The Sword of Doom - A violent, masterful samurai must face the consequences of his blood-lust. The Sword of Doom is the first in a planned trilogy of Samurai films based on the (formerly) longest novel ever written (entitled Dai-bosatsu Tōge) directed by Kihachi Okamoto starring Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune. Due its relative financial failure in Japan, no other films were ever made. Since then its gained a cult following and is frequently ranked with such films as Seven Samurai and Harakiri. Aside from the ending which leaves multiple plot points unanswered (since it was supposed to be a trilogy), The Sword of Doom is an intensely interesting samurai flick. Too often samurai are portrayed as paragons of honor and virtue, and to have a film focus on a violent sociopath who ignores the Bushido so blatantly is an interesting change of pace. Nakadai is perfect as the stone-cold Ryunosuke and is easily the most complex samurai character of any film I've ever seen - he is both the main protagonist and main antagonist of the movie, which is probably why it was a financial flop (it effectively flips the Samurai genre on its head, and the Japanese don't like change). The cinematography is also very good - not quite Kurosawa or Kobayashi, but still very artistic and beautiful. The Sword of Doom is pure entertainment with enough artistry and depth to appeal to just about any taste - I will definitely be revisiting it at some point.
Kwaidan - A collection of four creepy Japanese folk tales directed by Masaki Kobayashi. Kwaidan is often billed as a horror movie but it lacks the excessive gore, violence and sensationalism of typical Western horror films. The true weight of this movie comes from Kobayashi's
incredible use of color (seriously, it's a ridiculously beautiful film) and his ability to create a growing sense of tension and forboding. My favorite segment was Hoichi the Earless (which features Kurosawa alum Takashi Shimura) but each episode is entertaining in its own right. Japanese folklore is fucking crazy.
My total film count for January is 40, which means I'm ahead in my goal of "A Film A Day" for 2013.
The Face of Another - When a man receives severe facial burns from an industrial accident, he seeks the help of an unethical psychiatrist to design for him an ultra-realistic mask. The Face of Another is basically a psychological thriller, but without the thrills. There's a heavy-handed message about masks hiding our true selves from the world that, after 45-minute mark, is constantly and unsubtly alluded to by each of the characters. Visually the film is very interesting, but the script is so full of itself I had a hard time taking it seriously. Tatsuya Nakadai is really the film's saving grace, delivering an excellent performance as the scarred protagonist. On the whole I wasn't impressed - The Face of Another is one of those films that tricks you into thinking it will be excellent, but about half way through you realize that it's actually a bunch of hacky bullshit. Would not recommend.
