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The Sword of Doom - Criterion Collection Director: Kihachi Okamoto Number of Items: 1 Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 121 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-03-15 Buy from Amazon |
 "Samurai Existentialism"According to the code of bushido, the way of the samurai, the sword is the soul of the samurai. This statement does not contain the supernatural import that one might assume it does. It means, rather, that a man is nothing more than the sum of his actions. As Toshiro Mifune says to Tatsuya Nakadai in this film, "The sword is the soul. Evil mind, evil sword." Apart from containing some very fine exhibitions of samurai philosophy, this film is also a profound character study. The main character, brilliantly played by Nakadai, is a deranged sociopath who is utterly incapable of feeling empathy for anyone. In the opening of the film he overhears an old man praying to Buddha to take him away; he then strikes the old man dead. When he does a small bell falls to the ground, the ringing of which eventually returns to haunt Nakadai in the climax of the film. When a woman begs Nakadai's character to let her husband win a kendo match the following day, he sleeps with the wife and then kills the husband the next morning. It is worth mentioning that many great villians in screen history have at least a modicum of goodness underneath their tortured villianous exterior. Not here. Nakadai in this film is pure and total evil. Some critics have argued that his character may even be some kind of supernatural force, such as Eastwood in High Plains Drifter. This argument somewhat assumes that everyone Nakadai's character kills has done something wrong, and I do not feel that this is the case. Though the film is definately open to such an interpretation, I feel that this would be a less interesting interpretation than the one that follows. Furthermore, taking the main character as some type of supernatural force, existing on earth to right wrongs or some such nonsense, leaves many of the happenings toward the end of this film entirely unexplained. Nakadai's character, to me then, is not a supernatural force, but is rather the embodiment of the bushido code gone awry: He is one with his sword, but as the sword's function is to kill, as the sword is cold and silent, so too is Nakadai. He is cold and silent (his fencing form is even called "the silent form," and his only function in the film is that of a mindless killing machine. Nakadai's character meets up with a band of shogunate sympathizers, killing anyone he is instructed to kill without hesitation. His technique is so disturbing that even those he kills for eventually turn on him. So good is he with a sword that he that doesn't imagine that anyone could ever defeat him. This is until one of his group's hits goes terribly awry, and they accidentally target the master of a fencing school (Toshiro Mifune). Nakadai watches, dumbfounded, as Mifune takes out the entire band of samurai, killing perhaps 20 foes. This, incidentally, is one of the greatest samurai duels ever filmed, and, set in a snow storm, is also exquisitely beautiful. The cinematography throughout the entire film, in fact, is exquisitely beautiful, and I, for one, am glad that the film was shot in black and white because the effect here is utterly spellbinding. Some of the set pieces in this film, especially the eerie climax, simply would not have been as effective in color. In this aforementioned scene, the hit gone awry, Mifune lectures Nakadai. Nakadai is deeply disturbed by this occurrence. Mifune's display of swordsmanship, as well as his lecturing of Nakadai, unsettles him. He here sees another samurai, equal to his abilities if not superior, putting him down, telling him that he has it all wrong. Mifune's character is like Nakadai's, yet also opposite. This is an important contrast in the film. Nakadai is one with the sword, man melded with steel. He is a thoughtless and emotionless killing machine. That is his technique. Mifune's character is also one with his sword, and yet is the antithesis of Nakadai's character. He knows that a man is ultimately the sum total of his actions. His deeds with his sword are an extention of his character: Evil sword, evil mind. In other words, a noble man is a man who only performs noble actions. In another subplot, the brother of the man killed in the kendo match seeks to avenge his brother's death, and is a student of Mifune. To avenge his brother's death is noble, and is the honorable thing to do. It is clear, however, that there is no way he can win. Mifune tells him not to worry about winning and living. Expect to die. Only then will he have a chance of winning. This is another important aspect of samurai philosophy, which is well-depicted in this film. It is also reflected in the few one-on-one duels in movie, in which the camera lingers at great length on the characters, before any fighting begins. It focuses on their expressions, on the psychological aspect of the duel, the game that is being played, on the reaction opponents have to Nakadai's unconventional and uncouth style. This is something this film excels at: Showing that for any sword fight, indeed for any martial arts fight, much of of the fight is psychological, much of what determines the outcome is psychological, and is fought well before any of the physicality and brutality even begins. This idea is similar to real-life samurai Takuan Soho's advising that if you take offense to an insult, then you had already lost right-mindedness prior to the insult. If the samurai looses right-mindedness he will die. Okamoto (the director), takes an unflinchingly realistic approach to the duels in this film, fully realizing that in real life, once such a duel begins, it would only last a split second. One blow and you're dead. It should be added that this is perhaps the earliest samurai film to attain such a level of brutality. The result of this brutality is in no way exploitative; it rather lends a heightened sense of realism that ultimately serves to elevate the drama of the story. (With that said, however, it could be mentioned that some of the fights in which the main character takes on large numbers of people are rather poorly choreographed, consisting mainly of numerous adversaries running at Nakadai so that he can kill them, without even ever swinging their raised swords once! If one pays attention to this minor quibble, some of the massive fight scenes become rather ridiculous in appearance.) Returning to the story, in many scenes in the film, Nakadai, who moves in with the wife of the man he killed, is showed sitting there, silent, drinking sake. As the film progresses Nakadai has a progressively more deranged look on his face. At the end, in which he is about to kill a girl who overheard something she shouldn't have, the girl says she sees a ghost behing Nakadai. Whether she really believes she saw the ghost of a woman, or whether she is merely trying to distract Nakadai is wisely left up to the viewer to decide. What follows however is clear: Nakadai's character begins to see everyone he has butchered, and he looses his mind. His character's emptiness collapses in on itself, and in a deranged frenzy he takes on every samurai in the area. Sadly, the movie abruptly ends right in the middle of this scene, leaving every single subplot in the film unresolved. What happens to the girl he was about to kill? What happens to the man seeking revenge? We spend much of the film becoming familiar with these characters, learning their stories, and then they are all abruptly dropped. For that matter, what happens to Nakadai's character? We can never know. All that we can know is that he is the sum total of his thoughtless actions, and that in the end, when he finally feels their weight, and that it destroys him. This is an absolute shame, because "Sword of Doom" could have easily been the greatest samurai film ever made. The only thing holding it back is that its story ends without finishing. The ending of this film is truly disappointing, and unfortunately makes one leave this cinematic masterpiece asking "What the hell was that?" This film was supposedly supposed to be the first film in a trilogy. If this is true (and I have no idea as to whether it is), then the sequels were never made. Perhaps the ultimate point is the realization of Nakadai's insanity. His techique violates every code of honor; he forsakes honor in his becoming one with the sword, and his techique is all that matters with him. Without honor he has no substance, and eventually blosoms into the full-blooded extension of his (lack of) reasoning: a maniacal, senseless, killing machine. "Hack and Slash""The Sword of Doom" ("Dai-bosatsu Toge" or "Pass of the Great Bodhisattva ") is entirely unlike most films in the Samurai genre. Harder than most, crueler than most, and certainly more bloody than any other Samurai film from this time period, it is a difficult film to define and for some impossible to enjoy. At first, the plot seems straight forward. An outcast Samurai, Ryunosuke enters into a match with Bunnojo Utsuki, upstanding member of the fencing school where Ryunosuke was expelled from. Defending himself from an illegal attack, Ryunosuke kills Bunnojo. Bunnojo's brother, Hyoma, vows revenge and begins to train himself to be strong enough to kill the powerful Ryunosuke. Into this revenge-motif there are added elements of the Shinsengumi army of Kyoto, and the Shogun loyalists, as well as a pair of women seeking to find their place in a dangerous world. However, nothing else of "The Sword of Doom" is straight forward. Ryunosuke is a sociopath, an emotionless killer of almost-supernatural skills with his sword. His motivations are cloudy, and sheer momentum seems to be his driving force. It is easy to label him a villain, yet it cannot be denied that each of his kills are justified, and he himself does not seek death. Hyoma's vendetta against Ryunosuke is almost pathetic, as it is obvious he would only die in the challenge. He struggles to gain an advantage, but the outcome is never in doubt. Fencing school master Toranosuke Shimada (Mifune Toshiro) is a bridge between the two men, being the only one skillful enough to give Ryunosuke pause, he trains Hyoma. In the background are the political motivations of the Shogun-loyalists, whom hire Ryunoske to kill for them. Tatsuya Nakadai is incredible as Ryunoske, a driven, intense performance. Nakadai is a veteren of many famous Samurai films, being the gunslinger in "Yojimbo" and the honorable Hanshiro Tsugumo in "Seppuku." Mifune is a stand-out as well, although his role is small. He exudes the necessary charisma to challenge Ryunoske. An action film, a psychology play, an art film..."The Sword of Doom" could be considered any of these. Definitely a "Love it or Hate it" movie, with emphatic opinions on both sides, it is an important entry in the Samurai genre, and everyone should give themselves a chance to see in what camp they fall. As for me, I love it. "stunning"The cinematography of this film is breathtaking and very effective. I am not familiar with Okamoto as a director, but this film deeply impresses me. The sword fighting scenes in particular are all shot very much in the moment and bring the film to a state of very high art. The freeze at the end is shocking and thought provoking. There is also a kind of metaphoric joke in the mill scene which was quite entertaining. I would strongly recommend this film.  "It's no Kurosawa"There is no magnetism in this film, no majesty -- only cheesy, over-stylized scenes and rambling dialogue, pretentious verbosity about honor and what not -- the epitome of overrated "cinema." The only bright spot is Toshiro Mifune, but then why not see another of his films?  "A Fun Visual & Captivating Storyline"I think 3 Stars is a desent rating, what makes a good movie. It is - I'm bias toward old samurai flicks, and love the black and white. The characters were well drawn, as in many old flicks. Even for black and white the blood scenes were well done - I love the blood scenes. The character was well drawn with an sinister twist that would captivate anyone as to what choices he would make - you simply could not anticipate his actions would be so relentless continually. Though, this is no amazing movie - it's simply a pretty good one. I'd recommend it to rent, but most likely you can't. It's still worth watching, but won't be anything you immdediately tell others about to go watch cuz it's just so dang good, but you will enjoy it. |
