Dai-bosatsu tôge (1966)'s comments

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der Zorn Gottes

Tatsuya Nakadai doesn't get anywhere near enough recognition, I mean Toshiro Mifune is great and all, but Nakadai is where it's at, son. He is the true giant in Japanese cinema. And although I loved Mifune's cameo in this film, all he really did was play himself, the generic Mifune-character we've already seen in numerous Jidaigeki before.

It's almost as if there's no limit to Nakadai's range on film. Here we see him play the lead, but he is no hero, he is a full-blown villain, yet still, you can't help but love him. Everything he does in this film is captivating and awe-inspiring. The sword-fight scene in the beginning makes him look like an unstoppable killing machine, but when the fight-scene with Mifune comes along, it's as if he doesn't know how to hold a sword or more like isn't worthy to wield it against him, it's beautiful story-telling, just beautiful.

At times the movie feels confusing, it's as if the numerous sub-plots have their own sub-plots and you can easily see that some of them were made with a sequel in mind. Despite this, come the end of the film, you can't help but feel like everything has come full circle. And what an ending it is, so bleak and filled with despair, yet still so brilliantly beautiful.

It's hard to rate this movie lower than any other Jidaigeki out there, but it's the confusion with the sub-plots that makes me rank it just a tad below Seppuku and Kagemusha, two other movies that star Nakadai at the helm. But the main character has never been as tasty in any Jidaigeki as the one in this movie.

quote:
The more you tell me, the more a villain he seems. A man from hell. The world's full of villains, but he beats them all.

7 years 7 months ago