MovieChat Forums > Dai-bosatsu tôge (1966) Discussion > great film, stuff I didn't realise on 1s...

great film, stuff I didn't realise on 1st viewing


Stuff deduced which I did not fully comprehend/register on 1st viewing and made 2nd viewing more complete:

Ryunosuke is only a student at the beginning (his father's student, having been expelled from the prestigious Ittoryu school) and his first killing on screen is possibly his first ever killing.

Ryunosuke killed Bunnojo with one move with a wooden jousting stick, not a sword. Pretty rare feat I assume!

Ryunosuke then defeats every one of the attackers revenging Bunnojo's death. Again, a pretty outrageous feat for a student to kill so many prestigious students just outside their school.

Shichibei is much more than a petty thief - he might be something like a (working class) ninja version of Lupin or Raffles - only breaking into the most difficult of homes. Also, I liked the way Shichibei promises Omatsu he will visit her 'regularly' when she goes to work for Lord Kamio. Regular break-ins I assume.

Edo is the Shogunate's capital, Kyoto the Imperial loyalists' capital.

Shinchogumi and Shinsengumi are the Shogunate's private goon squads.

Shimada Toranosuke's slaughter of every single Shinchogumi assassin (except Ryunosuke) is phenomenal, even for a master (hence the effect on Ryunosuke).

& one thing I haven't understood yet - what was Shimada Toranosuke doing there? Obviously the Shinchogumi were misinformed, but I'm interested to know if there's more to it than that.

A truly great film and looking forward to any comments or corrections.

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Why did Ryunosuke kill the old man at the beginning?

DISPLAY thy breasts, my Julia!

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It is left unclear but I think he does it for practice.

In the first scene the old man is actually praying for death - so that his granddaughter may not be encumbered by an old man to look after. Even if he means it sincerely and he's not just saying the sort of things old people might say, he obviously does not mean he wants to be dispatched so immediately and brutally - dying in his sleep would have sufficed.

Perhaps Ryunosuke has overheard the old man's prayer and thinks of this as some justification for him to practise a kill. Or maybe it is simply ironic.

Certainly Ryonusuke does not have ordinary 'human' feelings for the death he causes and is far and away an 'independent', 'rogue' student wilfully rejecting conventional rules of behaviour.

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Well said. It's a shame they never made more movies with this actor. I first saw him in Yojimbo and Sanjuro. His performance in those movies stood out and were very memorable but his role in this movie was really something. He was very chilling. I would have loved to see what they could have come up with in later movies. Ah well.



DISPLAY thy breasts, my Julia!

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It's a shame they never made more movies with this actor.

Um, are you talking about Tatsuya Nakadai? "They" made a few movies with him, I think you'll find -
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0619938/

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Maybe you mean shame no more films with Nakadai in this role? "Dai-bosatsu Tōge" was originally planned as a trilogy according to wikipedia, and the source novel is a continuing saga over 40 volumes... in which case I agree with you - but more than that am grateful they made this. I've seen a few Nakadai and this film stands out. Have yet to watch Kill! or Goyokin, both of which might be worth a look.

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Yup, I meant too bad they didn't continue the film series with Nakadai.

I haven't seen Kill! or Goyokin yet. I'll look for them.

DISPLAY thy breasts, my Julia!

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Goyokin is the best, I hope you watch it.

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Because of Ryunosuke killed the old man after his prayer, it made me think that Ryunosuke wants and likes to act like a Shinigami.

Imho that's why he killed the old man.

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I think Shimada was a decoy, meant to trick would-be assassins. As for the killing of the old man... he seemed to kill him after finding out he was a pilgrim. I took it to be the first sign that the lead was a sociopathic killer. Killing a pilgrim to him probably meant no repercussions... no one to mourn the death of a nomad. Of course, we learn by the end that this isn't the case and his action do in fact catch up with him, with death cornering him on all sides.

The old man's death also gave us a glimpse into this murderer's psyche. For him, he saw it as nothing more than "going for a walk." He killed the old man and then he put it out of his mind until the end when he was reminded of it by the granddaughter.

This is absolutely a film that requires dissecting. For a second, the film ended abruptly and I suddenly felt cheated, but upon reflection it becomes such a rich experience. Definitely pleasantly surprised.

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Agree with everything you said and I also saw much more on second viewing even though first time around was very enjoyable. Much is always said about The Wild Bunch and Bonnie and Clyde heralding in the 'new violence' in cinema but this (1966) is pretty gory. Any opinions?

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