In reality this is the second Japanese film I have seen, the first being "Hero." It is no let down. Once again the Japanese have delivered a truly beautiful and excellent movie. ("Ghost in the Shell" is Japanese, but animation just doesn't compare to these two movies.) "Samurai Fiction" is done in black and white, which (IMO) adds to the story. (Color always seemed a distraction to me - there's more drama in black and white.) Now that I think of it there is no diminish in the beauty either. So nearly everything is perfect with this movie.
What held it back as a 10 is the use of music. At the beginning and in the middle the music is cross-cultural and completely obliterates all of the atmosphere the director worked so hard to create. (Some too modern music is used and some too old music is used - a rather _major_ disappointment for me.) However, (and quite suddenly) the music gets in synchronization (i.e. the style and selection match perfectly) with the movie. And so I slipped quite easily back into the story. But the rest of the movie is so beautiful and well done that I (it) didn't get in my way of giving the movie a 9 out of 10. (Loose these bad matches and the movie is a 10/10.) Human stories are true and dramatic across all cultures. (Perhaps one day God will bless man to realize this.) 9/10
-Zafoid
What held it back as a 10 is the use of music. At the beginning and in the middle the music is cross-cultural and completely obliterates all of the atmosphere the director worked so hard to create. (Some too modern music is used and some too old music is used - a rather _major_ disappointment for me.) However, (and quite suddenly) the music gets in synchronization (i.e. the style and selection match perfectly) with the movie. And so I slipped quite easily back into the story. But the rest of the movie is so beautiful and well done that I (it) didn't get in my way of giving the movie a 9 out of 10. (Loose these bad matches and the movie is a 10/10.) Human stories are true and dramatic across all cultures. (Perhaps one day God will bless man to realize this.) 9/10
-Zafoid