A Conspiração do Clã Yagyu

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!

This movie is centered around two brothers who, unbeknownst to them, are about to go to war with each other over the title of Shogun (Leader of the Samurai).

The older brother, Prince Iemitsu, should be heir to the throne by law and tradition, but he was born ugly (a large mark on his face) as well as his problem with stuttering.

The younger brother, Prince Tadanaga, seems more fit for the role as shogun he was even backed by his mother and father, before his untimely death, as well as government officials.

Soon a war will rage between these two brothers both recruiting not only government officials but master less samurai anybody who is looking for one last fight.

While the government could have put a stop to it they choose to let the brother's decide.

This movie has great action, music, as well as a more "serious" martial art movie there isn't so much of the crazy ninja flipping and such, but don't worry their is still some! Sonny Chiba plays the role of Jubei, a great swordsmen and samurai and he really gives it his all not just in the fighting, but the acting aspect as well.

I give this movie a 9/10 I have to admit they kind of made it hard to follow but it's nothing you can't solve by taking a moment to remember the faces.

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.

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.

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.