MovieChat Forums > SF: Episode One (1998) Discussion > I really enjoyed this movie but......

I really enjoyed this movie but......

posted 19 years ago by apbarook
4 replies | jump to latest

I am not really all that familiar with the Japanese cinema or the Eastern way of telling a story. That being said this is easily one of my favorite movies of all time. It is like a secret that only I know of. Seeing that only 785 people have taken the time to vote here at the DB for it kind of validates that sentiment, at least to me. I have offered my copy for home viewing to many of my friends but the B&W/sub-titled aspect pushes many of them away. Their loss.

I liked the charactor of Kazamatsuri and it bothered me when he took the sword. (Yes, I know..."boo-freakin-hoo") The movie never answered my questions of whether he set out to do this from the beginning or if it was just a series of unfortunate events that set the story in motion. <I guess maybe him being a Ronin should have red flagged it for me?>

Sorry..to my point. If they would have changed to story line to,say, When he unsheathed the sword to look at it somehow he knew it was a fake and after killing the other samurai rather than bring dishonor on his new clan he decided to leave and find the original.

If anyone has any thoughts along this line I would like to hear them.

Rook

[–] nemuro8 18 years ago

I sorta got lost with the story half way through. I just watched it cause I like Hiroyuki Nakano's films. I should watch this again, so I can understand the whole fake sword thing. Kazamatsuri is a strange character, the story ends it without knowing his fate. Was he a god or something? Pretty confusing, but I guess I shouldn't bother about this film's symbolism that much.

[–] j_jo2001 18 years ago

I think that Kazamatsuri just got away at the end and he left the sheath tied in the tree as a clue that the sword was nearby in the water. A fake sword was made to keep the theft secret from the rest of the people. Only a couple of people could tell the real one from a fake. The father sent the copy with the Ninjas so that he could get his son to come back home.

[–] Akira-36 18 years ago

The sword that Kazamatsuri stole was the original one, but he never intended to steal it. Being a samurai and a ronin affect his mode of behaviour. It was obvious to him that his new found position as the sword bearer of the clan would continue to invite jealousy from the other guards.

And his curiosity (by unsheathing and inspecting the sword) was all the excuse the old guards needed to put him down. His ronin instinct made him kill them both, and by doing so he also diminished the only hope of staying in the clan. Thus he escaped with the sword. Why take the sword with him? Because the samurai mindset dictated that he should 'save his face' by stealing the sword. It would be shameful of not taking the sword when he knew he'd be chased and accused as being a thief. Besides, it was such a fine sword that he might be able to sell or barter in the long run.

Just my two cents ;)

[–] Teacupdynasty 18 years ago

Kazamatsuri stole the original copy, not the fake. The Lord had a fake ready so that in case the actual clan sword was stolen, he would have another ready to make it look like they still had the sword until they got the original back.