Dora-heita

A late film from Kon Ichikawa, approximately the eightieth in his sixty-year directing career. An honest magistrate uses guile as well as samurai skills to clean up a corrupt feudal fiefdom. The tale is framed by two scribes recording the "official" version of events: their ironic comments are funny as they gossip about all the juicy stuff they have to leave out of their chronicle; but behind their worldly-wise cracks, they really don't know what's going on, so the irony doubles back on them. The hero plays a shifty game going after his prey; his dodges are very amusing, and the star Koji Yakusho really seems to be enjoying himself. The corrupt port city, a medieval Big Easy, is a big rotten playground in nacreous colors that bleed into each other. About the only hard edges to be seen - until the blades come out - are the checkerboard squares on the robe of the determined Miss Keiko, who pursues the magistrate all the way from Edo. Ichikawa keeps his touch light and sure - what other great director has aged so well? - his mastery intact, with no sign of faltering or hardening.

Because a film may have some comedic elements it does not make it a comedy or even a funny movie. We often have amusing scenes to "break the tension" in "serious" ventures. This was neither of the above - not a comedy; not a "serious" film.

Nor was this a Chambara film. There was swordplay, but the artistry of the blade was missing; and, there was but one scene where steel was drawn.

So, we are left with a story of a sheriff who comes to town, and cleans the place up. I mean Samurai. It's your typical Eastern-Western that holds no surprises and our hero never needs to reload his blade.

It could be that the collaboration of four of Japan's greatest directors makes this film a bit of this and a bit of that and a lot of disappointment.

Remember Koji Yakusho from SHALL WE DANCE, UNAGI (THE EEL), CURE or TAMPOPO? The Japanese box-office star is the new magistrate in a corrupt town who spreads rumours about his negligence and dubiosity only to get rid of all the bad guys he has to face and who underestimate him then completely. Dora-heita is an example for a streetwise and easy living guy with the classic abilities of a samurai - although he is making fun of them. The sword fighting seems to be classic but is hidden in camera movements, cuts and other tricks because Yakusho hasn't got the presence and fighting abilities of a Toshiro Mifune. The film was planned long ago by the four famous directors Kurosawa, Kinoshita, Kobayashi and Ichikawa who formed Yonki-no-kai (The Committee of Four Knights) in 1969 and wrote the script together. Only after three of them had died, Ichikawa could finally make his 74th movie out of their script.

As a random pick from the shelves of a Japanese DVD store, largely chosen simply on the basis of having English subtitles and the words 'Kon Ichikawa' in big roman letters, the list of names attached to Dora-heita comes as quite a surprise, though it never really stacks up against the best work of any of its four writers. Which is not to say it's a bad film; far from it. It is, though, a rather uneven one...

The story is solid enough; Mochizuki Koheita is the newly appointed magistrate in a small rural fiefdom, sent to clean up the corrupt town of Horisoto in his own unorthodox way, facing off against a trio of gang bosses and the complacent and complicit council. In the lead, Koji Yakusho plays the part perfectly, making Koheita both genuinely likable and credibly hard-nosed. Support ranges from the fairly good to the utterly mediocre, though none of the actors come off too badly. The strongest scenes of the film are those set in the streets of Horisoto, Mochizuki's first visit to the slum being the most striking sequence in terms of visual flair. Elsewhere, there are a few great scenes; the visit to Nadahachi's abode in particular, despite the paint-by-numbers action scene that follows.

It's certainly a film with plenty to keep the viewer's attention, but it never really coagulates into a sleek, unified whole. There are problems with some of the comedy elements and with the Kosei character, both of which feel as though they were shoehorned in at the last minute, in the misguided fear of putting off viewers with too serious a story. In actual fact, it would probably be possible to cut Kosei out completely; contrary to expectations, she actually has no connection at any point to the main thread of the story, instead providing only a couple of laughs, an underwhelming brawl with some smugglers and a penultimate scene that errs the wrong side of ridiculous.

Still, it's entertaining enough, though it'd be best not to have too high expectations simply because of the names on the screenplay...

Another project from the files of Kurosawa gets completed, this time by master director Kon Ichikawa who co-wrote it with Kurosawa and other directors during an aborted attempt to create an independent film company in the early 1970's.

A samurai is sent to be the new magistrate of a very corrupt fiefdom. Never reporting in to his office, the samurai immediately creates the impression that he's about as immoral a samurai as one can be without killing or abusing anyone. He insults the chamberlain and head officials of the fief and spends most of his time gambling and carousing with prostitutes. All the while he's really investigating how the local yakuza are working in league with the lords of the fiefdom.

While this is a very amusing film and quite enjoyable for most of it's length, it's not a deep movie. However, the humor is good and the action is well handled. It's a good looking production with one minor drawback. The anticipated sword fight showdown happens (it's a very good scene) but the film then goes on for another twenty minutes so all the loose ends can be tied up. I didn't mind but it felt lop-sided.

Recommended.