Essential Samurai Movies
The end of each of my reviews is tagged with a concise verdict that reduces my reaction to a single word. Essentially, this is my variant on a five-star rating system. I believe my labels suggest more of what I’m going for, but they could be broken down as follows –
5/5 – Essential – A near-perfect film, if only in its own way. Should be seen by every film fan.
4/5 – Great – An excellent movie but perhaps flawed or otherwise lacking a “something extra”.
3/5 – Good – A film worth seeing under some circumstances. The broadest range of quality found here.
2/5 – Weak – A movie with flaws that outweigh its positive qualities.
1/5 – X – An overwhelmingly awful film with no redeeming qualities (exception – so-bad-it’s-good films).
As much as I have a love/hate relationship with rating systems, I’ve decided to use this as a short-cut mechanism for busy readers. However, the system itself isn’t what todays post regards. Today, we’re discussing only the top of the totem pole, the “essential” samurai movie label and a number of films I believe deserve it.
To elaborate, a film being an essential watch does not always condone a “perfect” movie. Somewhat in the spirit of Ebert, I embrace the idea of the flawed masterpiece, a movie with such praiseworthy elements as to completely outshine any flaws. In the context of this blog, extra consideration has been given to a film’s significance and how it can contribute to one’s overall understanding of the samurai movie genre. I’ve selected several films that fulfill this roll in being exemplary sub-genre flicks and exhibiting quality as films of any kind. Call it a “top five” or whatever you wish, these are my picks for the most essential chanbara flicks I’ve encountered in my exploration so far.
YOJIMBO
On IMDb, Toshirô Mifune is credited in over 180 films, the vast majority of them being samurai roles. “Yojimbo,” and Mifune’s portrayal of the Japanese man with no name, is indisputably the crown jewel of this enormous body of work. Something in the nameless (sometimes referred to as “Yojimbo,” but this is not entirely accurate), wandering ronin’s swagger, chill demeanor, and near superhuman skill spoke to the masses of the time, and today, “Yojimbo” being a huge financial success then (even surpassing that of Seven Samurai) and an undeniable classic now.
Although “Yojimbo” could easily be written off as one enormous genre cliché after another, it helps to remember that many of these very tropes were established by this very film. A hungry samurai walks into a peasant village seems to have been the pitch for every chanbara film to follow for the next ten years as a result of “Yojimbo’s” success and appeal. And one could further argue that no one ever got it as right as Kurosawa with this first go around. “Yojimbo” and its follow up, "Sanjuro", remain quite possibly the filmmaker’s most tightly directed features, and ooze 1960’s film craftmanship.
Perhaps it’s a bit of a stretch to call “Lady Snowblood” a samurai movie, but Japanese grindhouse as chanbara translates to “sword fighting movies”, I’ll count it.
That cleared up, the vicarious success of “Kill Bill” ought to verify the appeal in “Snowblood’s” unique camerawork, slick choreography, and carrot-orange blood. The unique marriage of ridiculous melodrama and legitimately high-quality filmmaking lands this film somewhere in the wacky grindhouse genre, and, almost by default, makes it the definitive movie of the bunch. Some might point to the equally zany “Lone Wolf and Cub” films, but that series struggles to find the self-awareness, that perfect tone that “Snowblood” maintains. Truly, this flick is incomparable, but it boasts enough talent behind the camera to merit its deviant nature. “Lady Snowblood” somehow manages to justify its elements of trash with a strange beauty that cuts through the violence like Snowblood cuts through a band of thugs. For that, “Lady Snowblood” is a unique treat, and a worthwhile watch for movie fans of the general sort, beyond just chanbara fanatics.
Failure to include “Seven Samurai” on a best of chanbara list has historically resulted in consequences as severe as one critic having over 700 copies of various Adam Sandler movies mailed to him with death threats scrawled on the covers.
In all seriousness though, “Seven Samurai” is the samurai movie one is bound to know if they have an awareness of samurai movies at all, and there’s something to that. In the way that “Yojimbo” from the same director seemed to define the “lone samurai superhero” movie, “Seven Samurai” marked the beginning of the “samurai ensemble” trend (and inspired a number of inferior, American remakes). The idea of an optimistic band of misfits teaming up to defend those who can’t defend themselves is such an inherently appealing tale and a fundamental archetype in our comic book movie era that it’s hard to imagine the idea having an origin, but here it is, at least in the world of film, right in this 1954 classic.
And that’s beside the fact that everything Kurosawa made boasted intelligent camera setups, impressive choreography, and widespread appeal. The one thing I will give the director is that he certainly knew how to make a 1950’s-70’s Japanese blockbuster equivalent. In other words, the guy made movies that people were bound to like, like a Japanese James Cameron, but…better?
13 ASSASSINS
Typically, when one considers the era of “samurai movies” things get a slow start in the 40’s, rev up movies, because this is a gross misconception. The format and style has changed somewhat, but from Takeshi Kitano’s 2003 love letter to the “Zatoichi” series to 2010’s “Sword of Desperation”, chanbara is alive an well in modern Japan. These films perform significantly better than the niche westerns produced on this side of the world today, contrary to what one might assume. That said, for my money, the best samurai movie of the past 15 years is “13 Assassins” from the prolific Takashi Miike (who’s new film, “Blade of the Immortal”, marks his 100th feature film).
Maintaining the core appeal of an ensemble samurai flick but with updated visuals, choreography and sensabilities, “13 Assassins” is a bloody masterpiece. Miike’s movie plays like a classic of the genre but takes full advantage of the benefits a modern project is offered. Whereas many of the best samurai movies make a vague villain out of some corrupt lord hidden away in his castle, the antagonist of “13 Assassins” is defined, present, and oh so despicable, as in hard R-rating despicable. And this provides a new sense of emotional heft to the genre. The samurai are altogether more noble for their efforts, and the stakes are real. This movie maintains a weight that earlier films simply couldn’t get away with.
And it should go without saying that “13 Assassins” is extremely well done. The entire second half is essentially one enormous, prolonged, glorious battle, and one of the best to ever be put to film.
I’ve alluded to this before, but Masaki Kobayashi’s “Harakiri” is probably the all-time greatest samurai movie (sorry “Seven Samurai”) and really one of the all-time greatest movies period. I know that’s bold praise, but I doubt it would be challenged by many of those who have seen the movie.
Like its sister film, “Samurai Rebellion”, “Harakiri” somehow manages to approach a goofy genre with unique reverence and still maintain the appeal of a commercial movie. Instead of idolizing honor and tradition, “Harakiri” challenges it, making for a commentary on the genre of which this very film is a part of. Kobayashi’s masterpiece means something beyond shallow tales of heroism and is bound to linger with a viewer long after the credits have rolled.
But, that’s only supported by the riveting screenplay, stellar cast (including Tatsuya Nakadai’s best performance), and a perfect one on one samurai duel followed by a bloodbath to rival the finale of “The Sword of Doom”. Every frame of “Harakiri” is cinematic brilliance and pure bliss for any samurai movie fan.
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