SWORD OF DOOM (Okamoto, 1966)
Criterion Collection, Blu-ray, Release Date January 6, 2015
Review by Christopher S. Long
An old man prays for death so that he
will no longer be a burden to his granddaughter. A swordsman dressed
in black appears behind him and grants his request with a single
brutal stroke.
An avenging angel? Hardly. Ryunosuke
Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadai) is a samurai obsessed with perfecting his
form. When we meet him his monomania has already left him alienated
and unhinged; as the film progresses and his few human contacts
dwindle it will drive him to madness. He's also our protagonist.
Director Kihachi Okamoto, working from
a screenplay by Shinobu Hashimoto, adapted “The Sword of Doom”
(1966) from the popular serialized novel by Kaizan Nakazato. In the
novel (according to the fine essay written by critic Geoffrey O'Brien
and included with this disc) Ryunosuke, who plies his trade during
the mid to late 1800s in shogunate Japan, embraces evil because he is
destined to do so in the author's expression of Mahayana Buddhism.
The character, however, quickly assumed his own life in popular
culture, becoming a sympathetic anti-hero before such figures became
more prevalent.
Okamoto doesn't delve too deeply into
his protagonist's psyche and Nakadai's performance is a highly
physical one, not just the choreographed hacking and slashing but
also through intense glowering expressions reminiscent of the
trademark Kubrick stare that augurs incipient breakdown. Often he
lurks on the periphery before submitting passively to his next battle
and then his next, oddly detached from his amoral slaughter yet still
completely committed to destruction.
Ryunosuke is at conflict with the
entire world but most specifically wants to challenge the great and
noble swordplay teacher Shimada (Toshiro Mifune), the only man whose
form exceeds his. If there's a significant disappointment in this
film, it's that we don't get nearly as much Mifune as we want ,though
his big scene, a gorgeously filmed and staged ambush in the snow, is
one of the film's highlights. Aside from that he's mostly relegated
to a minor supporting role.
The narrative is episodic in nature,
leaping forward in time only to remind us of how little poor
Ryunosuke has changed or is capable of changing; complaining about a
lack of character development would simply miss the point. He briefly
interrupts his martial pursuits for a half-formed fixation on an
innocent young woman (Yoko Naito) who shows him a moment of kindness,
but intimacy just isn't in his nature.
The film's appeal relies heavily on the
brooding charisma of its lead and on the Grand Guignol finale in
which Ryunosuke battles foes both imagined and real. Here he becomes
almost completely robotic though still graceful as a killing machine.
New rivals materialize out of thin air and he keeps hacking away. He
is sliced and diced by the endless horde and just when he looks ready
to fall, he hacks some more, his sword a flashing metronome. I won't
spoil the ending for you, but by this point in this bleak story one
gets the impression that the worst fate for our hero would be to
survive and thus be doomed to kill for all eternity.
Video:
The film is presented in its original
2.35:1 aspect ratio. Criterion originally released “Sword of Doom”
on DVD in 2005. The transfer was fine, but this 1080p transfer
represents a significant upgrade with much sharper image detail and
rich black-and-white contrast. It's possible that necessary boosting
accounts for a few scenes where the grain isn't as prominent, but
overall this high-def transfer looks excellent.
Audio:
The linear PCM mono track is crisp but
more functional than dynamic. Not a lot to say on this one, just a
solid, professional job with no evident distortion. Optional English
subtitles support the Japanese audio.
Extras:
The 2005 release was strictly bare
bones. Criterion hasn't dug up much for this Blu-ray release, but at
least we get a newly recorded commentary track by scholar Stephen
Prince and a Trailer (2 min.) I have only had a chance to sample
Prince's commentary but it is loaded with the usual expertise Prince
brings to his analysis of Japanese cinema.
The slim fold-out insert booklet
features the same essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien that was included
with the 2005 release.
Film Value:
Stylish and bleak, “Sword of Doom”
might be the perfect date movie... for the right date. The extras are
slim but the transfer is strong. Samurai fan will certainly enjoy
this high-def upgrade.
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