The Samurai Film [Hardcover]

Alain Silver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2005

The image of a lone hero, marked by a violent past and bound by honor, has exerted an endless fascination on film audiences the world over, but nowhere more than in Japan, where Samurai films have gained legions of passionate followers.

Very likely the world's most astute Western analyst of this genre, Alain SIlver deconstructs the key aspects of this vital fim genre, from its focus on violence and death as a means of understanding life and the significance of swords and weaponry to key elements and motifs such as hara-kiri, rebellion, and nostalgia for Japan's feudal past. With comprehensive filmographies of the major directors and films, a survey of the history and myths of the Samurai, a glossary of Japanese terms, and extensively illustrated with more than two hundred photos, this revised and expanded edition of The Samurai Film is the ultimate resource for one of world cinema's most influential and compelling genres.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although the samurai, a privileged warrior class deeply enmeshed in Japanese feudal society, vanished nearly a century and a half ago with the restoration of the Meiji dynasty, the cinematic icon lives on, in one form or another, mixing history and myth in a popular and widely influential genre. By the heyday of the 1960s, works in the samurai (or chambara) genre by seminal directors Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Gosha and others had turned its aesthetics of violence into some of the finest specimens of narrative cinema anywhere. As new generations of cinemagoers-inspired by films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), House of Flying Daggers (2004) or Tarantino's samurai homage, Kill Bill (Vols. I and II)-seek out examples new and old of "the operatic complications and physical magic of the swordplay movies," they will find respected film analyst Silver's survey of enduring value. Silver's revised and expanded version of his 1977 study (first revised in 1983) offers not only close readings and discriminating assessments of major films and filmmakers but a wealth of insight into the history, philosophy and politics bearing on the chambara film in all its permutations and lines of influence. Complete with a generous array of photos, sophisticated filmography and glossary of Japanese terms, this volume will be an indispensable reference for serious fans and an excellent starting point for neophytes. But it's also a detailed, penetrating read for anyone interested in film history, especially as a gateway into some fascinating strains in Japanese culture and its ongoing dialogue with the West.
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From the Publisher

From Throne of Blood to Kill Bill, the richly illustrated standard guide to one of the world's most enduring film genres.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; Rev Exp edition (November 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585675962
• ISBN-13: 978-1585675968
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,621,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book for the Best Samurai Films, October 31, 2007

By 

Stephen Hawco - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Samurai Film (Paperback)

Well-known and respected film critic Alain Silver has written what should be the definitive work on the (true) samurai film. These are movies made in Japan, and the best ones, the ones that are more than just action films, have something to say. These great directors like Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Gosha, Masaki Kobayashi, and Kihachi Okamoto were seeking to find answers to today's problems in the historical past.

This book is excellent if you want to learn about these men, their movies, and Japanese history/culture. The updated edition even covers new stuff, like later samurai movies that are not as good (the genre really lost something when this first generation of directors left and samurai films began to get made for their own sake). And it mentions American cinema, from The Last Samurai to Kill Bill, movies that were inspired by these great old films of the 50's and 60's and which pale in comparison.

Yes, Silver is extrmely analytical, so you have to actually want to understand cinema to make it through this. He discusses technique, especially the visual style of the director (lighting, camera movement, compostion, type of lens, etc.) and you Tarantino or Cruise fans aren't going to be able to stomach all that.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intellectualisation of the samurai film genre, if that is what you require, August 23, 2011

By 

Jackal (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Samurai Film (Paperback)

It is a fact that everything can be intellectualised. This book is valuable if you (1) like intellectualisation and (2) have already watched 20 samurai films from different time periods. Without these two criteria I would imagine that this book is very boring. The book doesn't try to be chronological, but instead focuses on different themes (e.g. the samurai in fiction, the bloody films of the 70s). The book is beautifully bound in a good quality hard cover, so it would make a perfect gift for a cineaste.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Serious Analysis of a Serious Art Form, June 23, 2009

By 

B. B. Smith "BBSmith" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Anyone who watched (with awe) Japanese Samurai films in the 1970s and 80s -- before the samurai craze that led to "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" or "Kill Bill" -- will enjoy the serious scholarship of this book. The author reviews the samurai in history, and on film with chapters on Kurosawa, Musashi, and Shinoda (among others), adds political/social analyses (for example: "Social Rebellion and Personal Identity") contains 150 photographs and several filmographies. Dense type, and not for a reader of frivolous intentions.