Some time into her journey, she meets Toma, a cowardly samurai whom Ichi ends up saving from the ruthless Banki gang. The pair unwittingly become entangled in a turf war between two factions vying for control of a pivotal village, while Ichi learns that the outcome of the conflict might determine if she will find the man she is looking for.
Directed by: Fumihiko Sori
Cast: Haruka Ayase, Takao Osawa, Shido Nakamura
Dear Readers,
Yes, Steve....
AME AGARU (1999) After the Rain is excellent!
ICHI (2008) was very very good and ready for a part 2...
Maybe i am prejudiced (as a Shinobi) but i liked the Shinobi complete collection also.
I think they were made for tv and included titles like: Law of Shinobi, Runaway, Hidden Techniques and a Way Out.
Steve i wish we lived closer together.
Our tastes are frighteningly similar and I think it would be fun to kick it with you and watch these movies.
Thank you all for the movie fun!
Best wishes to all.
go
SUKEDACHI-YA SUKEROKU (2001) Vengeance for Sale
This is the final movie from Okamoto Kihachi, the filmmaker who directed such great movies as “Sword Of Doom”, “Kill”, and “Red Lion”.
I hadn't heard of this one. Sword of Doom is a really good movie, so anything by the same director is probably worth seeing. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Netflix has it.
"It doesn't matter whom you are paired against;
your opponent is always yourself."
Steve i wish we lived closer together.
Our tastes are frighteningly similar and I think it would be fun to kick it with you and watch these movies.
I couldn't have said better !
My favorite movie would be Ame Agaru, the best atmosphere and life's description ever, and second to this one Zatoichi monogatari (1962) by Kenji Misumi, the first of the cycle, the best Zatoichi ever made for me, very poetical, the lack of violence makes it worst when it does explode... (i really enjoy Kitano's work, on Yakuza movies, but i didn't enjoy his Zatoichi)
I really enjoyed too Kobayashi's Jôi-uchi: Hairyô tsuma shimatsu (Rebellion, 1967), about love, unjustice, submission, justice and honor...
Steve Hubbell wrote:I have to admit that I STILL have not seen Kitano's Zatoichi.....
I have, and I liked it. It helps if you understand going into it that it's sort of a weird genre riff rather than a straightforward samurai movie (I think that it's probably the only samurai film I've ever seen that ends with a big tapdancing number). Some people probably won't like it because it doesn't really have all that much to do with the original Zatoichi movies (in some ways, it's sort of a parody of the old Zatoichi films).
"It doesn't matter whom you are paired against;
your opponent is always yourself."
