Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Hidden Blade (2004)

The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume / 隠し剣 鬼の爪 (2004)

Genre: Drama
Director: Yôji Yamada
Starring: Masatoshi Nagase, Takako Matsu, Yukiyoshi Ozawa
Duration: 132 min.
Rating: 8.2/10

Summary:
Katagiri, an honest and low ranking samurai is trapped in a state of personal and professional imbalance. Secretly in love with his family's maid, Kie, Munezo begins an uneasy courtship with her, knowing that a relationship is impossible.
 

Raised to respect traditions from the past and the demanding moral code of the samurai, circumstances have now forced Munezo to look to the future. Required to master western military strategies, particularly the art of artillery, Munezo is ordered to find and kill Yaichiro, a former friend, samurai, and brilliant swordsman.

Munezo knows that he cannot beat Yaichiro with fire power alone, so he enlists the help of his old teacher, Kansai Toda, a master swordsman who entrusts Munezo with the secret and power of The Hidden Blade.  

 

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The Hidden Blade by Yôji Yamada, is the second film of his samurai trilogy.  It is set during the 1860s, a time of rapid change in the ruling and class strutures of Japan.  Like The Twilight Samurai, it deviates from the standard action epic sword-fighting movie and tells a beautiful tale of love and life as a lower class samurai.

The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume (2004)

The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume (2004)

The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume (2004)

The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume (2004)

The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume (2004)

The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume (2004)

The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume (2004)
      
The Hidden Blade / Kakushi ken oni no tsume (2004)


4 comments:

Jack L said...

Looks like another one for me to see... I'm not very familiar with modern Samurai films, although I have seen the recent Zatoichi which I thought was terrible.
These films look great though!

Beasts in Human Skin said...

I thought I had already seen this until I watched the trailer. I'll have to remedy this.

Drackar said...

a good samurai film is always worth a watch.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah, Kitano went a little overboard with the effects in that one.

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