Why is this movie considered to be one of good samurai movies? Action sequence was horrendous and embarassing compare to other movies like Kill, Samurai Rebellion, Sword of the beast, and Sword of doom. It seems more like one of worst samurai movie of the 60s. So why is this movie good?
My life isn't any better than yours.
First, I agree with you that the fight scenes were klunky and unconvincing for the most part, except the slow motion sequences were great. I hadn't really seen any slow motion since Seven Samurai. I felt like I was seeing it for the first time even though it is in almost every movie nowadays. I give it about a 6.5/10. (It doesn't even come close to Samurai Rebellion, or SWord of Doom)
I think that it is considered "good" for 3 reasons; it's cinematography was a unique departure from most 1960's samurai films. It was similar to them in some ways, but the camera does many interesting and new things (especially in the final fight between Sauke an Nojiri; the fast panning from character to character, and viewing the fight from a great distance). Another reason was its clear indictment of a contradictory, self-interested autority. This critical content was a very important political commentary, as were many chanbara films. I guess it is important by association. Lastly, its narrative was quite complex (perhaps more so for me being american) due to the large cast of characters that you have to keep track of, many of which are off screen, as well as the number of twists and revalations. Most other chanbara films are fairly straigh foreward, but this one had most of the twists occurr off screen and through "heresay." I myself found it a little difficult to stay up to speed, but I managed. I guess the viewer is supposed to be as confused as the character ofr Sasuke.
Plus, I think that Samurai Spy has the most pristine dvd transfer in the entire criterion collection. Not a single imperfection.
Lastly, who was the guy who showed up in the end to save Sasuke. I can't remeber his name being mentioned and his description was not in the character gallery on my Criterion DVD.
First, to answer Amannino's question about the guy who saved Sasuke: The character's name was Saizo Kirigakure, and he was first mentioned when Sasuke offered sanctuary to the Christians among his people. Kirigakure would meet them and take them to safety in Sanada territory, away from the fighting and anti-Christian roundup.
I think Saizo Kirigakure was a last minute addition by director Shinoda to give his good friend, writer and political activist Shintaro Ishihara, a juicy cameo. These days, Ishihara is the star of his own circus, as governor of Tokyo Prefecture. The ultra-nationalist stays in the news and keeps everyone left of Adolph in a tizzy. But in the 50s and 60s, he was an influential young philosopher and writer. (See Crazed Fruit & Pale Flower.) Little brother Yûjirô Ishihara was a pop singer and movie star.
These days, in interviews Shinoda tends to describe many of his "new wave" movies from the 60s as thinly disguised allegories to the Cold War and the discomfort of the Japanese people at being caught between the US and USSR. You can watch Samurai Spy from that point of view: Sasuke becomes painfully aware of the absence of clear-cut good and bad between the principal rivals. Both act out their dramas with the blood of innocents, blissfully ignorant of the cost to those who stumbled into the middle. Whores and assassins wage a proxy war on behalf of the contending sides. It's all reminiscent of the Vietnam War and CIA/KGB antics during the post-WWII standoff.
The ninjas in Samurai Spy kill for money, self-advancement and just about every reason other than loyalty to an ideal or cause. They destroy total strangers in ruthless fashion, which the strict adherents to the bushido code (real samurai) would never be asked to do. That's the point of the movie, and that's why Samurai Spy is considered a classic among alternative films from the 60s.
actually there was really only one "watari no ninja" a ninja who kills for money but it was never shown he was a ninja just a regular spy, though they used the word kanja which basically is the same as ninja all it refers to is information gathering. secondly samurai didn't follow bushido and if you look at real history ninja were samurai hence why they had at least two names in most records, and bushido didn't exist in a codified form until about 30 years after the meiji restoration and that codified form was based on the views of an account who had never seen battle nor even trained in a martial art.
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Small point, but Kirigakure was actually mentioned once before, at the very beginning when Mitsuaki and Sasuke have their first conversation. Mitsuaki outlines Sasuke's plans, including meeting up with Kirigakure, which shocks Sasuke.
shareI agree that this was a terrible film and one of the biggest disappointments I've had with a Japanese movie which I'm normally always can find some value in.
One of the dreadful parts, besides bad acting, directing and action sequences was this annoying female character who run around like a farm yard chicken shouting "sasuke-sama" through half the movie.
LOL! This is far and away one of the best-directed movies of the Jidaigeki genre. There are movies all about the actors and there are films all about the directors. This is very much a director's film. In terms of shot composition, camera movement, and editing -- this is one of the best pictures ever made!
shareThis film is good especially for this discretion in everything he stresses about, for his singular point of view and for his minimalist style.
No good action scene? This point must be a joke when you're talking about an existentialist movie, depicting a man lost in this minimalist environnement.
It's nothing but the story of a man threw in a world he doesn't wants to be, never finding a way to escape a game he has never looked for, and who can't see anything of what happens around him. This movie is brillant because he knows how to represent exactly a situation and its feelings with only actors lights.
So, "the fights are awful?". The point is funny, really.
Yes. Exactly. This is not meant to be an action movie. It is like "The Seventh Seal" of Samurai movies - a portrait of existential angst and spiritual aimlessness. It succeeds brilliantly.
shareI don't consider myself to be a complete idiot, but I had a hard time following all the players and got quite confused. I understood the basic premise, but the intricacies were lost on me. The cinematography was fantastic though.
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