Customer Reviews

The Hidden Blade

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought that director Yôji Yamada could not possibly top Twilight Samurai, but I was wrong. This is a great film for even those that are not martial arts fans. The acting is great, the screenplay is excellent and believable. Director Yamada also had great cinematographers and music.

Since the story for both Twilight Samurai and Hidden Blade were written by the same author and took place in the same part of Japan, one reviewer unfairly indicated the story was a rehash of the first. Definitely, I disagree with this assessment.

I don't want to give anything away. For those that are like me, be sure to have a box of tissues handy when you see this memorable film. I rented it and was so taken by the film (even watching it twice during the same weekend), that I purchased the DVD immediately from Amazon.

Yoji Yamada's "Twilight Samurai" was an extraordinary treat. Following in similar footsteps, "The Hidden Blade" is again a samurai tale where a lower samurai must weigh matters of principle against what is politically and financially advantageous. Shown at film festivals in Berlin & Newport Beach, the main character is Munezo Katagiri whose sister marries out of the household. Masatoshi Magase who played so romantically as the second love interest in "The Sea Is Watching" does the title role. He's very sensitive and honest, but a bit out of touch with his own emotional needs. Takako Matsu who has only made 3 films including 2006's "Suite Dreams" plays the housekeeper Kie. She works hard and lovingly takes care of Katagiri's house. Matsu's beautiful good looks and expressive face make her a charmer. Caste issues divide her from the samurai. When Kie marries, her new family abuses and fails to appreciate her. This results in her illness and rescue by Katagiri who barges into the household and rescues Kie from her own husband! Kie is nursed back to health. Meanwhile Yaichiro Hazama is from the same samurai clan and has gone to the big city of Edo where he gets caught in a plot to overthrow the Emperor. He's brought back home in a basket and imprisoned, rather than being given the dignity of hari kiri. The authorities come to Katagiri and give him the charge of dueling with Hazama, who breaks out of prison and holes up in a rural hut. The lovely Reiko Takashima plays Hazama's wife and comes to barter with the only commodity she has, her body, to try and save her husband's life. She goes to the Chief in charge (forgot his title) and makes a similar deal when Katagiri refuses her. Unfortunately, the unscrupulous Chief has no intention of freeing Hazama and fails to inform Katagiri as he has promised Mrs. Hazama he would do. Min Tanaka who played in "Twilight Samurai" is the retired martial arts instructor Toda who gave Katagiri knowledge of a special move called the Devil's Claw. Now living in a pastoral setting, he gives Katagiri a few last tips. The duel takes place with Katagiri surviving. The Chief suffers justice at Katagiri's hands with the lightning fast Devil's Claw dispatching him to the next world. Deciding to follow Toda's example, Katagiri renounces his pledge as samurai and sweetly approaches Kie who has not remarried and no longer has a caste restriction separating her from the man she obviously loves. There is a real sweetness and innocence in the story of "Hidden Blade" that shows a moral compass. The performances, direction and cinematography are first-rate. Bravo!

Having been thrilled by the director's movie "Twilight Samurai",
I ordered this film. By itself, it is good period drama of the
19th century Samurai period...basically the story of an honorable samurai in a dishonorable world. However, I felt that
the plot and motifs were quite similar to Twilight Samurai. Given the choice of the two films, I would recommend Twilight over this one. I didn't quite get the point of seeing two
very similar movies.

Wow! What a delight. I picked "Hidden Blade"up from the local video store on the way home from work. It was just on a whim, based mainly upon superficialities (the cover art, the interesting title, the intriguing plot summary on the back), but am I ever glad I did.

This movie is an absolute gem, packed with engaging storylines and intricate character development. There isn't a tremendous amount of action, per se, but the few scenes demonstrate excellent technique. I was glued to the set the entire movie and was saddened when the movie came to a close at the end.

Pick this up for a wonderful human story satisfy your nostalgic longing for days of love and honor.

this is a very good movie, quite different from the other samurai movies. it's quite romantic too. a real gem. a samurai with conscience and principles, a country girl with pure heart, loyalty and love. grab this one and enjoy.

Yamada Yoji has created the best example of the jidaieki (period film) since Kurosawa. He has done something unique to Japanese cinema by combining elements of the Ozuesque home drama. Also, its timeless plot should even appeal to Japanese audiences who flock to Western films. It offers a much needed change. This film has a very Eastern feel to it, in that the life of a samurai has not been glamourized. Its protrayed in a realistic way. The things that the main character, Katagiri Munezo, must endure, make a good case for the argument that perhaps one is better off just being a regular townsperson.
Throughout the film, there a several examples of classic Ozu films.
In the The Hidden Blade, Katagiri is getting older and is not married. Likewise in Ozu's Early Summer, Hara Setsuko, plays a woman past 25 who hasn't married either. Katagiri becomes a lot like Hara Setsuko's character in that both are stubborn and will get married when they want to and if they want to. Katagiri also shares common charateristics with the father figure of Ryu Chishu's various characters in Ozu films. Some of the dialouge between Katagiri and his servant Kie reminded me of similar scenes from Tokyo Story, when Ryu and his wife are talking.
What I like about this film, is the way inwhich, Yamada humanizes his samurai characters through anecdote. There is a very moving and funny scene of a little girl who is afraid of Katagiri because he carries a sword. Katagiri cannot understand why this girl is afraid and when Kie tells him, he laughs and points out that most of the time samurai never draw their swords. The life of the bureaucract. There are other comedic episodes until the plot has to become serious. That's when the best dramatic scenes come out.
The Hidden Blade is a complex story that requires you to bring you full attention to it. The closer you follow the story, the more you will see and understand. Like any great work of literature, you have to be willing to be in the work and invest your complete attention.
Overall, this is a great film that showcases Yamada Yoji as the best new Japanese director, along with my other favorite, Koreeda Hirokazu.

If you want a true dipection of a great samurai this is it. Japanese or non-Japanese you will watch this one over and over. The Bushido code lives in every scene. There are comedic moments, sad moments and truimphant moments. I stumpled on this movie of all places in a blockbuster international section. After knowing the characters in Hidden Blade, I would not go back to Hollywood so called "samurai movies". Makes me want to bow to my dvd player.

The film "Hidden Blade" is a very good film. The character developement in the film is very well done. The films narrative deals with the changes that are taking place in 19th-century Japan. In the beginning of the film, Yaichiro bids farewell to his two comrades, Munezo and Samon, due to the fact that he now has a position within the shogunate in Edo. Kie, a young farm girl serves as the maid for the household where Munezo, his sister and mother live. As time passes, his sister marries his friend Samon, Kie the maid marries into a merchant family; and his mother eventually dies. As a result, he is left alone.

As the drama of the story continues, Munezo learns that Kie has fallen ill, and that the family will not allow him to see her. However, he breaks into the house and rescues her and restores her health. Meanwhile, the friend, Yaichiro, who earlier left for Edo [modern Tokyo] has come back as a disgraced and caged political prisoner. When Yaichiro escapes, Munezo is ordered to show his allegiance and innocence by killing his former friend. However, his friend is a better swordsman than he. When Munezo goes to see his former sensei [a master swordsman] he wishes to learn how to confront his former friend in a duel to the death.

Apparently, the mater swordsman, Toda, gave a secret movement with the sword to Munezo, not Yaichiro. This secret is known as the 'Hidden Blade.' And whomsoever has mastered it is apparantly invincible in combat. As Toda teaches him the hidden secret, word has spread that Yaichiro has taken refuge in a farm house. It is here that Munezo will attempt to ply his skill in taking down the escaped Yaichiro. The film is more of a drama, with very little samurai type action. This is not a Toshiro Mifune type film [how many are?] however, it does succeed in being a very good drama. Moreover, the cinematography is very beautiful. Recommended. It is slow paced, but nonetheless a very interesting film.

With Yoji Yamada's The Hidden Blade, set in the early 1860s, the age of the samurai was passing; the age of moviedom's bastardization of the samurai was sometime in the future. The Hidden Blade is one of three movies Yamada made based on stories by Shuhei Fujisawa. They all deal with the end of the rigid social caste system of the Tokugawa era, the cracks and corruption in the samurai code, and the effects of this on some of those in the samurai class whom we come to know. These movies aren't flash and slash epics or just cheap entertainment. The films in many ways are quiet, even when there is violence. Sadness and difficult choices are pervasive. The films, in other words, are wonderful. For the record, the three films are The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei) (2002), The Hidden Blade (Kakushi Ken Oni no Tsume) (2004) and Love and Honor (Bushi no Ichibun) (2006).

The Hidden Blade is the story of Munezo Katagiri (Masatoshi Nagase), a poor samurai who does his duty to his clan in a small village in the north of Japan. His father was forced to commit hari kiri unjustly, but the father submitted because obeying the lord was the core of his life. A friend of Katagiri's, Yaichiro Hazama, who earlier went to Edo, has been implicated in a treason plot against the shogun. Hazama is sent back to the village for imprisonment. At the same time, Katagiri's sister has married a good friend, his mother has died, and he has found a merchant husband for the family's maid, a young woman named Kie (Takako Matsu), the daughter of a farmer who had been trained in many skills by Katagiri's mother. We can tell there is affection and respect between the two, but the idea of marriage is never recognized because of the rigid separation of the four castes. Katagiri rescues Kie from the cruel marriage but cannot keep her with him. He returns her to her farmer father.

When Hazama escapes, Katagiri is ordered to go to Hazama, one of his best friends, and kill him in a duel. Hazama is a fine swordsman. Katagiri is almost as good. Katagiri learns his clan's senior advisor is venal and dishonest. Katagiri must obey, but afterwards, in disgust, takes his own actions. At last he secures his future, whatever that might be...but it won't be as a samurai.

If this all sounds mundane, it is and it isn't. In slightly more than two hours, Yamada lets us see these people's lives, everything from the rigid strictures of behavior and outward respect to how a servant washes clothes, from how to cut firewood to what a prisoner basket is, from what a poor samurai's house is like or a merchant's fabric shop to what it takes to train barely educated bumpkin samurai in gunnery and marching. It's all fascinating, more so because these are all more-or-less ordinary people in a system of rigid class inequities, where people have few if any options. Yet if Munezo Katagiri's story is told deliberately, it is never slow. Yes, we have a great (and not flashy) sword fight toward the end of the movie, and a fast and satisfying act of deadly justice to witness. The heart, however, of the movie's tension comes from Karagiri's struggle to obey the old rules while realizing how unjust and corrupt they can be. Masatoshi Nagase gives a marvelous performance...thoughtful, serious, underplayed. The movie ends with a mutual expression of love and commitment between Katagiri and Kie that is delightful and touching.

One of the fascinating aspects of Japan is how rigidly enforced and how accepted the social order was, and then how quickly and, in some cases, how ruthlessly it began to crumble. The samurai class, above the other three classes, was made up of warriors without wars. They sank into near irrelevance except for their privileges and social status. The merchant class, lowest of the classes, rose to power because they produced nothing of value, in the Buddhist sense, just money. Money proved more powerful than swords. By the end of The Hidden Blade it's clear that disciplined peasants bearing expensive firearms can take care of any charging, sword-bearing samurai they might encounter.

This film is beautifully done; it shows the samurai culture and how it is changed by the 'modern' world; guns & artillery vs. the sword, as well as a new order moving in and how it affects the lives of those who live there. But this is not an action movie; rather, it is contemplative, I'd almost call it a drama. There aren't fight scenes every 15 minutes, in fact, the main character even remarks at one point that he's never drawn his sword. Also, the combat that there is is more 'accurate' to reality, rather than being a lot of spinning, jumping, and special effects. Its a quiet movie, with a good storyline and characters that you can care about. Very well done.

I only give it 4 stars out of 5 because it can be slow at times; and even for a fan of asian cinema, there are parts that can be difficult to understand. But overall this does not detract from the elegant tapestry that is this film. Its definitely worth getting.