Quite subliminally gorgeous Japanese period piece
Underrated and often unappreciated, but a hidden gem of recent Japanese cinema, starring the inimitable Kiichi Nakai - with a grasp for comedy and hamming up some moments; acting sublimely at others.
Patience and a better understanding of the period concerned (about to crossover from Nobunaga Oda into the Tokugawa/Edo period in the late 16th Century, when Japan was on the cusp of civil war) also go far.
While some of the background effects are not particularly convincing (the early attack on Iga, for instance, and the decapitated head that spits across the screen), most of the sets are appropriate backdrops for some often inspired dialogue and innuendos.
Musically, too, the movie rings true, opting for traditional instrumentation rather than the J-Pop sounds that have hallmarked a lot of other Japanese period pieces.
Andrez Bergen
Patience and a better understanding of the period concerned (about to crossover from Nobunaga Oda into the Tokugawa/Edo period in the late 16th Century, when Japan was on the cusp of civil war) also go far.
While some of the background effects are not particularly convincing (the early attack on Iga, for instance, and the decapitated head that spits across the screen), most of the sets are appropriate backdrops for some often inspired dialogue and innuendos.
Musically, too, the movie rings true, opting for traditional instrumentation rather than the J-Pop sounds that have hallmarked a lot of other Japanese period pieces.
Andrez Bergen
- andrez_iffy
- Sep 11, 2007