nwFilmCenter

Sons of Samurai

As film critic Henry Sheehan of THE BOSTON PHOENIX pithily observes, "When a man is surrounded inside a burning house by a dozen heavily armed warriors and it's the warriors who are in trouble, you know you're watching a samurai movie." This selection of rarely seen samurai films, all presented in new 35mm prints, reveals the rich legacy of the samurai genre, a singular blend of artistry and entertainment that convey in the wild choreography of balletic battle, timeless reflections on honor, duty, loyalty, power and the meaning of life.

Fri, Jun 30, 2006 at 7 PM Sat, Jul 1, 2006 at 7 PM	SAMURAI REBELLION DIRECTOR: DIRECTOR:MASAKI KOBAYASHI JAPAN Kobayahi's samurai classic, set in 18th-century Japan stars the magnificent Toshiro Mifune as Isaburo, a renowned swordsman who takes a heroic but deadly stand for individual freedom. Isaburo is the essence of samurai loyalty until his daughter-in-law is commandeered as mistress for his overlord. The injustice moves him toward a revolt raging with power and emotion. " . . .everything builds to a climactic bloodletting, and the point of the violence is not so much its kinetic exhilaration as its tragic inevitability. Travis Bickle might well recognize the profoundly alienated warrior as his ancestor."-Terrence Rafferty, THE NEW YORK TIMES. Kinema Jumpo Award for Best Japanese film of 1967. ^ Top
Thu, Jul 6, 2006 at 7 PM Fri, Jul 7, 2006 at 9 PM	KILL! DIRECTOR: KIHACHI OKAMOTO JAPAN This pitch-black action comedy, based on the same novel as Kurosawa's SANJURO, centers on a pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen who arrive in a dusty, windblown town where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously among gangsters. But when the duo discovers the evil doings of a vicious clan leader, they side with the rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin. "An anarchically exhilarating and archly self-skewering swordplay classic."-THE VILLAGE VOICE ^ Top
Thu, Jul 13, 2006 at 7 PM Sun, Jul 16, 2006 at 7 PM	HARAKIRI DIRECTOR: MASAKI KOBAYASHI JAPAN A veiled critique of outmoded social mores and rigid conformity in 20th century Japan, HARAKIRI unfolds as an epic exploration and indictment of the samurai code of honor-specifically, the dictate that a warrior must commit ritual suicide rather than dishonor himself. When destitute samurai Tsuguno's (Tatsuya Nakadai) clan collapses he has no recourse but to seek out a powerful lord and beg assistance in death with three samurai as seconds. Tsuguno actually hopes to be taken into service rather than end his life, but doubting his sincerity, his hosts demand that he go through with it. "The climatic final battle, a brilliantly choreographed dance of rage and exhaustion, is as exciting as any action-movie addict could wish" -Terrence Rafferty THE NEW YORK TIMES. ^ Top
Thu, Jul 20, 2006 at 7 PM Sun, Jul 23, 2006 at 7 PM	BANDITS VS SAMURAI SQUADRON DIRECTOR: HIDEO GOSHA JAPAN "Under the titles dark-clad figures ride in classic big caper style, and from then on it's nonstop plotting, hairbreadth escapes, and breathtaking mass swordfights, including a nighttime struggle on a torch lit beach, as enigmatic bandit chieftain Tatsuya Nakadai uses elaborate con games and robberies to finance a desperate revenge plot -while relentless shogunate policeman Shogoro Ichikawa calls on double crosses of his own to stop him. But even as the already breathless pace steps up, 360-degree plot twists inject nerve-shredding tension until a final, bitingly ironic shock. A big budget grafting of STING-style chicanery onto the samurai tradition, this was probably the top samurai film of the 70s."-FILM FORUM ^ Top
Thu, Jul 27, 2006 at 7 PM Sun, Jul 30, 2006 at 7 PM	SAMURAI SAGA DIRECTOR: HIROSHI INAGAKI JAPAN Inagaki's stirring addition to the samurai genre is a comic, stirring adaptation of Edmond Rostand's classic play CYRANO DE BERGERAC. Toshiro Mifune, in a performance both hilarious and touching, is Heihachiro Komaki, a 17th-century poet-warrior of enlarged proboscis and capacious heart. Given to drinking, dueling, and composing witty haiku, he secretly falls for a beautiful princess (Yoko Tsukasa in the Roxane role), but, due to his deformity, can only woo the woman he loves by serving as ghostwriter for another man who courts her. ^ Top
Thu, Aug 3, 2006 at 7 PM Sun, Aug 6, 2006 at 7 PM	SWORD OF DOOM DIRECTOR: KIHACHI OKAMOTO JAPAN Tatsuya Nakadai (Sanjuro) and Toshiro Mifune star in the story of an aristocratic, lone samurai who is murderously determined to master fate via sword point. Set during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, this film is the ultimate in action, with a superbly staged climax of a one-against-all fight set in a burning building. "Okamoto's masterpiece cuts deep and leaves a permanent scar."-TIME OUT. "A classic among aficionados, this is the ultimate in action, boasting as it does three of director Okamoto's superbly staged one-against-all sword fights (one, at night as snow softly falls amid the carnage, with guest star Toshiro Mifune."-FILM FORUM. ^ Top
Fri, Aug 11, 2006 at 7 PM Sat, Aug 12, 2006 at 9 PM	THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI DIRECTOR: HIDEO GOSHA JAPAN Gosha's hardboiled swordplay thriller, shot in black-and-white Cinemascope, began its life as a hugely popular television series, which he also directed. When Shiba, a wandering ronin (an outcast samurai), encounters a group of peasants who are holding a tyrannical landowner's daughter hostage in hopes of forcing the magistrate to lower their taxes, he takes up their cause, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard. "Gosha's first feature film is not only one of the most-assured directorial debuts ever, it is also something of a holy-grail for samurai movie aficionados. . . a certifiable classic."-AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE. Patrick Galloway, author of the newly released "stray dogs & Lone wolves: the samurai film handbook," will introduce the Friday screening and sign copies of his book. ^ Top