Post by raito on Nov 17, 2004 10:28:56 GMT -5
Picked this one up the other week, because of various reviews. Out of 5 stars, I give it 2.
The basic plot (no spoilers here) is that the bad guy samurai steals a clan's sword, which was given to the clan by the Shogun. One of the clan's young samurai goes to get it back, and has various adventures.
While the film does do what I assume it intended to do -- make a period movie not following the usual conventions of the genre, I found it unsatisfying in several ways.
Foremost among these is that the protagonist, a foolish young man at the beginning, is as foolish at the end. There is no growth for him, other than finding his wife, which is contra-genre, but not done badly.
Also, the ambiguous motives of many of the characters grates on me. Sure, the protagonist has his revenge as motivation, but what of the bad guy? Why does he steal the sword?
I also find the use of black-and-white vs. color to be of little value to the film.
Anyway, I'd much rather watch again some of the classics than this.
The basic plot (no spoilers here) is that the bad guy samurai steals a clan's sword, which was given to the clan by the Shogun. One of the clan's young samurai goes to get it back, and has various adventures.
While the film does do what I assume it intended to do -- make a period movie not following the usual conventions of the genre, I found it unsatisfying in several ways.
Foremost among these is that the protagonist, a foolish young man at the beginning, is as foolish at the end. There is no growth for him, other than finding his wife, which is contra-genre, but not done badly.
Also, the ambiguous motives of many of the characters grates on me. Sure, the protagonist has his revenge as motivation, but what of the bad guy? Why does he steal the sword?
I also find the use of black-and-white vs. color to be of little value to the film.
Anyway, I'd much rather watch again some of the classics than this.