Is Next Door.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
Shogun Assassin
by Odienator
There's a major difference between the samurai features of Toshiro Mifune and Shogun Assassin, which I saw in 1980. Mifune's films had an elegance and a nobility that emanated from the stately presence of the man who inhabited them. Mifune's characters walked through his black-and-white features wearing the heavy burden of their lot in life; even in a comedic moment one could sense that he took the way of the samurai seriously. He was powerful, human and introspective.
Shogun Assassin is also about a samurai, but that's where the similarities end. The samurai at the center of Shogun is out for revenge, and he's far from elegant or introspective. He's a human Cuisinart who cuts through people with the ease of a Ginsu knife through a tin can. Shogun Assassin is also in color, or should I say it's "in red," because the entire film is one geyser of blood after another, flying in all 
directions. It's porn for vampires, with a money shot every time you inhale. Body parts litter the screen with reckless abandon. "Heads not only roll, but they are SPLIT OPEN," warned Kathleen Carroll in her one-star NY Daily News review. "Split open?!" I said out loud. I called my cousin. "We gotta see this movie," I pannted into the phone.
In the early 70's, a series of films about manga characters Lone Wolf and Cub were major hits in Japan. Audiences didn't go into them looking for Yojimbo. Shogun Assassin is really two Lone Wolf & Cub movies stitched together by Canadian director Robert Houston and 
distributed by Roger Corman. Houston and his writers dubbed the film with What's Up, Tiger Lily-style translations. ("Oh Mad One! We see your trap!") Ninja films were just becoming popular, and I suppose Corman and company wanted to cash in. I can only imagine how hard Corman got when he got his hands on perhaps the bloodiest exploitation movie he ever released.
Shogun Assassin's poster said the movie was too violent for anybody under 17, a warning the MPAA forced New World Pictures to include. But the State Theater let us pre-teens in anyway. This is the same theater that let us into Bolero as well as a 3-D porno movie that played at midnight when I was 14. We got some popcorn, some sodas and a seat near the front ot the theater. The movie came on, and about 90 minutes later, we stumbled out of the 
theater equally exhiliarated and nauseated. At the time, I'd just learned in Health class that the human body contained twelve pints of blood; every body slashed in Shogun Assassin proved it. I highly doubt I could sit through this movie today without barfing, but when you're a boy on the cusp of adolescence, a decapitation sequence is like being touched by an angel.
The Cub in Lone Wolf and Cub, a three year old boy in a cart, narrates the movie. I leave you with his descriptive words:
"Then, one night the Shogun sent his ninja spies to our house. They were supposed to kill my father, but they didn't. That was when my father left his samurai life and became a demon. He became an assassin, he walks the road of vengeance. And he took me with him. I don't remember most of this myself. I only remember the Shogun's ninja hunted us wherever we go. And the bodies falling. And the blood."
I guess that explains why there's no plot, only carnage. Told you boys like gore.
There's a major difference between the samurai features of Toshiro Mifune and Shogun Assassin, which I saw in 1980. Mifune's films had an elegance and a nobility that emanated from the stately presence of the man who inhabited them. Mifune's characters walked through his black-and-white features wearing the heavy burden of their lot in life; even in a comedic moment one could sense that he took the way of the samurai seriously. He was powerful, human and introspective.
Shogun Assassin is also about a samurai, but that's where the similarities end. The samurai at the center of Shogun is out for revenge, and he's far from elegant or introspective. He's a human Cuisinart who cuts through people with the ease of a Ginsu knife through a tin can. Shogun Assassin is also in color, or should I say it's "in red," because the entire film is one geyser of blood after another, flying in all 
directions. It's porn for vampires, with a money shot every time you inhale. Body parts litter the screen with reckless abandon. "Heads not only roll, but they are SPLIT OPEN," warned Kathleen Carroll in her one-star NY Daily News review. "Split open?!" I said out loud. I called my cousin. "We gotta see this movie," I pannted into the phone.
In the early 70's, a series of films about manga characters Lone Wolf and Cub were major hits in Japan. Audiences didn't go into them looking for Yojimbo. Shogun Assassin is really two Lone Wolf & Cub movies stitched together by Canadian director Robert Houston and 
distributed by Roger Corman. Houston and his writers dubbed the film with What's Up, Tiger Lily-style translations. ("Oh Mad One! We see your trap!") Ninja films were just becoming popular, and I suppose Corman and company wanted to cash in. I can only imagine how hard Corman got when he got his hands on perhaps the bloodiest exploitation movie he ever released.
Shogun Assassin's poster said the movie was too violent for anybody under 17, a warning the MPAA forced New World Pictures to include. But the State Theater let us pre-teens in anyway. This is the same theater that let us into Bolero as well as a 3-D porno movie that played at midnight when I was 14. We got some popcorn, some sodas and a seat near the front ot the theater. The movie came on, and about 90 minutes later, we stumbled out of the 
theater equally exhiliarated and nauseated. At the time, I'd just learned in Health class that the human body contained twelve pints of blood; every body slashed in Shogun Assassin proved it. I highly doubt I could sit through this movie today without barfing, but when you're a boy on the cusp of adolescence, a decapitation sequence is like being touched by an angel.
The Cub in Lone Wolf and Cub, a three year old boy in a cart, narrates the movie. I leave you with his descriptive words:
"Then, one night the Shogun sent his ninja spies to our house. They were supposed to kill my father, but they didn't. That was when my father left his samurai life and became a demon. He became an assassin, he walks the road of vengeance. And he took me with him. I don't remember most of this myself. I only remember the Shogun's ninja hunted us wherever we go. And the bodies falling. And the blood."I guess that explains why there's no plot, only carnage. Told you boys like gore.
Upcoming samurai posts.....
Liverputty has some exciting stuff lined up for the next couple of days: Later tonight we've got the peerless Odie demonstrating his skill with a real stitch of a movie: Samurai Assassin. Directly after that Charlie Parsely will write extensively over the sexually charged Hanzo series. That's not to mention upcoming posts on celebrated films like Harakiri, Kill!, Sword of Doom etc, etc. And then we still have Kurosawa to cover! So get yourself a plate of sushi or a bowl miso and some green tea and sit back on your tatami!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Appreciation: Samurai 1 - Musashi Miyamoto (1954)
Check out the House for the first of three appreciations covering the Samurai Trilogy.
Yojimbo
In lieu of a samurai post from Liverputty, here's a link to a pretty good treatment of Yojimbo from Johanna at The Lone Revue. Definitely worth a read for admirers of the masterpiece. Thanks to MZS for the link.There will likely be a subsequent Liverputty treatment of the movie in the near future.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Goyokin
[NOTE: Some corrections have been made to the post per the comments beneath it. I wrongly identified the hero's wife as his sister and his brother in law as a lord instead of a retainer. Corrections were made.]
Hideo Gosha might slip under the radar screen of great Japanese directors - he's not the most prolific director out there, but he has a couple of good samurai films under his belt, including this one. "Goyokin" means official gold. Towards the end of Tokugawa rule, the bakufu was mining gold and silver off an island, so the story says, to help fund the government. This gold was then shipped to Edo. That's the expositional narration that sets up the story.
Here we have (again) the always adorable Ruriko Asaoka playing Oriha. She's fixing to get a very rude awakening. Her smile is the result of seeing a wedding procession passing along the beach. Only, it is not a real wedding procession. Upon returning to her home town, she realizes that it has been destroyed, abandoned, etc. This proves to be a life altering experience for Oriha - and not in a warm fuzzy Oprah way, either.
Only ravens remain. And they don't provide a friendly atmosphere.
Meet Magobei Wakizaka. He'll be the resident samurai badass assigned for the picture. He is guilt ridden for reasons that will become clear later.
Okay, now is later: The folks in Oriha's village were slaughtered by their local retainer. The reason: the goyokin ship sank right off shore and the villagers retrieved the payload. The local needed the money to pay off the bakufu, so they took it and then slaughtered the villagers to cover their tracks.
Magobei was under the local retainer (a brother in law) and was there and witnessed the horror. It changed his life, too. He left the clan in exile under the agreement that the retainer would never commit such an atrocity again. Guess what happens....
The always adorable Ruriko Asaoka goes from being a good decent betrothed gal to being a hustler taking advantage of yakuza scum....
Survival is difficult, but she's pretty tough when the shit hits the fan. Here, the yakuza scum discover she's been using loaded dice. Instead of panicking, she keeps her cool and tells them that she is connected to the Kamikakushi, a term loosely meaning "unexplained disappearance." It has a superstitious meaning in the film. To get the whole story, watch the picture. But essentially it means that she was there in the village that got slaughtered three years back. (Oh yeah, there was a time lapse from the opening scene to the present story)
As luck would have it, Magobei Wakizaka overhears her talking and comes to the rescue...
Allowing for her escape.
They meet again in the next town. She figures he knows something about the massacre. But what? His troubled soul is reluctant to talk...
But the audience can see his thoughts.
The always adorable Ruriko just can't stay out of trouble. Here, she's getting the Will Lockhart treatment.
Only to be saved, once again, by the resident badass.
Oh yeah, there's another girl in the story. She's Magobei's wife and sister to the evil retainer. She's a little creepy - though I don't think that was the intention of the filmakers. His exile was hard on her. She has black teeth.
During their unexpected visit, he tells here that he's on his way back home to prevent another Kamikakushi. She wants him to flee with her.
Magobei is ambushed in this hut. The Japanese are not afraid to film rain.
Magobei, along with Oriha and a few others I've failed to mention, plan to thwart the evil retainer's attempt to sink the goyokin boat, steal the gold and kill the villagers...
Here's the evil retainer...
And his men, who are preparing to implement the plan...
But Magobei has plans of his own...
Those plans include killing a bunch of guards....
Meanwhile, Oriha does the important stuff. Here, she is attempting to free the villagers. Next, she will disrupt the fire signal that is pivotal to causing the goyokin ship to sink.
Magobei is still killing guards....
A few things go wrong, as the expression on the adorable Oriha's face below indicates. But overall, they are successful in thwarting the plot.
The next morning, however, leaves some unfinished business. Magobei must have a final duel with the evil retainer. But the temperature is such that his hands are too cold to hold his katana. No problem, his wife with the black teeth has a warm bossom he can touch to warm himself.
Closer to the duel, the evil retainer is also trying to keep his hands warm.
Magobei has killing on his mind.
The villagers are providing the sound track - beating on drums and celebrating the thwarting of the plot.
The duel is over.
While the villagers celebrate, Magobei is a-fixin' to leave. Oriha locks stares with him. If he ain't a fool, he'll grab her hand.
Because she is waiting....
But he's a fool.
And don't get too excited at this shot, because I think that is his wife with black teeth following him. I could be wrong, though. That part was a little confusing.
Hideo Gosha might slip under the radar screen of great Japanese directors - he's not the most prolific director out there, but he has a couple of good samurai films under his belt, including this one. "Goyokin" means official gold. Towards the end of Tokugawa rule, the bakufu was mining gold and silver off an island, so the story says, to help fund the government. This gold was then shipped to Edo. That's the expositional narration that sets up the story.
Here we have (again) the always adorable Ruriko Asaoka playing Oriha. She's fixing to get a very rude awakening. Her smile is the result of seeing a wedding procession passing along the beach. Only, it is not a real wedding procession. Upon returning to her home town, she realizes that it has been destroyed, abandoned, etc. This proves to be a life altering experience for Oriha - and not in a warm fuzzy Oprah way, either.
Only ravens remain. And they don't provide a friendly atmosphere.
Meet Magobei Wakizaka. He'll be the resident samurai badass assigned for the picture. He is guilt ridden for reasons that will become clear later.
Okay, now is later: The folks in Oriha's village were slaughtered by their local retainer. The reason: the goyokin ship sank right off shore and the villagers retrieved the payload. The local needed the money to pay off the bakufu, so they took it and then slaughtered the villagers to cover their tracks.
Magobei was under the local retainer (a brother in law) and was there and witnessed the horror. It changed his life, too. He left the clan in exile under the agreement that the retainer would never commit such an atrocity again. Guess what happens....
The always adorable Ruriko Asaoka goes from being a good decent betrothed gal to being a hustler taking advantage of yakuza scum....
Survival is difficult, but she's pretty tough when the shit hits the fan. Here, the yakuza scum discover she's been using loaded dice. Instead of panicking, she keeps her cool and tells them that she is connected to the Kamikakushi, a term loosely meaning "unexplained disappearance." It has a superstitious meaning in the film. To get the whole story, watch the picture. But essentially it means that she was there in the village that got slaughtered three years back. (Oh yeah, there was a time lapse from the opening scene to the present story)
As luck would have it, Magobei Wakizaka overhears her talking and comes to the rescue...
Allowing for her escape.
They meet again in the next town. She figures he knows something about the massacre. But what? His troubled soul is reluctant to talk...
But the audience can see his thoughts.
The always adorable Ruriko just can't stay out of trouble. Here, she's getting the Will Lockhart treatment.
Only to be saved, once again, by the resident badass.
Oh yeah, there's another girl in the story. She's Magobei's wife and sister to the evil retainer. She's a little creepy - though I don't think that was the intention of the filmakers. His exile was hard on her. She has black teeth.
During their unexpected visit, he tells here that he's on his way back home to prevent another Kamikakushi. She wants him to flee with her.
Magobei is ambushed in this hut. The Japanese are not afraid to film rain.
Magobei, along with Oriha and a few others I've failed to mention, plan to thwart the evil retainer's attempt to sink the goyokin boat, steal the gold and kill the villagers...
Here's the evil retainer...
And his men, who are preparing to implement the plan...
But Magobei has plans of his own...
Those plans include killing a bunch of guards....
Meanwhile, Oriha does the important stuff. Here, she is attempting to free the villagers. Next, she will disrupt the fire signal that is pivotal to causing the goyokin ship to sink.
Magobei is still killing guards....
A few things go wrong, as the expression on the adorable Oriha's face below indicates. But overall, they are successful in thwarting the plot.
The next morning, however, leaves some unfinished business. Magobei must have a final duel with the evil retainer. But the temperature is such that his hands are too cold to hold his katana. No problem, his wife with the black teeth has a warm bossom he can touch to warm himself.
Closer to the duel, the evil retainer is also trying to keep his hands warm.
Magobei has killing on his mind.
The villagers are providing the sound track - beating on drums and celebrating the thwarting of the plot.
The duel is over.
While the villagers celebrate, Magobei is a-fixin' to leave. Oriha locks stares with him. If he ain't a fool, he'll grab her hand.
Because she is waiting....
But he's a fool.
And don't get too excited at this shot, because I think that is his wife with black teeth following him. I could be wrong, though. That part was a little confusing.
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