#Chambara film

[chernobog13]

Zatoichi showing a bunch of yakuza the error of their ways in The New Tale of Zatoichi (1963).

This is the third film in the 26-film series, and the first filmed in color.

[apicturespeaks]

Death Shadows, Hideo Gosha

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Death Shadows

[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

The Criterion Channel’s synopsis of Hideo Gosha’s Death Shadow’s reads:

After their executions are faked by the authorities, three criminals are forced to become assassins under the command of the Shogun.

Technically, this is an accurate summary… of the film’s prologue. The actual story is significantly more convoluted—and I mean that as a compliment. The narrative is an intricately constructed puzzle that constantly reassembles, reconfigures, and recontextualizes itself; every scene introduces new characters, complications, and even entire subplots. If you ever find the subject matter objectionable or distasteful, just wait; the movie will be about something completely different within fifteen minutes.

This unconventional structure would be infuriatingly disjointed—were the central themes not so elegantly cohesive and clearly articulated. Like all of Gosha’s work in the chanbara genre, Death Shadows is staunchly antiauthoritarian, condemning any man that would abuse his power—including the secretive spymaster that “recruits” the eponymous assassins. After all, the corrupt clan officials, greedy merchants, and bloodthirsty gangsters that manipulate, exploit, and discard their subordinates deserve to be punished—but exceeding the limitations of the law in order to deliver “justice” is equally unethical (especially when this “necessary evil” is motivated by pragmatism rather than morality).

Beyond its deliberately puply premise, Death Shadows also represents the pinnacle of Gosha’s craftsmanship: this is the director’s style at its most economical, purposeful, and precise. He favors long, continuous, unbroken takes, repositioning the camera and performers to seamlessly transition from master shot to coverage (yes, this is very similar to Spielberg’s modus operandi)—a gracefully choreographed ballet that strikes a delicate balance between theatrical mise-en-scène and cinematic composition.

Gosha’s relatively restrained blocking and framing stand in stark contrast to the film’s unapologetically maximalist imagery. Much of the action unfolds on elaborately designed studio sets; hand-painted backdrops depict impressionistic sunsets and overcast skies, creating a surreal, hypnotic, dreamlike atmosphere—a dramatic departure from the grounded, gritty, naturalistic tone of the auteur’s earlier jidaigeki efforts (Three Outlaw Samurai, Sword of the Beast).

Thus, Death Shadows is a beautiful contradiction; serving as both the culmination of Gosha’s previous accomplishments in the industry and an evolution of his artistic vision, it resides comfortably at the intersection between avant-garde experimentation and popcorn entertainment.

[shinkleitus]

Zatoichi, o Samurai (Zatoichi kenka-tabi, 1963), dir. Kimiyoshi Yasuda.

Review originalmente postada: 26/Fev/2023 no Letterboxd.

A cada filme o Zatoichi fica mais carrancudo, neste quinto filme foi explorado uma das tropes que mais gosto e nos dias de hoje, está ainda mais popular: O personagem carrancudo que é posto sem querer para proteger alguém mais frágil. Acabou que vimos concomitante uma versão perversa e compassiva do Ichi. Está dualidade depende de cada pessoa que o interage com o personagem, para um amigo ou alguém que está protegendo, um ser sensível aparece, e para os inimigos, um ser dissimulado e impiedoso. Outro ponto do filme, é a questão social, onde mesmo pessoas que seguiam caminhos honestos, acabam se tornando desprezíveis por causa da ganância provocada pela pobreza. Creio que seja dos primeiros filmes, o que mais discute essa questão. Por causa da evolução do personagem para um ser mais carrancudo, este filme tem as cenas de ação mais violentas comparado aos outros.

[ampullenblut]

Marazhai and my Rogue Trader, but in a 50s Japanese Chambara film🍶

The inspiration came from the famous Japanese cult movie 修羅雪姫(1973) which I like very much! The subtitle is from 椿三十郎(1962)🪭

[p5x-theories]

Palace & Boss BGMs semi-analysis (2/2)

Action! -Another-: It’s slow, intimidating crawl, and underscore of violins gives the impression of menace and threat. “Action!” As a title is likely a reference to the supposed genre of Shadow Miyazawa’s movie, Samurai Action or Chambara. Action!: After the opening section that acts as an uptempo version of Miyazawa’s another version, the song very quickly shifts into a more “modern” version by adding a drum backing and a guitar, and rapidly switching between the two, perhaps showing Miyazawa’s distaste for “authenticity” by way of using less traditional instruments. Vs. Shadow Miyazawa: like how Action! opened with a more “traditional” version of itself, the boss theme has a more traditional opening, but very quickly drops the traditional aspect and becomes almost completely modern instruments again possibly symbolizing Miyazawa’s abandonment of “authenticity” and preference of theatrics and appearance. The intensity of the song may also reflect Miyazawa’s vanity, his insistence that’s he’s the hero protagonist.

Yeah, I agree with all of your takes here! I think you've largely hit the nail on the head... though I would point out that "Action!" is even more obviously just the stereotypical thing for a director to say when filming begins, so while it may also be referencing the genre, I'd honestly just assume it's meant to tie into the fact that the Palace is a movie set, haha.

[slam-dunkrai]

saw The Sword of Doom (1966) yesterday, a profoundly strange and bleak movie (it’s firmly the bleakest samurai flick I’ve ever seen, which includes Harakiri and much of the Kurosawa oeuvre). it’s an imperfect movie, but it’s well worth your time for two reasons:

- it’s two films at the same time and it can’t quite decide between them: a pretty good drama about the rise and fall of an irredeemable man, featuring some brilliant fight scenes, some extremely weird pacing, a lot of unfired Chekhov’s guns, and a bunch of political intrigue/personal drama that sorta dances around the main plot and never really seems to resolve or progress in a meaningful fashion; simultaneously, a stunning psychological thriller about a man who seems to exist only to enact massive, horrible violence onto his surroundings, his efforts to uphold the assumptions that his prowess in battle are totally unmatchable and that he is completely immune from feeling guilt, and his increasing paranoia as those assumptions come face to face with reality. the resulting tension makes the film border on the hallucinatory for a large part of its runtime as his total lack of any heroic or likeable quality ends up warping basic narrative logic into this unsettling, almost opaque structure (which makes it not only a darkly ironic subversion of conventional chambara tropes, but one of those rare films about a fucked up guy where the inevitable American Psycho comparisons make sense at a formal level);

- perhaps more importantly you get to see Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune act out a rivalry, which — as shown by Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and Samurai Rebellion — guarantees a good time.

[trendylil]

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[fredborges98]

Shakespear, Kabuki e o Haraqiri.

Por: Fred Borges

Em homenagem a todos que partiram sem se despedir na pandemia

Palavras chave: Kabuki 歌舞伎;Shinjyuu 心中; Aokigahara (青木ヶ原);Seppuku 切腹;wakizashi (Kanji: 脇差 Hiragana: わきざし

Estavam ambos sentados um em frente ao outro. Não se encaravam. Os olhos estavam direcionados as xícaras de chá de jasmim.

Uma névoa( 靄

Moya) provavelmente do calor da água fervente embaçava visão, os óculos e os olhos de um e do outro.

Estavam decididos, decisivo foi o desemprego causado pela pandemia.

O silêncio imperava. Estavam ambos preparados. Como num teatro Kabuki, contrariando o governo, haviam decidido terem dividido a árdua e orgulhosa tarefa do punhal penetrando direto no coração.

A hipocrisia e cinismo social os impedia e os impelia a aludida alusão, desilusão a decisão.

A decisão final, fatal, cabal, da cabala judaica oriental, o shinjyuu, eram desconhecidos, conhecida e reconhecida só a cumplicidade do ato final.

Haviam lido, estudado, planejado todo o início dos seus fins,enfim, todo o processo, do jejum,banho,higiene, ao tipo de arma branca, nunca branda, a lâmina afinada e afiada, a empunhadura, postura,a firmeza, a arte, os cantos que deveriam cantar diante do chá,e da mesa.

O Kintsukuroi (金 kin = ouro | 継ぎ tsugi = emenda) poderia ser a solução,mas a decisão já havia sido tomada.

Jasmim era o chá- Suas propriedades para saúde são muito conhecidas por aliviar o estresse; diminuir a ansiedade, a tensão e a exaustão nervosa.

Ajudaria a combater os sintomas da depressão, é excelente calmante e favorece o sono tranquilo.

Sono eterno.

Sono de sonhos de Akira Kurosawa e pesadelos também.

Estavam determinados, leram a história e os fundamentos do Kabuki, tinham visto os filmes de Akira Kurosawa , tinham visto sua ascenção e declínio, seu drama e direção dos seus filmes,de introdutor do gênero chambara

チャンバラ ou (samurai) no cinema, com temas como a honra acima de tudo.

Da sua biografia,sofrendo de fadiga mental em 1971, tentou frustradamente suicidar-se cortando os pulsos por mais de trinta vezes.

Sabia que Akira e agora( 今

Ima)precisavam e tinham a disciplina de celebrar suas origens culturais, afinal era uma vergonha e uma afronta a honra e dignidade estarem ambos desempregados.

Haviam lido que o primeiro harakiri registrado na história data de 1170, quando Minamoto Tametomo, figura quase lendária do clã Minamoto, suicida-se após perder uma batalha contra o também famoso clã dos Taira.

O suicídio ritual ainda tem e tinha antigamente grande significado para o povo japonês.

Vencendo o medo da morte, o samurai vencia também esse grande enigma da humanidade, "ser ou não ser eis a questão", e destacava-se então das outras classes existentes na época.

É esse mesmo espírito do samurai que levaram os pilotos suicidas (kamikases) a explodirem junto aos seus aviões durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Impensável, imponderável, inadmissível ao mundo ocidental, ao microscópico universo americano.

Inserido a este contexto temos o kabuki (歌舞伎?) ou cabúqui que é uma forma de teatro japonês, conhecida pela estilização do drama e pela elaborada maquilhagem utilizada pelos seus atores.

O significado individual de cada ideograma é canto (ka) (歌), dança (bu) (舞) e habilidade (ki) (伎), e por isso a palavra kabuki é por vezes traduzida como "a arte de cantar e dançar".

Esses ideogramas, entretanto, são o que se chamam de ateji (ideogramas usados apenas com sentido fonético) e não refletem a mesma etimologia da palavra.

Acredita-se, de fato, que o kabuki derive do verbo kabuku, significando aproximadamente "ser fora do comum", donde se depreende o sentido de teatro de "vanguarda" ou teatro "bizarro".

Algo " fora do comum" aconteceu e acontece até hoje na pandemia e suas externalidades.

A sua origem remonta ao início do século XVII, quando se parodiavam temas religiosos com danças de ousada sensualidade para uma sociedade tradicional e conservadora na época e até hoje.

Lá o certo é o correto e íntegro ou moralmente e eticamente coerente.

No ano de 1629, esse tipo de teatro foi proibido pelo governo.

O espetáculo passou a ser encenado então por rapazes que interpretavam papéis femininos.

Contemporaneamente, o teatro kabuki tornou-se um espectáculo popular que combina realismo e formalismo, música e dança, mímica, encenação e figurinos, implicando numa constante integração entre os atores e a plateia de significado cultural.

Logo, os dois, sentados diante do chá, adotaram a pintura de morte e vida divergente e convergente, yin e yang nas suas faces, espelhos e cores azuis foram colocados no pequeno apartamento, um paradoxo universal entre a vida e a morte.

Leram sobre a adversidade causada pelas mulheres no Kabuki, e um se vestiu de vida e o outro da morte,homem e mulher,mas ambos eram homens, ambos tinham o mesmo objetivo e meta- dar fim a vida.

O local estava frio, o chão estava quente, as armas brancas e nunca brandas, suas lâminas estavam preparadas, lavadas com água da nascente do monte Fugi( 富士山) para o ritual.

Não haveria o papel coadjuvante do kaishakunin, não haveria o kimono branco, não haveria glória, seria uma tragédia Shakespeariana aos olhos ocidentais, olhos de um Romeu e uma Julieta, seria a negação da vida, do amor, pela morte.Seria o encontro na posteridade com a paz.

Diria Romeu: “Minha generosidade é tão ilimitada quanto o mar,

Meu amor é tão profundo; quanto mais te dou,

mais tenho, pois ambos são infinitos.”

No lugar disto recitariam o poema da morte dos Samurais:

"Não serei para ti um fardo pesado,

Nem permitirei que se ponham contra mim.

Pai... Veja como eu sangro!

 As minhas escolhas levaram-me a perambular

 Num labirinto de espinhos...

Todos estes anos eu estive perdido.

Minhas vestes brancas estão vermelhas,

 Porém meus punhos e tornozelos

Não serão por grilhões feridos.

Lutei a vida toda em nome da honra

E hoje por meu orgulho fui vencido.

 Eu não descansarei em campos floridos,

Serei jogado em terreno incerto...

Lá onde as cadelas vorazes dilaceram os pródigos

E as arvores sangram e choram o pranto dos suicidas.

Pai eu estou sangrando... Pai eu estou ferido!

E logo os meus inimigos irão me encontrar,

Não deixarei que me tomem prisioneiro

Eles não conseguirão me escravizar.

 A espada que um dia me salvou

Será a arma que irá me sentenciar,

Adeus ó amigos... Adeus ó pátria

O teu filho a ti não retornará"

Assim tomam o chá e enfiam a katana um no coração do outro, o chão branco fica vermelho, a vida é infinitamente tão frágil...

FIM.

[cultfaction]

Preview- Violent Streets (Bluray)

Preview- Violent Streets (Bluray)

One of the finest directors of Japanese chambara (sword fighting) films, Hideo Gosha (Sword of the Beast, Three Outlaw Samurai) also directed a number of films in the yakuza genre. The most outstanding of these was Violent Streets; a baroque crime thriller about a retired yakuza who gets pulled into a violent gang war by his former associates. A former yakuza member, Egawa (Noboru Andô) is now a…

[chernobog13]

SLEEPY EYES OF DEATH 7: A TRAIL OF TRAPS (1967)

[apicturespeaks]

Shogun's Shadow, Yasuo Furuhata

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Samurai Wolf

In Samurai Wolf, director Hideo Gosha shaves his already minimalistic chanbara formula all the way down to the bone. Although conspiracies, intrigue, conflicting loyalties, and double identities abound, these recurring tropes merely provide narrative context rather than serving as central themes. The setting is likewise quite modest compared to the lavish, densely populated feudal cities and quaint, fertile farms that tend to define the jidaigeki genre; the story instead unfolds in a remote ghost town nestled amidst an imposing mountain range, where the ramshackle buildings and dusty, desolate roads evoke an almost post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Even the heroic ronin du jour lacks his archetype’s trademark tragic origin, swaggering onto the screen pretty much fully formed, with only the clothes on his back (his frequent shirtlessness notwithstanding).

The simple, straightforward, no-frills plot allows Gosha to focus his creative energies on what truly matters: the style. Every image is a beautifully crafted work of art. The action is, of course, exquisitely choreographed, making excellent use of slow motion, precise editing, and dynamic framing (including claustrophobic closeups, sprawling wides, and disorienting Dutch angles) to add variety to the intentionally chaotic battles. Expository dialogue is filmed with equal care and attention to detail. In one early scene, for example, our protagonist negotiates with a prospective employer while casually trimming his beard, using his sword as a makeshift mirror; thus, both characters remain visible in each shot/reverse shot via the reflective surface of the blade, lending visual flair to the otherwise basic compositions.

Samurai Wolf isn’t Gosha’s best movie (that title rightfully belongs to either Three Outlaw Samurai or Hunter in the Dark, despite my personal preference for Sword of the Beast), but it certainly ranks among his most effortlessly entertaining. Running a lean, breezy seventy-five minutes without sacrificing any of its emotional resonance, it proves the old adage, “Sometimes, less is more.”

[once-was-muses]

The fact that they're speaking to her gives Rin pause. It always does. Survivors rarely stay put for long, rarer still do they actually try communicating with her. It's always screams, whimpers, or sobs. Like dispatching a lame horse or slaughterhouse swine, she assumes. Her hands had only wielded a pencil and practice shinai before her blood soaked transformation.

Sofu wouldn't be phased by this. Strike them down, foolish enough as they are to provide you an easy target. But conversely, it's improper to strike a foe that's down. She doesn't have to care about any of that ancestor or honor nonsense anymore, and yet Rin remains in a sort of mental limbo for a few more seconds...

"I am Yamaoka," she finally answers, weapon's tip having followed the case of vital organs as their owner stood, "and you are no guest. Not one I invited."

It all sounds so cheesy, like old black and white chambara films. Considering the grotesquely humorous overabundance of oozing scarlet which accompanies some of the slayings here, the comparison isn't far off. It almost makes her smirk to herself.

Almost.

"Compose yourself and face me, or lead me to your company. I will slay all of you regardless."

@corvidamned | BLOOD RELATED PROMPTS

[ DISCOVER ] for receiver to find sender trying to clean blood off themselves. for the Spirit

It's normal to find someone or something inexplicably covered in blood here in the Fog. It took a little getting used to, but Rin had never been as squeamish as everyone always expected her to be- at least in the world before this one.

But especially commonplace is for it to be one of the stock prey to be smeared in red. It's usually not entirely around their mouths, though.

A thought about that Bubba guy and his "chili" crosses Rin's mind, if only for a split second. Then to an old classmate that would always have some kind of food in his bag on test days, claiming he got hungry when he was nervous.

Holding her family's katana parallel to the ground, blade pointed behind her, Rin observes the trespasser for a moment more. Briefly pondering what the Entity might do to punish a survivor that attacked another "out of bounds," so to speak. She remembers losing both her arms for who knows how long the last time she stabbed the head Legion asshole. It was deserved, but "unprovoked" just because he didn't swing first.

Doesn't matter. What's more important is finding out what the hell they think they're doing in her realm outside of trials. Stepping out from her phasing, Rin corrects her posture, katana now held straight up between them.

"Who are you to trespass on my estate?" Subconsciously, she still tries to sound like her ancestor now and again. She's scary enough on her own, but just to be sure...

[wesley-de-cornualles]

Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival, dir. Kenji Misumi, 1970

[abs0luteb4stard]

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