Inochi bô ni furô

Kobayashi continues his combination of social commentary with the remnants of his early melodramatic and dramatic work in Inn of Evil, a tale of a group of criminals at the lowest end of corruption in a corrupt society needing to deal with conflict from every side. I think it's also Kobayashi's most obvious film in a while, limiting its thematic impact, while a certain character moment ends up feeling a bit off and unbelievable undermining the character journey at the same time. And yet, there are moments of wonderfully isolated emotional resonance, especially late in the film, and we get some quality action by the end as was Kobayashi's wont in this style of film he worked in like Harakiri or Samurai Rebellion. I think it's one of his lesser works, but there's entertainment to be had still.

In a less populated part of Edo is a small island in a river. On this island stands a single structure, the Easy Tavern owned by Ikuzo (Kan'emon Nakamura) who has a small gang of criminals led by Sadashichi the Indifferent (Tatsuya Nakadai, returning to a performance more in line with his in Yojimbo) as well as his daughter Omitsu (Komaki Kurihara). The police will not do any work on this island, leaving them alone completely, because it is known that Ikuzo and some of the powerful families and merchants in the area have an arrangement where Ikuzo's men deal with the smuggling in of forbidden goods from forbidden ships for them. A new police officer Kaneko (Shigeru Koyama) has different plans, though. One night, unexpectedly, two men come running over the single bridge onto the island, fighting each other to the death and collapsing behind Sadashichi, injured but protected from Kaneko who was in pursuit. These two men are Tomijiro (Kei Yamamoto) and Gonroku, and their stories get told a bit later after they recover a bit from their injuries.

In the meantime, we get to know the residents of the Easy Tavern, most particularly Sadashichi whom Ikuzo describes as having a kind of mental illness that sets him apart from society, and society's resistance to him ends up making him violent. At least at Easy Tavern, he explains to Kaneko, he can be directed. They're lost souls, and the core of the thematic point of it is that they are the bottom rung of a corrupt ladder. When the straight and narrow Kaneko comes to the area to clean things up, he aims for the smugglers, not the men paying the smugglers. Is this fair? Well, it doesn't really matter because it is happening, and the increased attention is putting Ikuzo and Sadashichi off of the proposed job from the rich merchant's representative completely.

And then we get Tomijiro's tale. He was an indentured servant with a love interest who worked for another family until her father decided to sell her to a brothel. He stole his set aside wages of 15 ryo and set out to find her, squandering it all in pursuit of Gonroku, the man who purchased her. It's this tale that suddenly convinces Sadashichi and the other men to take on the dangerous job, and it's the leap that I'm not quite willing to accept. They're established as rather self-centered men with a large sense of reticence around any job after two of their men died in their last job, and their sudden acceptance of all the risk to do a job that they will offer all the reward to Tomijiro to afterwards seems a bit thin.

The job goes forward, things go wrong, and the four men who went on the job either die or disappear, including Sadashichi. Tomijiro, after a moment of potential release as he grows easier with his situation and the potential to save his lady, helps around the tavern, but the failure of the smuggling operation sends him into desperation again. Gonroku, who keeps coming to the Easy Tavern every night to get drunk without anywhere to seemingly go, obviously has a large amount of cash on him, and Tomijiro decides to kill and rob him for the money. The scene between Gonroku and Tomijiro ends up one of the most heartbreaking moments in any film in Kobayashi's body of work. It's beautiful and sad.

The finale action scene plays out, and we get a small coda as Tomijiro and his girl visit the now empty Easy Tavern followed by onscreen text saying "We have died for nothing." That's a bit of nihilism to end a film where something actually was gained, but it also recontextualizes the action of the film to cast it more in the light of the "victories" in both Harakiri and Samurai Rebellion. The lowest rungs of a criminal conspiracy were wiped out while the upper rungs, the ones actually pushing the buttons to make things happen. The fight was directly because the police wanted to stop smuggling, but as Ikuzo says, if they don't do the smuggling, then someone else will. It's really part and parcel with The Thick-Walled Room and Hymn to a Tired Man where the upper echelons of power were receiving smaller punishments than those beneath them.

I can imagine one more rewrite of this script that would have pushed it from lesser-Kobayashi into the higher tier of his work. I think the early emphasis on Sadashichi's mental state makes the character change halfway through less believable than it needs to be. Also, Ikuzo ends up with a fair amount of dialogue, especially with Kaneko that makes the point of the film a little on the nose. Beyond those smallish issues, which are pretty relegated to the first act, this is still a quality entertainment. The equating of the small sparrow hatchling that Sadashichi nurses and then loses is the kind of more subtle thing that helps provide all the subtext that the film really needs, and that scene with Gonroku near the end is wonderful.

So, it's not Kobayashi's best work, but it's still solidly good.

The film begins in feudal Japan with a new police officer by the name of "Kaneko" (Shigeru Koyama) discussing the smuggling trade with another police official named "Okajima" (Ichiro Nakatani) with one particular operation at the forefront of their concern--an inhospitable inn located on a small island in a river which can only be accessed by small boats or a rickety old bridge connecting it to the mainland. But it's the clientele which makes this inn so dangerous as its regular patrons are an odd assortment of cutthroats, thieves and murderers who are extremely hostile to visitors. To that effect, the police want to close it down. The problem, however, is that this inn is protected by a rich and powerful government official and, as a result, they have to be extremely careful. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I enjoyed this movie due to its in-depth plot, good acting and solid character development. Admittedly, I would have preferred a bit more action or suspense here and there, but even so, I thought this was an entertaining film and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

I've liked all the other Kobayashi films I've seen before - Harakiri, Kwaidan, Samurai Rebellion and the Human Condition trilogy - but this one just never seemed to take off. A bunch of uninteresting and unlikeable lowlifes sit around a dimly lit tavern and steadfastly do all they can to not make us care for any of them. One gets the feeling the film could have turned out a lot more like, say, Reservoir Dogs, if only the dialogue was at all entertaining or thought-provoking. But it's not. The one glimmer of interest occurs with the attempted murder of the bar drunk, but not even that adds up to all that much, and the only even vaguely memorable moment visually is the bit where people with lanterns charge around in the dark at the end. A real disappointment all round.

One surefire way for a film to grab my attention and keep me invested is to layer on heavy atmosphere. We see this predominantly in horror, and John Carpenter is a foremost example, but it's just as possible and admirable in any genre. To my great pleasure, 'Inn of evil' is positively dripping with it. A fierce current of dark, seedy tension cuts through this picture nearly right from the start, and as we've seen elsewhere and otherwise in the oeuvre of Kobayashi Masaki, the success isn't so much about steady infusion as judicious, patient application. The score of composer extraordinaire Takemitsu Toru definitely carries some of that weight with its carefully laid-in thundering percussion and somewhat discordant high strings and woodwinds, and I would expect no less from the man. Screenwriter Miyazaki Kyoko provides some foundation with his characters, scene writing, and dialogue, certainly, and Kobayashi's direction is as deliciously deliberate and painstaking as it ever has been at his best, to say nothing of some keen use of lighting. Yet in this instance I rather think it's the acting that arguably does so much to foster that atmosphere, not least star Nakadai Tatsuya. He's taken on no few other roles that were relatively straight, or even lighthearted, but he's also very capable of summoning a ferocious spirit and gravity - recognized even in just his facial expressions, or his eyes alone - that's almost frightening. At some points in Kobayashi's 'The human condition' Nakadai brought to mind Mifune Toshiro, and if that's not a high compliment then I don't know what is; here, too, there's an intensity to his acting that's particularly electrifying, and between that building charge and the contributions of all others, even within the first twenty minutes or so 'Inn of evil' feels like it's ready to explode.

By this alone the feature had me spellbound pretty much from the get-go, and I think it's safe to say that this easily counts among Kobayashi's more worthy works. In every capacity it's shaped with utmost skill, intelligence, care, and a mind for detail, and from top to bottom it's a real pleasure as a cinephile. From the use of light and shadow, to shrewd angles, framing, and blocking, the title further boasts a marvelous sense of artistry that's especially reflected in Kobayashi's direction, and in the crisp, vivid, smart cinematography of Okazaki Kozo. This is to say nothing of the pristine audio that allows every note, word, and sound to ring out; terrific filming locations, or sharp production design, art direction, costume design, and hair and makeup. Where stunts, choreography, and practical effects are employed they're impactful and exciting, even as they come up relatively infrequently, just as with the filmmaker's other jidaigeki like 'Harakiri' and 'Samurai rebellion.' And while Nakadai unmistakably stands out as cold, violent Sadahichi, his fellow cast members all have an opportunity to stand out at one time or another, and some more than others: Katsu Shintaro as the drunken but sage unnamed visitor; Yamamoto Kei as beleaguered yet passionate Tomijio; Kurihara Komaki as kindhearted, innocent Omitsu; and so on. In every regard the movie is splendidly well made, meeting all the high standards we anticipate of both the genre at large and contemporary fare.

Meanwhile, I claim no familiarity with Yamamoto Shugoro's novel, but Miyazaki's adapted screenplay is a minor treasure unto itself. As the tale predominantly takes place within a single location it quite comes across as something that could be adapted for the stage, and this notion is reinforced by the nature of the storytelling. It's a tad less focused than I anticipated, not by way of being deficient, but in the sense that the substance herein is a little less about a tight, discrete course of events and a little more of a broader character drama, a tableau in which we see that there is much more to these figures than first meets the eye. The characters are written with welcome complexity that shows more and more as time goes by, and if anything I actually wish 'Inn of evil' were longer so its characters could have received even more attention. With this well in mind the dialogue is gratifyingly thoughtful, and the scene writing unexpectedly varied and dynamic even as the overall tone is kind of harsh and dreary. And divested as it sort of is among its characters, the story is firmly compelling as we explore the complicated people that call the Easy Tavern home, and the sorry paths their lives took that led them to this station - condemned by society for the road they walk, a road that was forced in the first place by the circumstances of that unjust, unequal, uncaring society. For all their criminality there is yet a spark of virtue in these smugglers, a stark contrast to the monolith of the outward order and structure of the culture around them, and the conflicts that result are low-key fascinating.

Just as with Kobayashi's other films of a similarly strident, grandiose nature, all this culminates in an ugly, thrilling, bloody, captivating climax that pointedly reinforces all the ideas and themes on hand while allowing the supreme craftsmanship of all contributors to shine gloriously. It's altogether stunning, frankly, an exquisite finish and a capstone to a picture that's much more sophisticated than it may appear from the outside looking in. Though it's not as well known as Kobayashi's most esteemed productions, I'd have no qualms placing it side by side with them as one of his best, for it bears all the same qualities, and if anything in only a slightly different configuration - dark and brooding as that character drama is proliferate in a jidaigeki crime flick. With stellar writing, direction, and acting, alongside all the tremendous work of those behind the scenes, this is a feature that's both intellectually stimulating and easy on the eyes, invigorating and very measured in its pacing, and at length all the pieces come together perfectly for a viewing experience that's downright entrancing. I have high expectations of Kobayashi, and he has stunned once again; as far as I'm concerned this is a riveting tour de force, a masterpiece that rather demands viewership. It won't appeal to all comers, and it's not a movie for those seeking instant gratification, yet for anyone receptive to those works that unfold in their own time, the profit is a brilliant, highly satisfying, deeply rewarding title that deserves far more recognition. I adore 'Inn of evil,' and I'm pleased to give it my very high, hearty, and enthusiastic recommendation!

A gang of misfits, the innkeeper and his daughter, a drunk and a wounded young man find themselves holed up inside an inn called the Easy Tavern as they wait to transport smuggled goods from a Dutch ship. It sounds like the beginning of a joke but it's anything but. It's another opportunity for Masaki Kobayashi to probe the depths of the human spirit in this period drama set in Feudal Japan.

I won't go into plot specifics because part of what makes Kobayashi's movies so powerful is the experience of letting all the details slowly sink in until the final catharsis hits you like a ten ton hammer. If you've ever been left dumbfounded by the sheer emotional power of his movies, Inn of Evil will not disappoint. All his stylistic hallmarks are present. The plights of ordinary men forced to extreme measures by the corruption and oppression of the rich and powerful. Character flaws rooted in the past blocking their inner need. Emotionally scarred people in search of redemption. Long narrations that reveal character and motive. The final catharsis of people overcoming their flaws by sacrificing a part of themselves. If Kobayashi is among the most powerful film-makers in the history of movies, it's because he so perfectly understands tragedy. His movies are essentially ancient Greek tragedies with the characters themselves acting as the "deus ex machina". And it takes divine strength for them to sacrifice themselves with such selflessness.

The characters and their choices and motivation follow Kobayashi's personal style. Like the drunkard (played by the great Shintaro Katsu) redeeming himself for his past foolish ambitions and greed, by giving up his savings to a young man who needs to buy his wife back from the brothel her father sold her. Were it not for the slight ending Inn of Evil would have ranked up there with Seppuku or Samurai Rebellion. The idea behind the final cathartic showdown is great (a large number of enemy soldiers with lanterns in their hands chasing the heroes in a dark field) but the realization suffers a bit. Maybe for lack of budget or shooting time, it's not as stylish or well choreographed as one would expect. The only swordfighting takes place in these final 10 minutes and it's again not very impressive, so chambara fans might wanna look elsewhere for their slice and dice fix. The print I saw was a bit too dark and muddled so it didn't help things much either. Criterion need to get their hands on this one pronto.

The acting is as good as one would expect from a cast spearheaded by the brilliant Tatsuya Nakadai and Shintaro Katsu and the photography is in beautiful black and white with very nice exterior shots. The heart of the movie is what matters though and Inn of Evil comes with a great story about man's need for redemption. Strongly recommended.