Im Schatten des Shogun

I love samurai movies. Really. I love history movies. I love adventure movies. And I found this movie... 'Shogun's Samurai' I though it was going to be great. There are great actors here. Etsushi Takahashi, for example. He was amazing in 'Kill!' and 'Akage'. Hiroyuki Sanada is also great. So is Sonny Chiba. I don't mention Toshiro Mifune because his role here is just a cameo.

Well... The movie was barely watchable. There were lots of problems with it. First, there is the story. It is ridiculously complicated but not compelling enough. Many characters appear but they are not developed at all. Hence I didn't care about their deaths at all. You know, it is quite sad, actually. You see somebody dying violently. You know you are supposed to feel sorry about him. But you don't feel anything because this character is a total stranger to you. I felt sorry for not feeling sorry about the characters.

And here is the second problem with this movie - it is filled with pointless death. Many people die. Men get killed. Women get killed. Kids get killed. Why? Nobody knows. I am not afraid of a little violence but this was just pointless. The story would be absolutely the same without so many killings. And since you don't know the characters at all their deaths have absolutely no emotional impact on you. The character's deaths can only disgust you.

The next problem with this movie is the fights. You know, that's what many people are watching samurai films for - sword fighting and action. But... Some of the fights are really nicely choreographed, there are some incredible moves and so on. But... Most of the fights are actually quite messy due to the bad camera work. The camera is shaking constantly and you can't see anything. It is not like Paul Greengrass directed the movie but still it isn't what one would expect from a samurai movie.

The camera work is a bit strange in my opinion. Sometimes you may see amazing landscapes. There are some very nice shots. Yet when it comes to fighting or some dynamic scene you can barely see anything. Yes, it is a problem. A big problem.

On the other hand there is the acting. It is excellent. Really. A few of the characters are actually well developed and you can care about them. It is mostly because of the actors. They did a really good job with what they are given.

But that's not enough because they are not given much. 5/10. And I really wanted to like the movie.

After the second Tokugawa Shogun has died unexpectedly but mysteriously, the is a struggle for succession between two of his sons.

Though the history is bogus, there are plenty of opportunities for Samurai fighting. It is also well written and acted.

Wonderful color, costumes, sets and countryside in widescreen. A grade A production all around.

There are several reviews here, that stress how the narrative of this chambara film by director Fukasaku Kinji is hard to follow. As someone, who frequently has trouble putting together the plot-lines of 1950's and 1960's jidai-geki films, I did not find this to be the case. Like with so many other samurai films, that were intended for foreign markets as well, this one has a narrator in the beginning, introducing the historical period. I do admit, that the role call happens way too fast, but for the rest of the film, there are a few main characters with clear personalities and agendas, that makes the large narrative comprehensible. Also the pacing is not too fast.

The film's story-line deals with the fight for the shogunate in the 1620's Japan. The second shogun of the Tokugawa line dies under mysterious circumstances without announcing his successor. He has two sons. The older Iemitsu (Matsukata Hiroki) stammers and has a huge birthmark covering half of his face. The younger son Tadanaga (Saigo Teruhiko) does not have these disadvantages, but he also doesn't have a supporter quite as determined as Iemitsu's. That would be the title character Yagyu (Nakamaura Kinnosuke), Iemitsu's fencing instructor, who views the prince as the most important person to him in the whole world, despite having three children of his own. The narrative shows us a fight for power, where innocent blood is shed because of the greed and corruption that takes place amidst the ruling class.

I am not going to spoil it, but people should really stick till the ending, since it powerfully encapsulates the film's message about power corrupting. Before that, the violent images were not clearly used for anti-violence message, since some jidai-geki films merely like to include "cool violence". The presence of Chiba Sonny also makes you anticipate certain things. Chiba's narrative is very important for the final act, but in the early parts, I didn't really like the way it jumped to a different location from the palace drama that we started with.

All in all, this is a very good story, though not historically accurate. There is a big budget, some cameos by famous actors (Tamba Tetsuro, Yamada Isuzu, Mifune Toshiro...), and well-thought-out characters. Especially Nakamura Kinnosuke gives a fantastic performance.

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did. Unfortunately there just wasn't enough memorable stuff in it. Not because it is not a good production, but because so many things happen involving lots and lots of characters, it becomes a struggle to follow the plot. I mean, you can follow it, but the wide scope causes the characters to bleed together. Only a few of them really stand out, the notable one being Yagyu Jubei -- Sonny Chiba's one-eyed ninja "character". Although he isn't the focus of the movie, he is the protagonist to be identified with and he ties all the social groups together.

Still, I didn't really like Yagyu Jubei. Sure, he's badass and all that, but what an unrealistic character! I just didn't care about him at all. He was like an anime character; he's some overly idealized manifestation of handsome bravado which borders on homo-erotic infatuation. Hahaha! But then again, isn't that why we like Michaelangelo's David so much? Hrmm....

Don't get me wrong, the movie is worth watching. It has some good (albeit fictional) plot twists and a few memorable characters who are rather unique (such as the dainty, foppish castle magistrate or the kids from the ninja village). There are some crucial fight scenes with ninjas, and we even get to see that legendary Japan Action Club fighting babe, Etsuko Shihomi before she dropped off the map! I've never seen the series this was related to (also featuring Sonny Chiba playing Jubei) but an extended TV format would work much better at developing the characters and plot twists. This movie is already pretty long, but it still feels scrunched together. It's like trying to make a crazy Sopranos-type show into a full-length movie. Not gonna work out too smoothly!

6.5

The Yagyu Conspiracy is an historical saga that take place in Japan on the 17th century. It is in fact a family tragedy. The story is well made and the movie is interesting, I even consider to learn some more on Japan history after watching this film, it may be of a use when watching samurai movies. I find it very important to learn about the countries that produce a genera cinema. Except from the story I find the movie a bit short on action, also the battles are too short and photograph from wide angle which makes it a bit hard to understand who are the bad guys and who are the good guys.

Sonny Chiba is doing his usually tough guy acting, and I love him for that, without him this movie would have been another non interesting samurai flick. It is sad that you don't see him as much on this long movie. Unless you are a sonny Chiba fanatic like me, don't buy it Rent it!