‘The sword is the soul. Study the soul to study the sword.’
Undoubtedly one of the classic
violent Japanese masterpiece ever made. Kihachi Okamoto deserves the position
Japanese Sam Peckinpah! He brought to screen the antagonist to watch from the very
beginning to the very end. From basket hat clad stranger who finishes an old
man praying on mountain pass to the irrepressible swordsmen on brutal killing
spree, Ryunosuke is one hell of gifted but cruel swordsman I’ve ever seen on
Samurai cinema.
Unlike moralizing cinema Kurosawa,
Okamoto captured the film almost like nihilistic violent ballet. Here is an
outcast man who kills without purpose and he enjoys it. The dazzling camerawork
of Hiroshi Murai brilliantly captured the striking swords action with the
chilling dead calm muteness of sound serves as tension motif. The long
bloodiest duel in the climax brilliantly captured incredible light and shadow.
Forget the legendary Toshiro
Mifune (though he’s present here)…it’s Tatsuya Nakadai who’s man to watch here;
with a slaying sword, that bloody wry smile and nihilistic body language he
brought Ryunosuke as the villain not to
miss. His unchallenged sword remains doom for others and finally for himself. I
must say this is one of the brilliant villain acts I’ve ever seen in Japanese
cinema. The bloody mayhem in the climax is one of the most fierce and violent
one to witness. Ryunosuke’s uncontrolled evil soul symbolizes his sword and the
climax where he’s destroying the shack followed by massacring the group of
swordsmen is something as strikingly and impressive moment as the final of
Kurosawa’s ‘Throne of Blood’.
Ratings-9/10
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