[KFCC] Hidden Blade Review

Story: During the westernization of Japan's political and military methods, Katagiri is struggling to adapt to the situation. After Hazama, one of his best friends, left for Edo to seek his fortune, and another friend married his sister; Katagiri is living with his elderly mother and the devoted servant-girl Kie.

Secretly wishing that Kie would stay with him, Katagiri is deeply affected by her decision to marry a prosperous oil seller. The years pass and Katagiri is now witnessing his mother dying alongside the age of the sword.

One day, Katagari crosses paths with Kie and, to his surprise, she doesn’t seem to be living the happy life she had expected. While Katagiri is trying to get Kie out of the grips of her villainous and abusive family, he is told that Hazama, his old friend, was arrested for plotting against the clan leaders and the clan also suspects Katagiri because of his connection with him.

Review: Japanese director Yoji Yamada, after gaining international recognition when his movie TWILIGHT SAMURAI was nominated for best foreign language film in the 2004 Oscars, has once again tried his hand on another Samurai picture. Yamada seems to favor certain elements in his movies, as TWILIGHT SAMURAI and HIDDEN BLADE share a lot of similarities. Not only do both films take place around the same time period, but the characters share similarities in their feelings toward the Westernization of their culture and their struggles to makes things right in their personal lives.

Comparing both films is almost unavoidable, since both share so many similarities. However, this does not affect the viewing in a negative way at all. In fact, both films complement each other very well and can be taken as a shared point of view of two strong men facing similar problems in the same period of time.

Director Yoji Yamada seems to have a soft spot for drama in his period films. Indeed, just like TWILIGHT SAMURAI, HIDDEN BLADE includes only a few minutes of actual samurai sword-fighting. However, these minimal fighting scenes are very intense and all filmed in one single shot in a very realistic way. These well elaborated minutes of fighting support the strong drama element of the film very well. However, this very small dose of vigor might not be enough to hold the interest of fans of high action swordplay films all the way.

The characters and the acting abilities of the cast are some of the great highlights of this film. Masatoshi Nagase is probably not the face we have in mind when we think of a serious samurai. Nagase, who had a few period film experiences such as GOJOE, surprisingly fits the role very well.

If you previously enjoyed TWILIGHT SAMURAI, HIDDEN BLADE is strongly suggested, even if the later film is the less powerful of the two; but only because of the many similarities. Well, if you can really call this a weakness.

Even though before his two last films, director Yoji Yamada never really struck audiences with the chambara period film with his very long list of films but he's already mastered the genre only a few directors could really handle.