jidaigeki
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Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki (Chūshingura: Story of Flower, Story of Snow) (1962)
Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki The end of the year approaches, and with it all the usual holiday stress. Escape with me now to 18th century Japan, a world of grace and beauty, honor and courage. This is the world of… Continue reading
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Tokugawa Sekkusu Kinshi-rei: Ahikijō Daimyō (Tokugawa Sex Ban / The Erotomaniac Daimyō) (1972)
Directed by Norifumi Suzuki Look, I know. I KNOW. Hear me out. This is a good movie! I’m struggling to describe it. It’s… a soft-core dramedy? The title character is an absurd figure played with admirably straight-faced conviction by Hiroshi… Continue reading
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Yūrei-sen: Zenpen (Ghost Ship) (1957); Yūrei-sen: Kōhen (Ghost Ship Part 2) (1957)
Directed by Sadatsugu Matsuda A two-part action/adventure tale with fantasy overtones and faint echoes of the Disney classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: the eponymous ship attacks other vessels and vanishes, retreating to a secret island base which blows up… Continue reading
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Akahige (Red Beard) (1965); Yoi-dore Musoken (Drunken Sword) (1962)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa / Directed by Tadashi Sawashima Both of the films that are the subject of today’s review feature an unorthodox middle-aged doctor and his arrogant young disciple who clash when the younger man joins the older man’s… Continue reading
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Ugetsu (1953)
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi In contrast to last week’s film Ugetsu needs no introduction: this is Criterion Collection content. Unlike Gorotsuki-bune I found Ugetsu a slog. I wanted to like it far more than I did. Perhaps my expectations were… Continue reading
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Gorotsuki-bune (Ship of Outlaws) (1950)
Directed by Kazuo Mori I discovered this action-packed gem from Daiei hidden in the depths of YouTube. The YouTube copy has no English subtitles and is a low-resolution transfer of a poor quality print. You know it’s a good movie… Continue reading
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Jūsan-nin no shikaku (13 Assassins) (1963)
Directed by Eiichi Kudo To my astonishment 13 Assassins currently has four reviews on IMDb. I’m sorry but that’s just wrong. A classic movie deserves better than four paltry reviews. One of the purposes of my blog is to introduce… Continue reading
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Real Men Wear Eyeliner
A casual viewer of Japanese period dramas might wonder what to make of some scenes. The men wear makeup, and they are sometimes depicted weeping openly. What’s going on? Let’s deal with the makeup first. This doesn’t faze me because… Continue reading
Ukiyo-e Owl 