use the bathing fee as a reference and context to try to raise the price on his bird cages when he obviously isn't someone who frequent the bathhouses?
I laughed every time at this scene.
There are other funny scenes too. I thought it was funny when Ito was trying with great effort to get up to the classroom since she was too short.
Don't you think that he is remarking to the insect-cage buyer that the cost of living is going up, and he uses the bathhouse fee as an example because the embarrassing incident with the daimyo is still fresh in his mind? And we, the audience, know that he has not be able to bathe as frequently as he should, because he can't afford it.
Samurai in the late Edo period often had money problems, because their stipend was based on rice, which had not risen in value in parallel with inflation. A koku was a notional amount of rice sufficient to feed one person for one year. Iguchi has a stipend of 50 koku, much of which goes to service his debts; he hasn't got a lot left to keep his family alive.
I'm well aware of the hardship Iguchi must endure as a result of his low stipend. I was merely commenting on the funny side of what he said, regardless of how serious the situation was for him. There were many scenes containing that kind of subtle comedy and I just wanted to share what I thought was funny, not to be insensitive to the characters though.
shareM'm, perhaps. I don't really think of this as a laugh-out-loud comedy, although, as you say, there are many quiet smiles. The Hidden Blade is more broadly comic, perhaps - I love the scenes with the young artillery expert, and the grumbles of Katagiri's crusty old uncle. Iguchi's uncle is too haughty to be laughed at!
These three films are pretty near the top of my personal list of favourites, I watch them again and again. Do you have a favourite of the three, Exsubwayrider? I'd find it hard to choose.
To Suzume-san:
You're right that neither of the three is a LOL kind of comedy and introducing more than what the director has done in his trilogy would have affected the main atmosphere of the films.
Since all three films are based on the novels written by the same author and directed by the same director, I found that there are similarities in film-making sensitivity, or taste if you will, across all three. The major difference would be the portrayal of the characters by the actors.
Twilight is definitely my favorite because of its story, acting performance and also because the story-telling "makes sense". I must have watched it at least 4 times just last week and I enjoyed it every time. For me, no other film has achieved this level of replayability. Subtle historically-accurate actions performed by the characters also helped in defining this as the best of the three. I'm talking about, for example, when the samurai arrive in someone else's home they remove their tachi (long katana) and hold it on the right hand (if one is right handed) to show signs of respect and lack of hostility, as opposed to holding it on the left hand to facilitate unsheathing. We see this performed by Seibei Iguchi when he went over to his best friend Iinuma's house and also when the commissioner Kusaka paid a late night visit to Iguchi's house. By the way the guy who played Kusaka (Nenji Kobayashi) appears in all three of the trilogy.
Lately I've watching other samurai movies such as the Seven Samurai, the Zatoichi series (with Shintaro Katsu), and others. Recent movies contain a lot of CGI which ruins the authenticity of the fight scenes in my opinion, there is just too much blood (as in Azumi, Lone Wolf and Cub series etc., and the main guy in Lone Wolf, Tomisaburo Wakayama, is the real life older brother of Shintaro Katsu!)
There was also the story of the 47 ronins which captivated my attention lately but I found the 1994 version (Shijushichinin no shikaku) lacks of depth in the characters and the English translation was not readily understandable. I'm looking for other versions but they're old and tough to find. Incidentally the actress who played Tomoe in Twilight appears in this movie.
What's your favorite of the three and other samurai movies that you liked?
I'm inclined to agree with you; in any case, Hiroyuki Sanada is a far better actor than either of the others. Not that I think they're bad, but he's outstanding. I love the detail in the trilogy - the lived-in, shabby houses, the rather dull jobs, the workmates with their little jokes, the trying relatives, the children coming home from school, it's raining, is the washing in? Everyday, ordinary lives being lived in an extraordinary time.
This is a great favourite of mine with much the same feeling - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464038/, have you seen it? And I like the 1962 version of Chushingura - haven't been able to get hold of any of the others, actually. Perhaps we should do a swap.
I think the Lone Wolf, Hanzo the Razor and Zatoichi series are all quite fun, but as you say, a lot of squirty sauce and not much character development. Not to be taken seriously. Kurosawa, of course, is in a league of his own.