Movies
This film was my first introduction into the work of Yôji Yamada, one of Japan's most prolific drama directors. I loved The Twilight Samurai, but never really became too enamored with Yamada's other work. I guess it has to do with an evolution in my personal taste, as revisiting this film wasn't a complete success. Seibei is a low-ranking samurai. Others make fun of his scruffy looks and poor smell, but Seibei doesn't really mind. He doesn't have much money, but enjoys the time he spends with his two daughters and senile mother. When Tomoe, Seibei's childhood friend, returns to the village, it looks like they're destined to be together, but life has other plans for them. The Twilight Samurai is a meandering drama. Very sweet and gentle, supported by strong performances and a fine soundtrack. There's just a little too much narrative push for my liking. The second hour is not quite as interesting, rather than focus on Seibei, Tomoe and their relationship, the film throws too many obstacles in their path, unnecessarily taking away from the pleasant mood. Still very good, just not the masterpiece I remembered it to be.Read all
My rewatch of The Twilight Samurai wasn't the biggest success, so I expected The Hidden Blade to have lost some of its shine too. And right I was. It's an extremely old-school take on the samurai genre. It's nice to see a film that focuses more on the mundane and pedestrian parts of their lives, but that isn't enough. The performances are good, but that's no surprise with Nagase in the lead and Takako Matsu in a strong supportive role. The presentation is rather static and lifeless though, even bordering on cheesy. The film is also too long, but there are still some moments of beauty scattered throughout. Just not enough to make it a great film.Read all
Though Yôji Yamada made a massive amount of films throughout his career as a director, I've never really gotten around to delving into his older work. My Sons looked like an interesting film to start exploring his back catalog, even though it's still decades removed from Yamada's early work. Performances are solid (with a young Masatoshi Nagase as one of the standouts), the Japanese countryside is as beautiful as ever and the deliberate pacing helps to ground the drama. It reminded me a bit of Ôbayashi's 80s/90s dramas, the difference being that Ôbayashi seemed more inspired when directing his films. My Sons feels a little unremarkable by comparison, but it's certainly not a bad film.Read all