MovieChat Forums > Kakushi ken: Oni no tsume (2004) Discussion > A Word on the Title [SPOILERS]

A Word on the Title [SPOILERS]

posted 19 years ago by UberNoodle
13 replies | jump to latest

Ok the title translated from Japanese is "Hidden Blade/Sword, Devil's Claw/Nail". Written in english as it is on IMDB, with a colon, makes the "Devil's Claw" equal the "Hidden Blade": "Kakushi-ken: Oni no Tsume". But, when written in Japanese on the R2 DVD, "Hidden Blade" and "Devil's Claw" are seperated, and in different sized writing, and in different colours. Does this mean the same thing?

Anyway my point is that I interpreted the title as being about 2 different techniques: the Hidden Blade was used to defeat the escaped rebel, called such because it cannot be seen and is seen as a little dishonest, and the Devil's Claw was used to kill the head retainer.

In Japanese "tsume" is also "nail" and the long needle-like weapon used to kill the Head Retainer resembles the talon; and this is a samurai movie and metaphoric and dramatic titles are expected to be cryptic.

The character played by Masatoshi Nagase said that the Devil's Claw was not for sword fighting, and his master said to him in a previous scene that he would teach him a new technique for dueling.

Anyway, what do you think about that? I could be barking up the wrong tree here, and maybe that special technique his master taught him at the end was just another technique, and nothing special, not deserving of a funky name! :/ It could be "Spinning Blade" or something like that :P

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] julzrob 18 years ago

i thought it was the other way round and the hidden blade was used to kill the head retainer and the other technique was used on the rebellious samurai.

[–] eri-kumi 18 years ago

Hidden blade and devil's claw means the same technique, according to the novel, on which the film is based on. Hidden blade because it is a secret technique, handed down to one person in a generation at a time, and it is a devil's claw because that ordinary people cannot tell what really struck the retainer upon inspection of his body. The guy (Nagase's character) won his battle by his own so-called normal skillfulness in sword fighting but decided to use the hidden blade only after learning that the retainer took advantage of the deranged mind of the escapee's wife (in the original short story, anyway).

[–] LTdaz 18 years ago

Ah, thanks for that explanation. the film certainly was not very clear on that.

Folks don't call me 'the Torturer' because I don't like to torture people.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Kamofo 18 years ago

agreed, about the spoilers

[–] jory-nori-1 18 years ago

heh. that's why i read IMDB AFTER i watch the movie!

[–] UberNoodle 17 years ago

Nice inability to communicate civily with other human beings!

[–] toeknee760 18 years ago

not knowing japanese (although my favorite foreign language) i gathered that Hidden Blade was the technique he used to slash Kazama...by turning his back and hiding his blade....samurai (from my limited knowledge) base their stance and moves on the positions of each other blade in order to counteract and attack....if you turn your back you look defenseless and you also hide your blade from your opponents view....then when he is a near you sense his distance...turn and strike...

Devils claw, he said, was not a swordplay...because it was simply a way to kill a man and leave their kin baffled by how the died and giving you time to escape, leaving no blood as evidence of foul play...clean murder for that century

thats my 2 cents

[–] The-Unknown 18 years ago

This is from memory but. . .

Didn't he tell the head retrainer. . .

When he was being questioned. . .

That because he won choosen. . .

He was taught "The Hidden Blade" technique?

Maybe it was just subtitle/translation screw-up. . .

Also. . .

Could this be possible. . .

Haz told Kat that he found this "Blade" that was "hidden" by a farmer? Could the weapon Ham had be the "Hidden Blade"?!

It sure seemed Haz went out of his way to explain how he got the sword. Farmers didn't carry around blades.

Maybe it wasn't a technique after all. . .

By the way I think The Twilight Samurai version (say version 'cause htey were basically the same crap) was/is better.

[–] TheHypnotron 18 years ago

*spoilers*

As a previous poster already described, Hidden Blade and Devil's Claw are the same thing. It is an assasin's art and seems very well suited for taking out superiors in just the way he performed it. The blade is hidden inside the sleeve of the kamono and with the target's eye's distracted a lighting fast and precise strike is made apparently just under the sternum and at an upward angle that pierces the heart.

In the scene where the protagonist is called in for questioning regarding his friendship with Hazama, he is asked about "the Hidden Blade" art and he says "I'm sworn to silence on the Hidden Blade." I do not think the interchangeable use of hidden blade and devil's claw is simply a subtitle error.

I think the moment the scene occurs, everyone instantly understands the title of the film. The baffled doctor's comment that the attacker might've been supernatural clears up any lingering confusion about the "devil's claw" name.

[–] Paredes 16 years ago

I loved that part where Katagiri meets Senior Retainer Hori in the hallway.

[–] Suzume-san 16 years ago

Don't you think that Katagiri was extremely lucky to get away with what he did? He had been discourteous in arguing with the Senior Retainer three times - one when asked about possible rebels, once when told to kill Hazama, and a third time when he came back to report. On this last occasion he was incredibly rude to Hori - oh, well deserved, we all agree, but not the sort of thing a very junior samurai could say to a lord, I'm surprised he wasn't ordered to commit seppuku on the spot. Then he must have been seen by people who knew him, inside the main residence where he had no business to be, at the very time of Hori's mysterious death. You'd think the retainers investigating the death would have put two and two together.

And then he must have had to go to someone pretty senior to ask permission to renounce samurai status and leave the clan. "Oh yes, and why do you want to do that, Katagiri-san?" "Well, uh..."

Kambei of the Gormful Gumi.