Le sabre du mal

Three years before The Wild Bunch(1969) and the same year as Django(1966) came a film called Dai-Bosatsu Toge/Sword of Doom(1966) which was one of first body count action dramas in 1966. Not only a terrific samurai film but also a terrifing portrait of a samurai warrior who's on the brink of madness. Tatsuya Nakadai gives one of his best performances that is surpassed only by his excellent performances in the following Kurosawa films, Kagemusha(1980) and Ran(1984). Sword of Doom(1966) contains elements that reminds me of Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer(1986) because Ryunosuke also kills at random and is a very scary person. Toshiro Mifune is magnificent in his role as the wise samurai teacher, Shimada. The high body count ending would influences people like Sam Peckinpah and John Woo as well as the Lone Wolf and Cub films. Dai-Bosatsu Toge is about a lone samurai warrior who is unable to live outside of his sword. The cinematography is great and the story is very interesting. The film has some scenes of graphic violence that must have shocked Japanese audiences back in 1966. The film ends on an amazing body count blood bath battle that is ahead of its time. One of the most underrated Samurai pics of all time.

"Sword of Doom" is an unusual film. Firstly, it is one of the most brilliantly photographed films I have ever seen, in composition, mise en scene, and the play of black and white.

Secondly, "Sword of Doom" is that rare film in which the aim of the director and the power of the lead mesh together to form an unforgettable portrayal.

Tatsuya Nakadai plays Ryunosuke, a skilled swordsman, who, from the opening moments of the film, proves also to be homicidally indifferent to human life. Ryunosuke is a strange and difficult character. His fighting style is passive, and he remains mostly uninvolved, both with the political turmoil surrounding him, and with his family - from his dying father, who fears the evil in him, to his lover (the wife of an opponent he kills) and his child. Nakadai's performance is magnetic, comparable to Montgomery Clift in it's singleminded, unyielding intensity.

While some of the subplots without Ryunosuke aren't quite as compelling, the ending is memorable and disturbing, and the direction will remind in some ways of Orson Wells.

A classic Samurai picture that is as confusing as it is violent. Ryunosuke Tsukue is the main character, a Samurai with a dark and merciless nature. You might even call him evil. The path he takes (with multiple subplots that don't always seem to be resolved) leads him to madness. The confusing aspects may be due to the fact that there were supposed to be sequels, as well as the fact that the story was a famous one in Japan and hence, certain parts were to be assumed by that audience. Nonetheless, it was still a fairly compelling watch, especially with the action, a precursor to the violence in such films as the excellent Lone Wolf and Cub series. Hands and fingers are cut off, blood is shed, and the climatic ending features a body count along the lines of The House of Blue Leaves!

Imagine Nakadai's murderous Onosuke from Yojimbo; then raise the level of his single-minded purpose an order of magnitude to the fated dancer of The Red Shoes and you get a vague idea of Ryunosuke, a psychopathic samuari hunted by the righteous and villainous alike. Hiroshi Murai's gritty B& W photography is awesome; and the choreography and staging of the swordfighting sequences are far and away the most rivetting I've ever seen (and I think I've seen most of them) -- not romantically stylized as in Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy -- something like the subtlety of Kurosawa meets the textured action of John Woo. The characters are intense and memorable. The final freeze frame may put you in mind of Butch Cassidy. You'll never forget it.

Sword of doom is a truly great and original piece of film-making. As soon as the film had started, and the dark and eerie soundtrack kicked in, I knew I was about to enjoy a gem of japanese cinema. The most original element of the film is that the main character Ryunosuke is a real mean, killing machine, seriously, he is the lead in the film, but whereas in any other samurai/martial arts film he would normally turn up for a few scenes of mayhem, then turn up at the very end for a much deserved death. Well in this film the villain is the lead, Ryunosuke is such an interesting character, that days after watching this film you will find yourself thinking I wonder if... or what if that had happened. Sword of doom is one of those movies that just sticks in your head days after viewing time has ended. It doesn't even matter that the ending comes quite abruptly, that just let's the viewer imagine their own conclusion to the film. Sword of doom is without doubt the darkest and the most mysterious martial arts/samurai film that i've ever had the pleasure of viewing. The action scenes in the film are first rate too, with very believable sword duels. I put this film right up there with the very best that eastern cinema has to offer. 10/10