1965 film. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Written by Akira Kurosawa, Masato Ide, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Hideo Oguni. Based on the novel by Shugoro Yamamoto, and the novel THE INSULTED AND THE INJURED by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Related Reviews:
- The 1861 novel THE INSULTED AND THE INJURED.
Noboru Yasumoto is a bit of a prick. A hot young doctor who just finished studying European styles of medicine, he thinks he's been sent to Edo to be the new physician for the local Shogunate. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself at a rundown old clinic that caters to the poor ... for free!
I'm sure you can see where this goes. Yasumoto starts out snide and uncaring, but a series of circumstances bring him to realize his gifts can benefit all of humanity. It's a classic hero's journey and Kurosawa never once strays from the well-worn path, but his execution is just so sharp that it almost feels new.
Yuzo Kayama is wonderful in the lead role. As Yasumoto initially rebels by refusing to treat patients or don the standard uniform, Kayama keeps us from hating the character by playing up his suspicions when the head of the clinic constantly asks to see his notes. They are filled with new, special medical knowledge, skills he payed and trained hard to learn. It's understandable that he would see this as some plot to rob him of that info. But then he inevitable gets put in his place when, as he finds himself unable to watch an old man die, or passes out in the midst of a violent surgery, Yasumoto learns that all his knowledge is nothing without experience in the field.
It's a bit strange to see Toshiro Mifune take a supporting role in his last film with Kurosawa (especially in a part that would have typically been played by veteran actor Takashi Shimura), but he's wonderful as Kyojo Niide, the head of the clinic who's often nicknamed Red Beard because ... well, because he has a thick reddish beard. He initially seems like a stern, tyrannical taskmaster, but there's a kindness to his method that slowly draws the unwilling into acceptance. Even Yasumoto.
The first half of the film is the basic mentor/pupil story as Yasumoto earns his education. Through the various episodes of patient after patient, he not only goes through a series of lessons, but we get wonderful glimpses into a world familiar to Kurosawa fans: a time when bloated, constipated bureaucrats do nothing but consume while people work and toil for an uncertain future and children beg or steal for food.
The second half takes a sudden twist as Red Beard drops into the background so Yasumoto can take on his first full-time patient. Borrowing heavily from the Nellie subplot in Dostoevsky's The Insulted and the Injured, sometimes adapting the material almost word for word, Yasumoto finds a 12-year-old girl (skilfully played by young Terumi Niki) trapped in a brothel, frees her, and sets about doing his best to repair both her physical and emotional damage. Just as in the book, it's a beautiful story where the two sometimes switch roles in terms of who's taking care of who as both use one another to support their own broken hearts. The novel threw in an extra, unnecessary twist that spoiled the whole thing for me, but Kurosawa writes that bit out and allows the characters to grow in ways Dostoevsky was too pessimistic to allow.
I'm not sure how the rest of the story lives up to Yamamoto's original novel, as I couldn't find an English translation, but I don't doubt that Kurosawa has made it his own, as he has time and time again. Though the film runs just over three hours in length, there was never a moment where I wasn't captivated by this story, these characters, this world. There is a bit of a shadow over the picture, yes, what with it marking the end of a remarkable era in Kurosawa's work, but I couldn't imagine that time ending on a richer note than this.
Trailer:
For more information about this film, check out its IMDB and Wikipedia pages. It can be purchased as a special edition DVD, or as a bare-bones DVD in a boxset of 25 Kurosawa films.
January 28, 2009
January 21, 2009
24 (s7) #2: 9:00am - 10:00am
2009 episode
directed by Jon Cassar
written by Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff
created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran
(previous)
(next)
My way or your way. That is the mindset of this show where the people who follow the letter of the law are weak and those willing to bend the rules are held up as heroes. I like that they somewhat started a debate between the two sides, but the bias of the writers' opinion shows when everyone who questions Jack is a spineless prick and all the field grunts quietly turn to him and say "What they're making you go through, it's wrong."
I know, I know, I'm letting my own political beliefs show, but I'm not saying Jack should be vilified or set down a straight path. I just wish they could make the dichotomy a bit more gray, with each side fairly represented and the question of who's right being left to the individual members of the audience. As it is, the praise constantly thrown at Jack is starting to feel a bit too much like grand-standing, chest-thumping, hero worship.
That said, I'm still enjoying the show. Even though the bad guys keep missing Jack while he takes them down with his first shot (Yo, Joe!) and stiff lines like "To what end?" pop up now and then, the plotting is nice and tight, the characters (aside from my above accusations) are sound, and the concept of a device that allows villains to hack through government firewalls plays out in a way that doesn't strain my credibility. It's good. It's entertaining. It's 24.
An extra special bit of props go to the writers for their handling of the African dictator General Juma (Tony Todd). I figured they would use the first few episodes to wrap up what threads were left from the 24: REDEMPTION special before moving on, but, no, they have him and his people deeply enmeshed in the broader goings-on and I can't wait to see where they go.
(purchase)
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Jon Cassar
written by Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff
created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran
(previous)
(next)
My way or your way. That is the mindset of this show where the people who follow the letter of the law are weak and those willing to bend the rules are held up as heroes. I like that they somewhat started a debate between the two sides, but the bias of the writers' opinion shows when everyone who questions Jack is a spineless prick and all the field grunts quietly turn to him and say "What they're making you go through, it's wrong."
I know, I know, I'm letting my own political beliefs show, but I'm not saying Jack should be vilified or set down a straight path. I just wish they could make the dichotomy a bit more gray, with each side fairly represented and the question of who's right being left to the individual members of the audience. As it is, the praise constantly thrown at Jack is starting to feel a bit too much like grand-standing, chest-thumping, hero worship.
That said, I'm still enjoying the show. Even though the bad guys keep missing Jack while he takes them down with his first shot (Yo, Joe!) and stiff lines like "To what end?" pop up now and then, the plotting is nice and tight, the characters (aside from my above accusations) are sound, and the concept of a device that allows villains to hack through government firewalls plays out in a way that doesn't strain my credibility. It's good. It's entertaining. It's 24.
An extra special bit of props go to the writers for their handling of the African dictator General Juma (Tony Todd). I figured they would use the first few episodes to wrap up what threads were left from the 24: REDEMPTION special before moving on, but, no, they have him and his people deeply enmeshed in the broader goings-on and I can't wait to see where they go.
(purchase)
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
The Insulted and the Injured
1861 novel
written by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A few years ago, young Ivan "Vanya" Petrovich published his first novel, which was quite a rousing success. In the time since, he's been struggling to piece together what he can of a followup as he finds his attentions constantly drawn elsewhere. You see, he's desperately in love with his childhood sweetheart Natasha Nikolayevna, but her parents are uncertain about the financial future of a novelist, so they convince the two to hold off their marriage until Vanya is a bit more stable. During that break, Natasha meets and falls for Alyosha, the kind yet flighty son of a wealthy Prince. Vanya, desiring Natasha's happiness above all else, finds himself the supporting player to the unfolding affair between the passionate woman, the apologetically unfaithful new man in her life, and their respective parents who are in the midst of a harsh economic feud.
I know all of this sounds a bit melodramatic and bland, but I was surprised at the energetic humor Dostoevsky layers throughout the material as our hapless young hero, Vanya, finds himself yanked every which way. At first, he's a bit unsympathetic and weak and you just want to smack the dude and tell him to stand up for himself, but there's a clever twist part way through were we realize he's far more perceptive than the rest and sees a wicked crash in their future that he's trying to blanket them all for.
So, yes, it really is quite an interesting read, but the most gripping part of the story is a largely unrelated subplot. Vanya's apartment once belonged to an old man our hero used to observe, who would walk into the same restaurant every night, a mangy dog at his side, and just sit and stare before leaving. When an incident leads to that man dying in the author's arms, Vanya can't help but start wondering at the mystery of this man's life. Hence, he rents the dude's apartment and starts going through his stuff.
Yeah, yeah, it all sounds a bit creepy, but Dostoevsky gives Vanya enough innocence to make it work. Especially when, one day, a 13-year-old girl named Nellie walks through his front door and asks where her grandfather is. After a few clipped meetings that all end with Nellie running away, Vanya tracks her to a filthy boarding house where the girl is forced into prostitution to repay her late mother's debts. Vanya is just as horrified at this revelation as we are and uses some friends with underworld connections to free the girl into his care ... only to find himself stuck in a cramped apartment with a tragically damaged girl he knows next to nothing about.
Right there, in the scenes between these two, are where the true depths of the novel lie as they find themselves in a relationship that's innocent yet uncomfortable, childish yet complex. Sadly, Dostoevsky somewhat fumbles around, introduces an out-of-left-field fatal illness, and never pays off half of what he sets up.
In fact, much of the novel suffers from coincidence, the chance meetings of random people who nonetheless are revealed to have ridiculous connections, not the least of which is a paternity issue raised in the final chapter that's meant to be shocking, but I dismissed it early on as a possibility because it was just too contrived. And Dostoevsky didn't prove me wrong.
I don't have enough experience with Dostoevsky to say where this fits into his larger body of work, but I see it was the first novel written after a long, painful exile that included time in a labor camp and an execution that turned out to be a horrendous practical joke. By the time THE IDIOT came around eight years after this, he was much deeper and tighter as an author, so I'm guessing most of the problems here are just signs of inexperience which would smooth out down the road.
And, problematic as it can be at times, with plotting that does occasionally stretch credibility, it is an interesting read filled with colorful, human characters, some damned compelling relationships, and wonderful insights into a time where death was all-too-common and no-one was a mere phone call away.
(read)
(wikipedia)
(my review of the 1965 film adaptation, RED BEARD)
written by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A few years ago, young Ivan "Vanya" Petrovich published his first novel, which was quite a rousing success. In the time since, he's been struggling to piece together what he can of a followup as he finds his attentions constantly drawn elsewhere. You see, he's desperately in love with his childhood sweetheart Natasha Nikolayevna, but her parents are uncertain about the financial future of a novelist, so they convince the two to hold off their marriage until Vanya is a bit more stable. During that break, Natasha meets and falls for Alyosha, the kind yet flighty son of a wealthy Prince. Vanya, desiring Natasha's happiness above all else, finds himself the supporting player to the unfolding affair between the passionate woman, the apologetically unfaithful new man in her life, and their respective parents who are in the midst of a harsh economic feud.
I know all of this sounds a bit melodramatic and bland, but I was surprised at the energetic humor Dostoevsky layers throughout the material as our hapless young hero, Vanya, finds himself yanked every which way. At first, he's a bit unsympathetic and weak and you just want to smack the dude and tell him to stand up for himself, but there's a clever twist part way through were we realize he's far more perceptive than the rest and sees a wicked crash in their future that he's trying to blanket them all for.
So, yes, it really is quite an interesting read, but the most gripping part of the story is a largely unrelated subplot. Vanya's apartment once belonged to an old man our hero used to observe, who would walk into the same restaurant every night, a mangy dog at his side, and just sit and stare before leaving. When an incident leads to that man dying in the author's arms, Vanya can't help but start wondering at the mystery of this man's life. Hence, he rents the dude's apartment and starts going through his stuff.
Yeah, yeah, it all sounds a bit creepy, but Dostoevsky gives Vanya enough innocence to make it work. Especially when, one day, a 13-year-old girl named Nellie walks through his front door and asks where her grandfather is. After a few clipped meetings that all end with Nellie running away, Vanya tracks her to a filthy boarding house where the girl is forced into prostitution to repay her late mother's debts. Vanya is just as horrified at this revelation as we are and uses some friends with underworld connections to free the girl into his care ... only to find himself stuck in a cramped apartment with a tragically damaged girl he knows next to nothing about.
Right there, in the scenes between these two, are where the true depths of the novel lie as they find themselves in a relationship that's innocent yet uncomfortable, childish yet complex. Sadly, Dostoevsky somewhat fumbles around, introduces an out-of-left-field fatal illness, and never pays off half of what he sets up.
In fact, much of the novel suffers from coincidence, the chance meetings of random people who nonetheless are revealed to have ridiculous connections, not the least of which is a paternity issue raised in the final chapter that's meant to be shocking, but I dismissed it early on as a possibility because it was just too contrived. And Dostoevsky didn't prove me wrong.
I don't have enough experience with Dostoevsky to say where this fits into his larger body of work, but I see it was the first novel written after a long, painful exile that included time in a labor camp and an execution that turned out to be a horrendous practical joke. By the time THE IDIOT came around eight years after this, he was much deeper and tighter as an author, so I'm guessing most of the problems here are just signs of inexperience which would smooth out down the road.
And, problematic as it can be at times, with plotting that does occasionally stretch credibility, it is an interesting read filled with colorful, human characters, some damned compelling relationships, and wonderful insights into a time where death was all-too-common and no-one was a mere phone call away.
(read)
(wikipedia)
(my review of the 1965 film adaptation, RED BEARD)
24 (s7) #1: 8:00am - 9:00am
2009 episode
directed by Jon Cassar
written by Howard Gordon, Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff
created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran
(previous)
(next)
After six season of smashing heads for the public good, Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) finds himself in front of a hearing where Senator Blaine Mayer (Kurtwood Smith) symbolizes all the prissy politicians with a knot in their shorts over the acts of torture the now-defunct CTU was allowed to get away with. Jack, of course, represents the right way, the only way, to save lives in times of immediate crisis, so he gets a chance to put the other man in his place with a speech, before FBI Special Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) shows up with a subpoena turning over Jack's custody to her department.
It's with this that I once again re-enter the black & white, might-makes-right world of 24, a show whose politics are so diametrically opposed to my own ... yet I just can't get enough. And things certainly are back in gear with a big terrorist plot, agents scrambling around computer monitors, back-stabbing politicians glaring meaningfully at one another, and Jack quickly back in the field, threatening to jab a pen into a man's eyeball.
Ah, 24. How I missed you so.
I'm not really sure how to review the rest of the episode without giving things away, since this was almost entirely setup for all the initial arcs. Let's see ... President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) struggles with internal politics and a wishy-washy media as she goes forward with her plans to overthrown the African dictator Benjamin Juma (Tony Todd; see 24: REDEMPTION), all while her husband tries to work out the mystery of their son's death. And then we get John Billingsley as Michael Latham, an expert at firewall technology who's kidnapped by what appear to be domestic terrorists in a great opening scene. Then there's the FBI headquarters where Janeane Garofolo and Rhys Coiro yuck it up, and the stiff Assistant Director Larry Moss (Jeffrey Nordling) keeps reminding Jack that his people don't have the same leniency when it comes to the Geneva Convention.
And let us not forget Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), the long suffering brother-in-action of Jack who apparently died two seasons ago. When it was announced that he'd be back, there were a lot of questions about how the writers would pull that one off, and they sort of do by explaining it in the bare minimum amount of detail they can get away with. It mostly works because such questions instantly pale against the revelation that he, this beloved former friend of our hero, is now the leader of these possible domestic terrorists who kidnapped Latham for some nefarious plot involving air traffic control.
At least, that's what they want us to think. I learned long ago that it doesn't pay to take this show at face value, so I'm sure they'll have a good twist in there, followed by another twist, then a betrayal, then a few deaths, another resurrection, an old flame, some backstabbing, a smattering of torture, and one final twist that leaves us sucking on a cig after one hell of a climax.
Bring it on.
(purchase)
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Jon Cassar
written by Howard Gordon, Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff
created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran
(previous)
(next)
After six season of smashing heads for the public good, Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) finds himself in front of a hearing where Senator Blaine Mayer (Kurtwood Smith) symbolizes all the prissy politicians with a knot in their shorts over the acts of torture the now-defunct CTU was allowed to get away with. Jack, of course, represents the right way, the only way, to save lives in times of immediate crisis, so he gets a chance to put the other man in his place with a speech, before FBI Special Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) shows up with a subpoena turning over Jack's custody to her department.
It's with this that I once again re-enter the black & white, might-makes-right world of 24, a show whose politics are so diametrically opposed to my own ... yet I just can't get enough. And things certainly are back in gear with a big terrorist plot, agents scrambling around computer monitors, back-stabbing politicians glaring meaningfully at one another, and Jack quickly back in the field, threatening to jab a pen into a man's eyeball.
Ah, 24. How I missed you so.
I'm not really sure how to review the rest of the episode without giving things away, since this was almost entirely setup for all the initial arcs. Let's see ... President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) struggles with internal politics and a wishy-washy media as she goes forward with her plans to overthrown the African dictator Benjamin Juma (Tony Todd; see 24: REDEMPTION), all while her husband tries to work out the mystery of their son's death. And then we get John Billingsley as Michael Latham, an expert at firewall technology who's kidnapped by what appear to be domestic terrorists in a great opening scene. Then there's the FBI headquarters where Janeane Garofolo and Rhys Coiro yuck it up, and the stiff Assistant Director Larry Moss (Jeffrey Nordling) keeps reminding Jack that his people don't have the same leniency when it comes to the Geneva Convention.
And let us not forget Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), the long suffering brother-in-action of Jack who apparently died two seasons ago. When it was announced that he'd be back, there were a lot of questions about how the writers would pull that one off, and they sort of do by explaining it in the bare minimum amount of detail they can get away with. It mostly works because such questions instantly pale against the revelation that he, this beloved former friend of our hero, is now the leader of these possible domestic terrorists who kidnapped Latham for some nefarious plot involving air traffic control.
At least, that's what they want us to think. I learned long ago that it doesn't pay to take this show at face value, so I'm sure they'll have a good twist in there, followed by another twist, then a betrayal, then a few deaths, another resurrection, an old flame, some backstabbing, a smattering of torture, and one final twist that leaves us sucking on a cig after one hell of a climax.
Bring it on.
(purchase)
(purchase)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
Sanctuary #12: Revelation #1
2008 episode
directed by Martin Wood
written by Damian Kindler and Sam Egan
created by Damian Kindler
(previous)
When the Cabal creates a bio-weapon that drives Abnormals mad before eventually killing them ... Hang up a second. By my reckoning, Abnormals are simply species and evolutionary off-shoots as yet unrecognized by modern science. They are still their own individual creatures, so how is it that they all, this random assortment of beings, share genetics so similar that a plague will specifically victimize them while leaving the rest of Earth's life intact? No, it's not good enough for me that they simply say all Abnormals share a genetic link. It just plain doesn't make sense.
Anyway, the Cabal develops a plague and the team breaks in two in an effort to stop it. Henry (Ryan Robbins) and Ashley (Emilie Ullerup) will sneak into a Cabal lab and try destroying the bioweapon before it can be launched, while Helen (Amanda Tapping) and Will (Robin Dunne) round up the remaining members of The Five so they can recover the remaining bits of vampire blood which gave them all their abilities in an effort to formulate a vaccine. This being the first half of a two-parter, most of our time is spent learning about the remaining members of The Five.
Thanks to the vampire blood, James Watson (the always charming Peter Wingfield) has a superhuman intellect that makes up for a body encased in a steam-punk era exoskeleton. In a nice touch, his logical deduction served as inspiration for Doyle's character of Sherlock Holmes, though James insisted his name be used for the sidekick so as to avoid undue attention.
Nigel Griffin's power made him the genuine Invisible Man, but he unfortunately died in the 60s. In his place, the group rounds up - very much against her will - his granddaughter, Clara (Christine Chatelain), who looks at her powers as anything but a gift.
I was a bit critical of the show for how they played broad and loose with historical detail when it came to Nikolai Tesla or John Druit's brief time as Jack the Ripper, but they really pulled these two off, separating them just enough from genuine (or literary, in their cases) history to sell their stories while offering some wonderful spins on their personas (particularly Watson) that leave them feeling fresh.
The episode wasn't perfect, though. Alongside the aforementioned bit of genetic confusion, there's a bit of biological infection that gets loose without explanation and Dana Whitcomb (Lynda Boyd) is still playing the figurehead of the Cabal with too much forced menace when devout idealism would be far more chilling. That said, it's a rousing, informative setup to what I hope will be a smash of a season finale. Though it started off rough, this show has been getting progressively better with each episode and I'm definitely looking forward to more.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
(review written 1/21/09)
directed by Martin Wood
written by Damian Kindler and Sam Egan
created by Damian Kindler
(previous)
When the Cabal creates a bio-weapon that drives Abnormals mad before eventually killing them ... Hang up a second. By my reckoning, Abnormals are simply species and evolutionary off-shoots as yet unrecognized by modern science. They are still their own individual creatures, so how is it that they all, this random assortment of beings, share genetics so similar that a plague will specifically victimize them while leaving the rest of Earth's life intact? No, it's not good enough for me that they simply say all Abnormals share a genetic link. It just plain doesn't make sense.
Anyway, the Cabal develops a plague and the team breaks in two in an effort to stop it. Henry (Ryan Robbins) and Ashley (Emilie Ullerup) will sneak into a Cabal lab and try destroying the bioweapon before it can be launched, while Helen (Amanda Tapping) and Will (Robin Dunne) round up the remaining members of The Five so they can recover the remaining bits of vampire blood which gave them all their abilities in an effort to formulate a vaccine. This being the first half of a two-parter, most of our time is spent learning about the remaining members of The Five.
Thanks to the vampire blood, James Watson (the always charming Peter Wingfield) has a superhuman intellect that makes up for a body encased in a steam-punk era exoskeleton. In a nice touch, his logical deduction served as inspiration for Doyle's character of Sherlock Holmes, though James insisted his name be used for the sidekick so as to avoid undue attention.
Nigel Griffin's power made him the genuine Invisible Man, but he unfortunately died in the 60s. In his place, the group rounds up - very much against her will - his granddaughter, Clara (Christine Chatelain), who looks at her powers as anything but a gift.
I was a bit critical of the show for how they played broad and loose with historical detail when it came to Nikolai Tesla or John Druit's brief time as Jack the Ripper, but they really pulled these two off, separating them just enough from genuine (or literary, in their cases) history to sell their stories while offering some wonderful spins on their personas (particularly Watson) that leave them feeling fresh.
The episode wasn't perfect, though. Alongside the aforementioned bit of genetic confusion, there's a bit of biological infection that gets loose without explanation and Dana Whitcomb (Lynda Boyd) is still playing the figurehead of the Cabal with too much forced menace when devout idealism would be far more chilling. That said, it's a rousing, informative setup to what I hope will be a smash of a season finale. Though it started off rough, this show has been getting progressively better with each episode and I'm definitely looking forward to more.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
(review written 1/21/09)
January 10, 2009
Sanctuary #11: Instinct
2008 episode
directed by S.A. Adelson
written by Damian Kindler
created by Damian Kindler
(previous)
(next)
Young weather girl ... ahem, meteorologist Amy Saunders (Rekha Sharma) wants to play in the big leagues, but the only thing that can get her out of pointing at clouds on a green screen is one hell of a major story. She finds one when she drags cautious camera-man Zach (Matty Finochio) to a warehouse district being cordoned off by police due to a number of people possibly killed by a wild animal.
Thus begins our BLAIR WITCH episode as, through the lens of Zach's camera, we bump into the Sanctuary gang and follow along in their attempts to capture a lethal bug from a remote island in Japan.
I've got to say, they pulled this one off with much more skill than most shows with a similar gimmick. The camera work is naturally staged, there's a lovely contrast between the calm moments and chaotic action, the digital F/X are seamless, and Sharma and the regular cast do a great job of staying in character while playing to the different format.
You'll notice I didn't include the mostly unseen Finochio in that bit. He seems a decent guy and there are some nice "Holy crap!" average Joe moments in his narration, but he keeps rambling on and on in Captain Obvious fashion. It gets tired quick.
Another complaint would be the fact that the lead gang lets these people tag along in the first place. Ashley's idea of tranqing them and tucking them in a safe place makes a hell of a lot more sense given the covert nature of the operation, but, no, Helen wants the camera around so this creature can be properly documented. Sure.
So, yes, it has a few problems, but this was still a surprisingly entertaining episode. The plot is rather basic and the ticking-clock threat of gathering cops outside is underused, but I don't care. It's a theme park ride, and a fine one at that. The cast, the writer, the director, all did a damn good job of taking an increasingly tired gimmick and making it feel fresh again.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by S.A. Adelson
written by Damian Kindler
created by Damian Kindler
(previous)
(next)
Young weather girl ... ahem, meteorologist Amy Saunders (Rekha Sharma) wants to play in the big leagues, but the only thing that can get her out of pointing at clouds on a green screen is one hell of a major story. She finds one when she drags cautious camera-man Zach (Matty Finochio) to a warehouse district being cordoned off by police due to a number of people possibly killed by a wild animal.
Thus begins our BLAIR WITCH episode as, through the lens of Zach's camera, we bump into the Sanctuary gang and follow along in their attempts to capture a lethal bug from a remote island in Japan.
I've got to say, they pulled this one off with much more skill than most shows with a similar gimmick. The camera work is naturally staged, there's a lovely contrast between the calm moments and chaotic action, the digital F/X are seamless, and Sharma and the regular cast do a great job of staying in character while playing to the different format.
You'll notice I didn't include the mostly unseen Finochio in that bit. He seems a decent guy and there are some nice "Holy crap!" average Joe moments in his narration, but he keeps rambling on and on in Captain Obvious fashion. It gets tired quick.
Another complaint would be the fact that the lead gang lets these people tag along in the first place. Ashley's idea of tranqing them and tucking them in a safe place makes a hell of a lot more sense given the covert nature of the operation, but, no, Helen wants the camera around so this creature can be properly documented. Sure.
So, yes, it has a few problems, but this was still a surprisingly entertaining episode. The plot is rather basic and the ticking-clock threat of gathering cops outside is underused, but I don't care. It's a theme park ride, and a fine one at that. The cast, the writer, the director, all did a damn good job of taking an increasingly tired gimmick and making it feel fresh again.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
January 9, 2009
Sanctuary #10: Warriors
2008 episode
directed by Brenton Spencer
written by Peter Mohan and Sam Egan
created by Damian Kindler
(previous)
(next)
A Fight Club for abnormals. That sounds like an interesting concept, right? It is, and certainly could have made for one hell of a story, but they sadly stumbled all over the execution.
While I don't mind the setup with Will trying to track down an old friend who was forcibly drafted into the ring, nor the idea that the warriors are genetic tests that the Cabal hopes to sell off to the highest bidder, the execution is just so fucking sloppy. Take, for instance, the notion that the Cabal, run from a swank office with a glass floor, would stage these tests in private venues so public that mechanics and bums know where to find them. I'm sorry, but anyone who can afford such digs and clientele would use a hidden, secure lab of some sort, which pretty much tears apart the very concept at the episode's core.
And then there's Will. I'll blow a little spoiler in your ear and reveal (well, the episode's promo beat me to it) that he gets caught up in things and finds himself yet another test subject. Before you know it, he's donning a 'roided-up rubber torso straight out of U.H.F. and pounding the shit out of people with nary a stretch-mark in sight. Truly, such a rapid genetic transformation would have some lasting, disfiguring effect. But no! With a few shots from Helen, he's back in shape for the next episode.
And then, just because the misused concept wasn't underplayed enough to begin with, we get a subplot where Helen finds her long-lost father (Jim Byrnes), only to get angry when he doesn't remember who she is. That's right, the curious, open-minded Helen Magnus, instead of testing out alternative possibilities, just stubbornly goes off on the guy again and again and again. It's terrible, and the contrived explanation behind his presence, followed by the ridiculous way they send him off, had me shaking my head in a stupor.
This isn't a bad series. No, it's not one of the best shows around and is still struggling a bit on its newborn legs, but it's better than this. How the producers allowed the filming of such a terrible, contrived episode that kicks around and shits on a genuinely decent plot concept is beyond me. And to top it off, the direction and editing are clunky.
There. Enough rant. Was there anything good? Yeah, a few things here and there:
- The lead cast is still fun to watch, though none of their charming banter was present.
- Though somewhat miscast (he's not even trying with that "British" accent), Jim Byrnes did what he could with his guest role.
- Aside from Will's hilariously horrendous transformation, some of the makeup effects (nice giant arm) were clever and convincing.
And that's it. This was a bad episode. A bad, bad, bad episode.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Brenton Spencer
written by Peter Mohan and Sam Egan
created by Damian Kindler
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A Fight Club for abnormals. That sounds like an interesting concept, right? It is, and certainly could have made for one hell of a story, but they sadly stumbled all over the execution.
While I don't mind the setup with Will trying to track down an old friend who was forcibly drafted into the ring, nor the idea that the warriors are genetic tests that the Cabal hopes to sell off to the highest bidder, the execution is just so fucking sloppy. Take, for instance, the notion that the Cabal, run from a swank office with a glass floor, would stage these tests in private venues so public that mechanics and bums know where to find them. I'm sorry, but anyone who can afford such digs and clientele would use a hidden, secure lab of some sort, which pretty much tears apart the very concept at the episode's core.
And then there's Will. I'll blow a little spoiler in your ear and reveal (well, the episode's promo beat me to it) that he gets caught up in things and finds himself yet another test subject. Before you know it, he's donning a 'roided-up rubber torso straight out of U.H.F. and pounding the shit out of people with nary a stretch-mark in sight. Truly, such a rapid genetic transformation would have some lasting, disfiguring effect. But no! With a few shots from Helen, he's back in shape for the next episode.
And then, just because the misused concept wasn't underplayed enough to begin with, we get a subplot where Helen finds her long-lost father (Jim Byrnes), only to get angry when he doesn't remember who she is. That's right, the curious, open-minded Helen Magnus, instead of testing out alternative possibilities, just stubbornly goes off on the guy again and again and again. It's terrible, and the contrived explanation behind his presence, followed by the ridiculous way they send him off, had me shaking my head in a stupor.
This isn't a bad series. No, it's not one of the best shows around and is still struggling a bit on its newborn legs, but it's better than this. How the producers allowed the filming of such a terrible, contrived episode that kicks around and shits on a genuinely decent plot concept is beyond me. And to top it off, the direction and editing are clunky.
There. Enough rant. Was there anything good? Yeah, a few things here and there:
- The lead cast is still fun to watch, though none of their charming banter was present.
- Though somewhat miscast (he's not even trying with that "British" accent), Jim Byrnes did what he could with his guest role.
- Aside from Will's hilariously horrendous transformation, some of the makeup effects (nice giant arm) were clever and convincing.
And that's it. This was a bad episode. A bad, bad, bad episode.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
Sanctuary #9: Requiem
2008 episode
directed by Martin Wood
written by Damian Kindler
series created by Diamian Kindler
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You know this type of episode. Ever since John Carpenter's stunning remake of THE THING, every sci-fi themed show has to have that one story where characters are confined in an isolated location while some outside influence increases their aggression and paranoia. Well, here we have another, which is strange since SANCTUARY already did this type of plot as far back as four episodes ago.
This time, the cast entirely consists of Helen and Will as they take their private sub (nice, confined sets) deep into the Bermuda Triangle to investigate some troubling mermaid activity. Finding at least a hundred members of the species floating dead in the waters, torn to shreds, Helen becomes exposed to a neurological parasite that starts her down a dark, violent path.
Now, while I wish they hadn't done a similarly themed episode so soon after another, this was a standout, easily my favorite of the season so far. Kindler wrote a masterpiece of gradually rising tension with real stakes that all grow naturally from the still developing mentor/student relationship between our leads. He's ably supported by Martin Wood, who's long been a favorite TV director of mine. Except for some genuinely haunting external F/X shots, he keeps the camera cramped in alongside the actors and knows when to back off and let them really sink their teeth into their roles.
Which brings us to the stunning performance of Amanda Tapping. Up until now, Helen Magnus has been a vision of grace, determination, and empathy, but here, her brain twisted by the infecting parasite, she becomes a force to be reckoned with. Grinning ear to ear like Nicholson in the SHINING, she goes off on Will in some genuinely terrifying ways, both physical and psychological. And Robin Dunne more than rises to the challenge as Will struggles with how far he's willing to let his mentor go before certain actions become unavoidable.
If anything hurt this episode, it's the fact that we know these two will be back next week, knowledge that does cut the tension a tad, and they never really explain how Helen conveniently escapes permanent brain damage. But the sharp writing, tight direction, and stupendous performances more than make up for it. If only the entire season could be this good.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
directed by Martin Wood
written by Damian Kindler
series created by Diamian Kindler
(previous)
(next)
You know this type of episode. Ever since John Carpenter's stunning remake of THE THING, every sci-fi themed show has to have that one story where characters are confined in an isolated location while some outside influence increases their aggression and paranoia. Well, here we have another, which is strange since SANCTUARY already did this type of plot as far back as four episodes ago.
This time, the cast entirely consists of Helen and Will as they take their private sub (nice, confined sets) deep into the Bermuda Triangle to investigate some troubling mermaid activity. Finding at least a hundred members of the species floating dead in the waters, torn to shreds, Helen becomes exposed to a neurological parasite that starts her down a dark, violent path.
Now, while I wish they hadn't done a similarly themed episode so soon after another, this was a standout, easily my favorite of the season so far. Kindler wrote a masterpiece of gradually rising tension with real stakes that all grow naturally from the still developing mentor/student relationship between our leads. He's ably supported by Martin Wood, who's long been a favorite TV director of mine. Except for some genuinely haunting external F/X shots, he keeps the camera cramped in alongside the actors and knows when to back off and let them really sink their teeth into their roles.
Which brings us to the stunning performance of Amanda Tapping. Up until now, Helen Magnus has been a vision of grace, determination, and empathy, but here, her brain twisted by the infecting parasite, she becomes a force to be reckoned with. Grinning ear to ear like Nicholson in the SHINING, she goes off on Will in some genuinely terrifying ways, both physical and psychological. And Robin Dunne more than rises to the challenge as Will struggles with how far he's willing to let his mentor go before certain actions become unavoidable.
If anything hurt this episode, it's the fact that we know these two will be back next week, knowledge that does cut the tension a tad, and they never really explain how Helen conveniently escapes permanent brain damage. But the sharp writing, tight direction, and stupendous performances more than make up for it. If only the entire season could be this good.
(purchase)
(official website)
(official website)
(wikipedia)
(internet movie database)
January 7, 2009
High and Low
1963 film. Aka HEAVEN AND HELL. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Written by Akira Kurosawa, Eijiro Hisaita, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Hideo Oguni. Based on the novel 87TH PRECINCT: KING'S RANSOM by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter).
Related Reviews:
- The 1959 novel 87TH PRECINCT: KING'S RANSOM.
In a bold move to surpass his rivals at National Shoes, executive Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) mortgages off everything he owns so he can control enough stock to name himself president, thus preventing the company from selling out and producing cheap knock-offs. Just as he writes out the check for the final deal, he gets a call. His son has been kidnapped. The ransom is more than enough to financially destroy his future, but he'll pay it. He has to. This is his child, after all.
But then his boy walks into the room and everyone realizes that the wrong kid, the son of Gondo's lowly chauffeur, has been snatched by mistake and the certainty of whether or not the executive will ruin himself for the life of another man's child is up in the air.
I'll be honest, I had my concerns about the film right up front. While it initially follows the novel quite closely, there's a sudden change that I don't entirely buy at first, and Kurosawa's love of dynamic shot set-ups leaves much of the sequence feeling too forced and stagy, which isn't helped by setting it in a single room.
But then we hit the hour mark and everything explodes into brilliance as Kurosawa leaves the idea of an adaptation behind, resolving the kidnapping less than half way through the film in a way that allows him to offer his own spin on the story. Suddenly that questionable change makes sense as we see the financial and public consequences of Gondo's act, and the confined set of a living room cuts away to an entire city with undercover cops drifting among the populace, trying to find the identities of the culprits before they can get away with their crime. This is where Kurosawa shines, digging deep into the dedication of the police force as they find stray little threads that start to intertwine into a wonderful web of evidence, while also showing us the sometimes hellish sights of poverty and despair, all looming beneath the mountain on which Gondo's wealthy estate resides.
And this division in the film marks an interesting change-over of leads. We, of course, get Mifune up front, ably pulling off the ethical conflict within Gondo. In the second half, he steps back and Kurosawa's new rising star, Tatsuya Nakadai takes the lead as Chief Inspector Tokura. He does a fabulous job of conveying a professional cop who, despite lacking much personal depth, naturally stands out as leader among the dozens of officers (many of whom are Kurosawa regulars) reporting to him on their varied investigations.
If you can make it through the heavy-handed moments of the still-watchable first hour, you'll find one hell of a rich procedural thriller from a director still on the high end of his career peak. Definitely worth a watch.
Trailer:
For more information about the film, visit its IMDB and Wikipedia pages. The flim can be purchased as a special edition DVD, or as a bare-bones DVD in a boxset of 25 Kurosawa films.
Related Reviews:
- The 1959 novel 87TH PRECINCT: KING'S RANSOM.
In a bold move to surpass his rivals at National Shoes, executive Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) mortgages off everything he owns so he can control enough stock to name himself president, thus preventing the company from selling out and producing cheap knock-offs. Just as he writes out the check for the final deal, he gets a call. His son has been kidnapped. The ransom is more than enough to financially destroy his future, but he'll pay it. He has to. This is his child, after all.
But then his boy walks into the room and everyone realizes that the wrong kid, the son of Gondo's lowly chauffeur, has been snatched by mistake and the certainty of whether or not the executive will ruin himself for the life of another man's child is up in the air.
I'll be honest, I had my concerns about the film right up front. While it initially follows the novel quite closely, there's a sudden change that I don't entirely buy at first, and Kurosawa's love of dynamic shot set-ups leaves much of the sequence feeling too forced and stagy, which isn't helped by setting it in a single room.
But then we hit the hour mark and everything explodes into brilliance as Kurosawa leaves the idea of an adaptation behind, resolving the kidnapping less than half way through the film in a way that allows him to offer his own spin on the story. Suddenly that questionable change makes sense as we see the financial and public consequences of Gondo's act, and the confined set of a living room cuts away to an entire city with undercover cops drifting among the populace, trying to find the identities of the culprits before they can get away with their crime. This is where Kurosawa shines, digging deep into the dedication of the police force as they find stray little threads that start to intertwine into a wonderful web of evidence, while also showing us the sometimes hellish sights of poverty and despair, all looming beneath the mountain on which Gondo's wealthy estate resides.
And this division in the film marks an interesting change-over of leads. We, of course, get Mifune up front, ably pulling off the ethical conflict within Gondo. In the second half, he steps back and Kurosawa's new rising star, Tatsuya Nakadai takes the lead as Chief Inspector Tokura. He does a fabulous job of conveying a professional cop who, despite lacking much personal depth, naturally stands out as leader among the dozens of officers (many of whom are Kurosawa regulars) reporting to him on their varied investigations.
If you can make it through the heavy-handed moments of the still-watchable first hour, you'll find one hell of a rich procedural thriller from a director still on the high end of his career peak. Definitely worth a watch.
Trailer:
For more information about the film, visit its IMDB and Wikipedia pages. The flim can be purchased as a special edition DVD, or as a bare-bones DVD in a boxset of 25 Kurosawa films.
January 6, 2009
87th Precinct: King's Ransom
1959 novel
written by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter)
(my review of the 1959 film adaptation, HIGH AND LOW)
We all know the lengths a person would go to reclaim a kidnapped child. Anything and everything would be on the table. But what if it's not your kid? What if you got the call to give up your own property to save the life of someone else's child? Would you do it?
Such is the question raised in this novel as businessman Douglas King gets a call from kidnappers who think they just snatched his boy, but got the son of his chauffeur instead. Regardless of this error, they push on and demand $500,000 dollars from the man, a sum that would cripple him as he struggles for a position of control against corporate rivals. It's a fascinating dilemma and Hunter takes an unexpectedly stubborn, though still perfect for the character, twist in the middle that heightens the debate without preaching any easy answers.
No, like most crime novels, the people involved exist in a gray zone. Douglas King is a gentle lion at home, a loving father and husband, but he's absolutely ruthless when it comes to business. Charles Reynolds, the chauffeur father of the kidnapped boy, would seem to be a sympathetic victim, but he's painted as a snivelling coward deserving of his low social position. The kidnappers feature a husband and wife pair, eager to escape the poverty that fills their life, who find themselves driven down this dark road by a sociopath who expects everyone to give him a break while he does whatever the fuck he can get away with. Even the broader public gets such an examination as people call in possible sighting or offer donations for the ransom, while others seek attention or pull cons for a profit.
I'm not much for episodic police procedurals, so I'm not sure how well I'd do with the 87TH PRECINCT series as a whole, but this was a gripping, intelligent thriller with a complex cast of characters and social commentary as sharp today as it was 50 years ago. And it's all told with crisp, dialogue-heavy prose so light on description it reads like a screenplay.
If I have one complaint, it's that the recurring cast of cops felt a little underdeveloped in the face of the stand-alone story. Granted, this being a series, one has to expect their development to be spread out among numerous volumes, so I shouldn't complain without giving the entire series a read, but it just felt like more could be done to personally tie them into events. Just a bit.
(purchase)
written by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter)
(my review of the 1959 film adaptation, HIGH AND LOW)
We all know the lengths a person would go to reclaim a kidnapped child. Anything and everything would be on the table. But what if it's not your kid? What if you got the call to give up your own property to save the life of someone else's child? Would you do it?
Such is the question raised in this novel as businessman Douglas King gets a call from kidnappers who think they just snatched his boy, but got the son of his chauffeur instead. Regardless of this error, they push on and demand $500,000 dollars from the man, a sum that would cripple him as he struggles for a position of control against corporate rivals. It's a fascinating dilemma and Hunter takes an unexpectedly stubborn, though still perfect for the character, twist in the middle that heightens the debate without preaching any easy answers.
No, like most crime novels, the people involved exist in a gray zone. Douglas King is a gentle lion at home, a loving father and husband, but he's absolutely ruthless when it comes to business. Charles Reynolds, the chauffeur father of the kidnapped boy, would seem to be a sympathetic victim, but he's painted as a snivelling coward deserving of his low social position. The kidnappers feature a husband and wife pair, eager to escape the poverty that fills their life, who find themselves driven down this dark road by a sociopath who expects everyone to give him a break while he does whatever the fuck he can get away with. Even the broader public gets such an examination as people call in possible sighting or offer donations for the ransom, while others seek attention or pull cons for a profit.
I'm not much for episodic police procedurals, so I'm not sure how well I'd do with the 87TH PRECINCT series as a whole, but this was a gripping, intelligent thriller with a complex cast of characters and social commentary as sharp today as it was 50 years ago. And it's all told with crisp, dialogue-heavy prose so light on description it reads like a screenplay.
If I have one complaint, it's that the recurring cast of cops felt a little underdeveloped in the face of the stand-alone story. Granted, this being a series, one has to expect their development to be spread out among numerous volumes, so I shouldn't complain without giving the entire series a read, but it just felt like more could be done to personally tie them into events. Just a bit.
(purchase)
January 2, 2009
Sanjuro
1962 film. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Written by Akira Kurosawa, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Hideo Oguni. Based on the novel PEACEFUL DAYS by Shugoro Yamamoto, and material created by Akira Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima.
Related Reviews:
- The 1961 film YOJIMBO.
Worried about a vein of corruption in the leadership of their clan, a group of nine young samurai meet and discuss their attempts to warn trusted superiors. Unfortunately, they naively put their faith in Kikui, the secret ringleader of the corruption, and he staged this very meeting so the samurai would fall victim to his quietly surrounding forces.
Thankfully for the samurai, the temple in which they meet houses another guest: the dishevelled, wandering ronin Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune). With a scratch of his stubbled chin, the leer of his tired gaze, and the barking of the word "Idiot!", he's on the case, helping the samurai to escape and leading them in their quest to prevent the overthrow of a genuinely good leader.
Let me start off by saying what I don't like.
A) the villains were pretty bleh, especially when compared to the colorful batch of characters in YOJIMBO. Even with great Kurosawa vets like Masao Shimizu, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Takashi Shimura, they just didn't have any qualities that made them particularly memorable.
And B) after a rip-snorting opening, the first half felt a little slow at times, the good stuff occasionally dragging over too much focus on politics and a tired joke about a sweet little old woman who wishes these boys wouldn't kill so many people. After that, though, things really pick up for a second half filled with clever intrigue, some impressive scale, solid action, and a surprising amount of screwball antics.
That right there is the biggest surprise of this film, its humor. While the bits with the little old lady don't work, there's a great recurring gag about a helpful enemy stored in a closet, the wonderful score is like a leisurely, tooting stroll, and the nine samurai themselves are just hilarious. Not only does their clean-cut naivete beautifully clash with the tattered, world-weary knowledge of Sanjuro, but I love how Kurosawa often paints them as a collective mind, moving with such uniformity that they're berated for acting like a centipede.
Toshiro Mifune is, once again, brilliant as Sanjuro. Just as he did in YOJIMBO, he uses his brains and sly manipulation to forward his goals, only resorting to blunt violence when absolutely necessary. Here, though, is where we get my third and final qualm with the film. My aforementioned problem with the little old woman's complaints against violence was mostly because Sanjuro immediately took them to heart, starting an underdeveloped meditation on killing. Instead of building an amusing contrast between the two characters that would leave a nice air of ambiguity hanging over the issue, Kurosawa seems to declare, especially with his surprise ending, that all violence is bad, which I found a little hollow and one-sided.
That said, I still very much enjoyed this film. Mifune was great, Kurosawa handled his camera and editing like the pro he was, the story was exciting, engaging, and funny as hell. What more do I need?
Now all I can do is regret that the relationship between Kurosawa and Mifune tore apart after just two more movies, because I could definitely picture them bringing out the character of Sanjuro at least one or two more times had the partnership continued.
Trailer:
For more information about the film, visit its IMDB and Wikipedia pages. The film is available as a special edition DVD which can be perchased alone or packaged with YOJIMBO, as a bare-bones DVD in a boxset of 25 Kurosawa films, or as a special edition Blu-Ray which can also be perchased alone or packaged with YOJIMBO.
Related Reviews:
- The 1961 film YOJIMBO.
Worried about a vein of corruption in the leadership of their clan, a group of nine young samurai meet and discuss their attempts to warn trusted superiors. Unfortunately, they naively put their faith in Kikui, the secret ringleader of the corruption, and he staged this very meeting so the samurai would fall victim to his quietly surrounding forces.
Thankfully for the samurai, the temple in which they meet houses another guest: the dishevelled, wandering ronin Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune). With a scratch of his stubbled chin, the leer of his tired gaze, and the barking of the word "Idiot!", he's on the case, helping the samurai to escape and leading them in their quest to prevent the overthrow of a genuinely good leader.
Let me start off by saying what I don't like.
A) the villains were pretty bleh, especially when compared to the colorful batch of characters in YOJIMBO. Even with great Kurosawa vets like Masao Shimizu, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Takashi Shimura, they just didn't have any qualities that made them particularly memorable.
And B) after a rip-snorting opening, the first half felt a little slow at times, the good stuff occasionally dragging over too much focus on politics and a tired joke about a sweet little old woman who wishes these boys wouldn't kill so many people. After that, though, things really pick up for a second half filled with clever intrigue, some impressive scale, solid action, and a surprising amount of screwball antics.
That right there is the biggest surprise of this film, its humor. While the bits with the little old lady don't work, there's a great recurring gag about a helpful enemy stored in a closet, the wonderful score is like a leisurely, tooting stroll, and the nine samurai themselves are just hilarious. Not only does their clean-cut naivete beautifully clash with the tattered, world-weary knowledge of Sanjuro, but I love how Kurosawa often paints them as a collective mind, moving with such uniformity that they're berated for acting like a centipede.
Toshiro Mifune is, once again, brilliant as Sanjuro. Just as he did in YOJIMBO, he uses his brains and sly manipulation to forward his goals, only resorting to blunt violence when absolutely necessary. Here, though, is where we get my third and final qualm with the film. My aforementioned problem with the little old woman's complaints against violence was mostly because Sanjuro immediately took them to heart, starting an underdeveloped meditation on killing. Instead of building an amusing contrast between the two characters that would leave a nice air of ambiguity hanging over the issue, Kurosawa seems to declare, especially with his surprise ending, that all violence is bad, which I found a little hollow and one-sided.
That said, I still very much enjoyed this film. Mifune was great, Kurosawa handled his camera and editing like the pro he was, the story was exciting, engaging, and funny as hell. What more do I need?
Now all I can do is regret that the relationship between Kurosawa and Mifune tore apart after just two more movies, because I could definitely picture them bringing out the character of Sanjuro at least one or two more times had the partnership continued.
Trailer:
For more information about the film, visit its IMDB and Wikipedia pages. The film is available as a special edition DVD which can be perchased alone or packaged with YOJIMBO, as a bare-bones DVD in a boxset of 25 Kurosawa films, or as a special edition Blu-Ray which can also be perchased alone or packaged with YOJIMBO.
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