This is a very early Gosha film and an immensely enjoyable one. Thematically this film is fairly similar to Gosha's masterpiece Goyokin. Both films follow disillusioned samurai while they attempt to break away from their past life as retainers. Compared to Goyokin, Sword of the Beast is much shorter and not as wide or ambitious in scope.
The plot follows Gennosuke, a samurai that we learn has been manipulated by his clan and eventually hunted. Adding to the drama, he is hunted by a group of people lead by a former friend from his clan. Through flashbacks we learn exactly how Gennosuke has ended up in his current position. Previously he was a low level samurai in his clan, with great sword skills but little else. A high level retainer talks with and manipulates a naive and ambitious Gennosuke into taking action. As you can imagine, when he is on the run his aspect on life and his clan is much different! The most interesting aspects of the film occur when his circumstances cause him to view the samurai code much differently than he had as a retainer.
The action is very well filmed with good composition and stylistic choices such as the freeze frame. At only 85 minutes, the film is quickly placed with plenty of action. While Mikijiro Hira doesn't match Tatsuya Nakadai's masterful performance in Goyokin, he still does a more than competent job. Overall, this film was a pleasure to watch. To anybody else who enjoyed the film, I would highly recommend Goyokin (thematically very similar and one of Gosha's best).
The plot follows Gennosuke, a samurai that we learn has been manipulated by his clan and eventually hunted. Adding to the drama, he is hunted by a group of people lead by a former friend from his clan. Through flashbacks we learn exactly how Gennosuke has ended up in his current position. Previously he was a low level samurai in his clan, with great sword skills but little else. A high level retainer talks with and manipulates a naive and ambitious Gennosuke into taking action. As you can imagine, when he is on the run his aspect on life and his clan is much different! The most interesting aspects of the film occur when his circumstances cause him to view the samurai code much differently than he had as a retainer.
The action is very well filmed with good composition and stylistic choices such as the freeze frame. At only 85 minutes, the film is quickly placed with plenty of action. While Mikijiro Hira doesn't match Tatsuya Nakadai's masterful performance in Goyokin, he still does a more than competent job. Overall, this film was a pleasure to watch. To anybody else who enjoyed the film, I would highly recommend Goyokin (thematically very similar and one of Gosha's best).