In May 2003, I posted a rather long report on Twilight Samurai, which was the very first IMDb comment posted on this exquisite film. Earlier this year, when I saw that another film by director Yamada Yoji is among the gala screenings in this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival, I was overjoyed. Yet I was realistic enough to recognize that the level of cinematic excellence in Twilight Samurai is almost impossible to repeat, let alone surpass. Having now seen "Hidden Blade, Devil's Claw", I know that I have been proved right. Hidden Blade is no Twilight Samurai. But I was not disappointed. Taken on its own merits, Hidden Blade is a marvelous film. And I must resist the temptation of comparing it with Twilight Samurai which has attained a height that few can scale.
Hidden Blade is constructed on the same two themes as in Twilight Samurai: a tender love story and the perils of being a samurai. In Hidden Blade, samurai Munezo (Masatoshi Nagase) has been in love with household maid Kie (Takako Matsu), maybe without being conscious of it himself, when she is married off according to custom to someone belonging to her own lowly caste. When the family she married to proves to be abusive, he brings her back to continue serving as his maid. The other story line involves a fellow swordsmanship student, who is even better than Munezo, becomes an escaped convict. Being a low-ranking samurai, albeit a good one, Munezo has no choice, when ordered by the clan, but to risk his life in trying to kill his former pal. I have simplified the synopsis considerably but I think it suffices to illustrate the similarity of the plot between Hidden Blade and Twilight Samurai.
Dashingly handsome Nagase does not have the depth of Sanada, nor teenage idol Matsu the indescribable charm and poise of Miyazawa. But here, I sinned on comparing again. Both Nagase and Matsu do splendidly in Hidden Blade, moving the audience with their simple sincerity. Although at times tending to be melodramatic, Hidden Blade has all the ingredients to make watching it a joyous experience: script, score, photography. It even has some pretty funny scenes which, depending on how you look at it, could be seen as highly entertaining or somewhat disjointing. And yes, there is a happy ending which looks almost like something coming out of Hollywood.
A word on the title, "Hidden Blade, Devil's Claw". Faced with the frightful challenge of the duel with his former pal, Munezo goes back to their teacher who gives him more guidance, as well as instructions on his deadly "hidden blade, devil's claw" technique which he has hitherto not taught either of them before. When Munezo finally wins the duel, his opponent, in his dying breath, asks if his has been defeated by the "hidden blade, devil's claw". To the audience's surprise, the answer is negative. But don't worry. We do eventually get to see the devil's claw in action and I, for one, find it quite satisfying. This little bit of suspense and mystery, which is also the title of the movie, adds considerable pleasure to watching this movie.
In a recent interview, director Yamada Yoji intimated that his samurai films are very different from those from Kurosawa. He talks about the Shochiku (the dominating Japanese movie company in the 50's and 60's) tradition of depicting family life, which is reflected in "Hidden Blade". Kurosawa's samurai films (e.g. Yojimbo), he pointed out, never touched upon the family. On the same subject, he also made an interesting observation that the tatami never appears in Kurosawa's films but makes extremely frequent appearance in Ozu's.
Hidden Blade is constructed on the same two themes as in Twilight Samurai: a tender love story and the perils of being a samurai. In Hidden Blade, samurai Munezo (Masatoshi Nagase) has been in love with household maid Kie (Takako Matsu), maybe without being conscious of it himself, when she is married off according to custom to someone belonging to her own lowly caste. When the family she married to proves to be abusive, he brings her back to continue serving as his maid. The other story line involves a fellow swordsmanship student, who is even better than Munezo, becomes an escaped convict. Being a low-ranking samurai, albeit a good one, Munezo has no choice, when ordered by the clan, but to risk his life in trying to kill his former pal. I have simplified the synopsis considerably but I think it suffices to illustrate the similarity of the plot between Hidden Blade and Twilight Samurai.
Dashingly handsome Nagase does not have the depth of Sanada, nor teenage idol Matsu the indescribable charm and poise of Miyazawa. But here, I sinned on comparing again. Both Nagase and Matsu do splendidly in Hidden Blade, moving the audience with their simple sincerity. Although at times tending to be melodramatic, Hidden Blade has all the ingredients to make watching it a joyous experience: script, score, photography. It even has some pretty funny scenes which, depending on how you look at it, could be seen as highly entertaining or somewhat disjointing. And yes, there is a happy ending which looks almost like something coming out of Hollywood.
A word on the title, "Hidden Blade, Devil's Claw". Faced with the frightful challenge of the duel with his former pal, Munezo goes back to their teacher who gives him more guidance, as well as instructions on his deadly "hidden blade, devil's claw" technique which he has hitherto not taught either of them before. When Munezo finally wins the duel, his opponent, in his dying breath, asks if his has been defeated by the "hidden blade, devil's claw". To the audience's surprise, the answer is negative. But don't worry. We do eventually get to see the devil's claw in action and I, for one, find it quite satisfying. This little bit of suspense and mystery, which is also the title of the movie, adds considerable pleasure to watching this movie.
In a recent interview, director Yamada Yoji intimated that his samurai films are very different from those from Kurosawa. He talks about the Shochiku (the dominating Japanese movie company in the 50's and 60's) tradition of depicting family life, which is reflected in "Hidden Blade". Kurosawa's samurai films (e.g. Yojimbo), he pointed out, never touched upon the family. On the same subject, he also made an interesting observation that the tatami never appears in Kurosawa's films but makes extremely frequent appearance in Ozu's.