Review - Movie - The Hidden Blade

 Since around June/July, I've been working on a new fantasy WIP which takes place across a sizeable chunk of Japan's history. And one of the films that helped solidify my liking for it, and that I've watched recently since I'm suffering from a horrendous variety of the common cold, is The Hidden Blade, a 2004 drama film directed and co-written by Yoji Yamada based on the stories of Japanese author Shuhei Fujisawa.

Image credit: IMDB

Set during the 1860s, the late years of the Bakematsu when the Tokugawa Shogunate was in the process of falling apart under encroaching Western influence and growing Imperial pressure, the story follows the life trials of low-ranking samurai Munezo Katagiri. From the forbidden feelings he has for his servant Kie, the social burden of his father committing seppuku following a financial debacle he was not directly responsible for, to ending up pitted against a former student of the blade Yaichiro Hazama by his clan's retainers, Katagiri's struggles in his small town existence are real and a lot more relatable than a wandering swordsman defending a town or the noble (quasi-fictionalised) plight of forty-seven ronin.

An interesting element to this story is that, counter to the typical samurai shown in the work of Kurosawa and a number of others, . Multiple films during this time, including Yamada's two other notable samurai films Twilight Samurai and Love and Honour (and Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins) seem to tear down the mythology built around the Edo-period samurai. The Hidden Blade is a slow-paced deconstruction of the laws and codes which trapped samurai, the corruption of their lords during the late Bakematsu, and the growing discontent and disconnect among different factions with the increasing influence of Western martial techniques. There is a real sense of the suffocating social rules that by this point were creaking at the seams which must be attributed to the actors and their peerless performances.

I must also mention the PEAK HISTORICAL ACCURACY to be found in this film. The setting is on point, the armour and fabric and cloth colours are on point, the smaller details are peak, and in an interesting example of the time's culture clash a retainer sent to teach Western military tactics is shown blending Japanese and Western dress styles in his clothing that makes him stand out as an almost-alien presence. There is also no modern locality names to spoil the mood (there is mention of "Ezo" rather than its modern name Hokkaido, which would've been a big gaff), and the architecture and long camera shots show little to no modern elements to spoil the illusion that this is late Edo Japan. Combine that with a mixture of contemporary-style musical elements and an admittedly ahistorical orchestral score by Isao Tomita, and you have...probably one of the best modern Japanese films.

Is this film a must watch? Yes, absolutely. This should be on the list of every true Japanese film fan, regardless of genre. The writing is engaging, the story slow but entertaining, the atmosphere is peerless, the acting is great, and the score is heartwrenching. Please, please find a way to watch this film.

9/10