What if cowboys put on beret in the Western. What if Hamlet puts on short shorts. This is the kind of film I remember. There are so many strange hairstyle and outfits as 18th century Japanese samurai and women in the film. The shogun does not look like shogun in any periods in Japan. He looked like Chinese to me. Mika, a daughter of Lord Asano, must be noble. But, her way of putting on kimono looks like whore and sometimes she dressed like Princess Leia in Star Wars. The art direction also looks so cheap. I do not know how the production spent 175 million dollars. This is the worst samurai film ever made. If you like mondo samurai films, I recommend "The Summer of Samurai" (1986) made in West Germany.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Army
(1944)
Not Great But Very Important
22 June 2013
The Japanese film "Rikugun" (The Army) was produced by the Japanese army during the World War II. As a propaganda film, this film must have been pro-army, pro-war. However, a young director Keisuke Kinoshita tried to include an anti-war message in the film despite of censorship. The mother (played by Kinuyo Tanaka) was trying to find his son in army marching in the last scene. It lasts 7, 8 minutes and the film ends with her close-up. The scene is overwhelming. The film was not appreciated by the army and Kinoshita could not direct the next film at the time. He directed the next film after WWII. The films is not great, but very important. Recently, "Dawn of a Filmmaker: The Keisuke Kinoshita Story" was released in Japan. We see how he comes back to direct films. We also see the last scene of "Rikugun" in this biographic film.
The Town's Children
(2011)
one of the best in 2011
22 December 2011
This is one of the best Japanese films in 2011. A man and a woman in their twenties happened to meet in Kobe. Although they currently reside in Tokyo, they come back to their hometown with strong emotions which they cannot digest. They experienced Kobe earthquake, that killed 6500 people, in 1995. The film displays two young people's spiritual journey through one night. Two main actors were from Kobe and they actually experienced the earthquake. The film was initially aired on TV in Japan. (I have not seen the TV version.) The air date was January 17, 2010, the day of 15 year anniversary of the earthquake. We see the actual ceremony with tons of candle lights held on the day with two main actors in the film. The footage of the ceremony was filmed in the morning in Kobe. Then, the footage was edited and completed by air time in the evening. The director utilized the TV's spontaneous nature and made the great result. The TV drama was well received so that the the director reedited the footage and it was released in theaters, which is very rare. The music is also very unique. If you have a chance, you must see this film.
The Zen of Bobby V
(2008 TV Movie)
another student film
19 May 2008
I do not know what the filmmaker tries to focus on. The film only shows a baseball season in Japan with chronological order, that is boring. I am not convinced why and how Bobby Valentine has been accepted in Japan. Bobby's wife thinks he is fluent in Japanese and Bobby himself considers his Japanese conversation skill is sixth grade student level. However, he barely speaks Japanese. He only speaks the sentences he remembers. He speaks Japanese like a four- year old kid. There must be reasons Bobby made a great success and acceptance in Japan although he cannot communicate well in Japanese. However, the film shows Bobby climbing up Mt. Fuji and his ace pitcher talks about gaining weight. There are so many meaningless scenes and sound bites in the film. Probably, I should not expect much from student films.
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