When I decided to watch this movie I was expecting another brilliant colourful and authentic Asian history movie with some amazing fight scenes but it came out that this movies is quite odd and didn't meet my expectations. Let's talk about the storyline first.
A silent swordsman kills Lady Renko for no obvious reason in the beginning after a strange and quite long traditional celebration. Instead of getting condemned to death, he gets isolated for one year in a dark but still quite smart house in the emperor's garden. His niece is bringing him a reduced portion of supper every day.
The movie becomes then a little bit complicated because it switches from the present to the past all the time in a disturbing manner. The movies shows us how the emperor got under the influence of Lady Renko, his first concubine. She took brutal decisions in the place of her master. That lead to a conflict with Lord Obiya and the population as the easily-corrupted Lord Ukyou raised the taxes and wanted to do some work on an ancient temple.
Meanwhile, the niece Rio is creating a beautiful garden and takes care of her uncle. She gets devoted to him but he wants her to get away during the troubles surrounding the death of Lady Renko to find a husband. But Rio had already been married before and lived a very negative experience and she falls in love with her uncle.
Then, the movie suddenly gets really weird. Uncle and niece fall heavily in love. The uncle wants the niece to quit and promises her to meet her later. The niece has become pregnant. The uncle and silent swordsman Sanzaemon gets liberated and becomes strangely Lord Ukyou's bodyguard. But there is still a tension between them as Lord Ukyou doesn't want to see the face of the killer of his concubine and communicates with him through a curtain. Another person of Lord Ukyou's kingdom suddenly learns that Sanzeamon is a skilled swordsman and is able to use the famous "Sword of desperation" strike. Sanzaemon gets used to protect Lord Ukyou from the angry Lord Obiya.
Then comes the most interesting part of the movie, the sword fight scene between Sanzaemon and Obiya which the legendary swordsman wins. But suddenly, he is accused to have gone mad and killed Lord Obiya without permission and out of the blue. Lord Ukyou wants to get rid of him and orders to kill him to finally avenge the life of his beloved concubine Lady Renko. Sanzaemon fights like a maniac against an army of bodyguards but is slowly getting more and more hurt until a bodyguard seems to kill him with an unexpected attack in the back. He is declared dead but then suddenly rises up one last time and uses his "Sword of desperation" to kill the traitor, one of the lord's councils before he really dies. Meanwhile, Rio is waiting for her uncle in the village and doesn't know anything about his death yet in the end.
Now, let's talk about the positive points. First of all, this movie shows us some really beautiful and artistically images of the fight scenes, cultural events or simply landscapes. The director had a perfect eye for every single detail. Another good point is the two fight scenes in the ending of the movie. Especially the second one shows in a very intense way the slow and painful battle that Sanzaemon can only lose. It is a very positive point that he is not shown as a brilliant fighter but as a despaired man that is trying to survive at all costs.
On the other side, the movie already starts really slow paced and demands a lot of patience. Beautiful images and silent characters are accepted but if all characters almost seem to work that way, than I must list this as a lack of this movie. The main character is well conceived without a doubt. There is a sort of mystery surrounding him but the other characters are rather ordinary and one doesn't really care about their fates. I didn't get at all into this movie by its characters but only by its beautiful images and the fight scenes in the last thirty minutes. What is really disturbing the flow and the pleasure to watch this flick are all the time changes between the past and the present. In the beginning, when this element is used for the first two times, two men are talking about the event in a bar in the present and this context is understandable but suddenly the two men disappear and the time changes continue. In the beginning I didn't get a sense into the whole story. It is very difficult to understand why Sanzaemon killed, how he is punished and why he is finally avenged as those behaviours don't seem quite logically to a neutral watcher. The relationship between uncle and niece is only credibly played from the devoted niece's point of view while (the only time that a second actor is convincing and doing a very good job) while the behaviour of her uncle seems unreal and emotionless and at the other hand too crazy and pervert for such a silent man. I am sure that the director or writer of the screenplay worked all of this out in a very detailed way but to me those events seem to be a little bit random if not some plot holes. The movie would have needed a few more explications and a more emotional acting to transmit the message credibly.
All in all, this movie is interesting for those that like Asian culture, the cinema as a photographic art and slow paced dramas. Those who expect a great history flick, a martial arts movie or simply an intense story about vengeance and forbidden love will soon be disappointed. You really must be patient and attentive while you watch this movie.
A silent swordsman kills Lady Renko for no obvious reason in the beginning after a strange and quite long traditional celebration. Instead of getting condemned to death, he gets isolated for one year in a dark but still quite smart house in the emperor's garden. His niece is bringing him a reduced portion of supper every day.
The movie becomes then a little bit complicated because it switches from the present to the past all the time in a disturbing manner. The movies shows us how the emperor got under the influence of Lady Renko, his first concubine. She took brutal decisions in the place of her master. That lead to a conflict with Lord Obiya and the population as the easily-corrupted Lord Ukyou raised the taxes and wanted to do some work on an ancient temple.
Meanwhile, the niece Rio is creating a beautiful garden and takes care of her uncle. She gets devoted to him but he wants her to get away during the troubles surrounding the death of Lady Renko to find a husband. But Rio had already been married before and lived a very negative experience and she falls in love with her uncle.
Then, the movie suddenly gets really weird. Uncle and niece fall heavily in love. The uncle wants the niece to quit and promises her to meet her later. The niece has become pregnant. The uncle and silent swordsman Sanzaemon gets liberated and becomes strangely Lord Ukyou's bodyguard. But there is still a tension between them as Lord Ukyou doesn't want to see the face of the killer of his concubine and communicates with him through a curtain. Another person of Lord Ukyou's kingdom suddenly learns that Sanzeamon is a skilled swordsman and is able to use the famous "Sword of desperation" strike. Sanzaemon gets used to protect Lord Ukyou from the angry Lord Obiya.
Then comes the most interesting part of the movie, the sword fight scene between Sanzaemon and Obiya which the legendary swordsman wins. But suddenly, he is accused to have gone mad and killed Lord Obiya without permission and out of the blue. Lord Ukyou wants to get rid of him and orders to kill him to finally avenge the life of his beloved concubine Lady Renko. Sanzaemon fights like a maniac against an army of bodyguards but is slowly getting more and more hurt until a bodyguard seems to kill him with an unexpected attack in the back. He is declared dead but then suddenly rises up one last time and uses his "Sword of desperation" to kill the traitor, one of the lord's councils before he really dies. Meanwhile, Rio is waiting for her uncle in the village and doesn't know anything about his death yet in the end.
Now, let's talk about the positive points. First of all, this movie shows us some really beautiful and artistically images of the fight scenes, cultural events or simply landscapes. The director had a perfect eye for every single detail. Another good point is the two fight scenes in the ending of the movie. Especially the second one shows in a very intense way the slow and painful battle that Sanzaemon can only lose. It is a very positive point that he is not shown as a brilliant fighter but as a despaired man that is trying to survive at all costs.
On the other side, the movie already starts really slow paced and demands a lot of patience. Beautiful images and silent characters are accepted but if all characters almost seem to work that way, than I must list this as a lack of this movie. The main character is well conceived without a doubt. There is a sort of mystery surrounding him but the other characters are rather ordinary and one doesn't really care about their fates. I didn't get at all into this movie by its characters but only by its beautiful images and the fight scenes in the last thirty minutes. What is really disturbing the flow and the pleasure to watch this flick are all the time changes between the past and the present. In the beginning, when this element is used for the first two times, two men are talking about the event in a bar in the present and this context is understandable but suddenly the two men disappear and the time changes continue. In the beginning I didn't get a sense into the whole story. It is very difficult to understand why Sanzaemon killed, how he is punished and why he is finally avenged as those behaviours don't seem quite logically to a neutral watcher. The relationship between uncle and niece is only credibly played from the devoted niece's point of view while (the only time that a second actor is convincing and doing a very good job) while the behaviour of her uncle seems unreal and emotionless and at the other hand too crazy and pervert for such a silent man. I am sure that the director or writer of the screenplay worked all of this out in a very detailed way but to me those events seem to be a little bit random if not some plot holes. The movie would have needed a few more explications and a more emotional acting to transmit the message credibly.
All in all, this movie is interesting for those that like Asian culture, the cinema as a photographic art and slow paced dramas. Those who expect a great history flick, a martial arts movie or simply an intense story about vengeance and forbidden love will soon be disappointed. You really must be patient and attentive while you watch this movie.