I remember going to see Goyokin because of a movie review. The film critic called it an anti- samurai samurai film. And that's exactly what it is. While I'm not very knowledgeable about the genre, I've seen enough to know the form. This one's different! I'm going to digress. If you're acquainted with a short story by the Russian writer Dostoyevsky called the Grand Inquisitor, Christ returns to earth just in time for the Spanish Inquisition. He experiences a church in his name completely removed from his example. That's the spirit which inspires Goyokin. It's simple, literate story telling with plenty of significant detail and dialogue to make the plot of a very Japanese film comprehensible to more Occidental sensibilities. A tale of revenge set in a cultural context of official greed in the last years of the Tokugawa era.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS The opening scenes establish the degree of criminality to which some samurai resort to meet the burden of taxes imposed by a corrupt government. The rest of the movie devotes itself to one man and his helpers seeking to prevent a repeat of that history. END SPOILERS END SPOILERS END SPOILERS
After 36 years, this film is finally available as a DVD import. It's bare bones. English subtitles only (with no options on my copy for other languages). Plus chapter headings. That's it. But the film transfer is gorgeous; its rich colors which once I could only try to recall came alive again and the cinematography is spellbinding. Out of sheer curiosity, I wish I knew some background of Goyokin's story. If it's indicative of director Hideo Gosha's work in general, he's a real original. Watching it again this evening, I couldn't help but wonder who Gosha watched to develop his own style of storytelling, or is it just practice, practice, practice?
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS The opening scenes establish the degree of criminality to which some samurai resort to meet the burden of taxes imposed by a corrupt government. The rest of the movie devotes itself to one man and his helpers seeking to prevent a repeat of that history. END SPOILERS END SPOILERS END SPOILERS
After 36 years, this film is finally available as a DVD import. It's bare bones. English subtitles only (with no options on my copy for other languages). Plus chapter headings. That's it. But the film transfer is gorgeous; its rich colors which once I could only try to recall came alive again and the cinematography is spellbinding. Out of sheer curiosity, I wish I knew some background of Goyokin's story. If it's indicative of director Hideo Gosha's work in general, he's a real original. Watching it again this evening, I couldn't help but wonder who Gosha watched to develop his own style of storytelling, or is it just practice, practice, practice?