Mibu gishi den

One acid test for a movie is that of whether or not you find yourself caring for (any of) the characters as you watch it. This superb study of human personality and of self-sacrifice, honour and duty in difficult circumstances passes that test like almost no other film I've seen.

I've read many of the comments here that want to split this film into good parts and bad parts and would only say that I, for one, cannot see the join - from start to finish the film is well-paced with a series of events that will make you laugh at times and may well make you cry at other times. For me, it was uncomfortable a lot of the time, as I wasn't much pleased with the way the story unfolded and the direction the events took - with just about everything going against the way I would have liked it to! (Risk of a spoiler prevents me being too specific here!) Too many personal chords were being struck for me to actually *enjoy* the film at times but it maintained an unusual integrity in sticking to its own uncomfortable/unsatisfying course and reaching its own rather superb conclusion in a way that many movies seem unable to do without pandering to their audience's expectations in some way.

Technicalities were mostly excellent: The acting (possibly because of the non-familiar faces) was impeccable, the soundtrack was excellent and all other aspects were most satisfactory despite a slight air of claustrophobia with much of the film taking place in a somewhat shut-in environment with only the briefest picture-postcard views of Japan. Also, with the copy I saw, the colour could have been better at times, as could the lighting of the interiors...

The temptation to say avoid this film and any disquiet it might bring you is strong, but instead I say watch it and I have no qualms in giving it 9 out of 10 - it's worth it!!

I watched the DVD of Mibu Gishi Den last night after it was lent to me by a friend. I had never heard of it before so watched it with no idea what it was about, other than I was told it was a story about he Samurai.

Well it blew me totally away. Like many foreign movies, I struggled at first with the names of the characters, and as they were dressed similar and all had the same haircut, I had a bit of trouble working out who was who!

Nevertheless I persevered and after 30 minutes had more or less followed the plot. It certainly got easier as the film unfolded and in the end there was a tear in my eye. I won't give away the plot of the film, as others have already done this. Just to say at the end as the titles rolled there was a lump in my throat. Repeated viewings will make the movie a better experience.

This DVD is available on region 3 now and certainly well worth owning. It is a far superior Samurai film compared to The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise.

Don't pass up the chance to see this remarkable movie. The two leads are excellent actors, and though I have never heard of them before, I should imagine they are very well known in their native Japan.

Grade A.

This movie is about the "Shinsengumi" (New Group) a famous group of Samurai in the last days of Tokugawa-shogunate that really existed.

At first they were a kind of police-company in Kyoto. Later on this group was fighting on the shoguns (Military head of state) side against emperor Meijis forces who stood for a modernized Japan. It is about the samurai system and their way that could not survive Japans transition into a modern state. But foremost it is a about people, emotions and honor.The characterization is fantastic and always believable and the swordplay is great.

If you have never heard anything about the Wolfs of Mibu (mibu no ogami(In Japan every child knows them)) you should not miss this movie, and if you know them, even better.

This film looked really promising, but I was put off by the clichéd sentimentality (flashbacks in soft focus!) and confounding choices of tragic hero Kanichiro Yoshimura. Frequent flashbacks and flash-forwards attempt to liven up the limp plot, but don't do much for narrative momentum. The film drags terribly towards the end, and could have done with some more judicious editing.

Last Sword really didn't deserve to beat Takeshi Kitano's fantastic Zatoichi for best film at the 2003 Japanese Academy Awards, but I can't begrudge the best actor nod for Kichi Nakai, who gives an amazing performance. In all, nearly worth the two and a half hours at the cinema.

A great movie about samurais, full of historical details and deep feelings, is a story of a brave samurai that put´s love and family first.But when samurai code and family mixed together, emerges a number of moral questions like honor and loyalty and how thin is the line that separates the traitor from the hero.Society in hour days seems different but people still use political and religion arguments to convince others to serve their thirst for power.On the end what really matters is love and some of us learn that by the hard way.

;) "A must see masterpiece"