Sunday, February 11, 2007

Samurai Thought for the Day #1

Japanese samurai films tend to have something in common, and that something is loads and loads of exposition. Characters take up a lot of screen time sitting on tatami mats talking about the plot tactically and strategically. "If we do A, then they will do B, unless we do C which will probably cause them to do D" Is this something cultural? I don't know....

1 comment:

Shelby Button said...

I myself obsrve particular... effects, or, techniques that give Japanese/Samurai films their unique quality.

I am not as familiar with them as you guys, but many of them for me have a certain quietness to them. I am guessing this is perhaps a cultural thing. Dialogue is somewhat muted and subdues, even when the characters are stern or angry. There often is no music playing over the dialogue, and very often landscapes are shown in silence which is something that American ears are unaccustomed to.

Characters are somewhat polite and considerate even when they are kililng each other. It is refreshing, really.