Genre

In an odd sort of way, Samurai Spy has the feel of one of the Sean Connery Bond films. The plot seems to be more convoluted than it really needs to be, and there are many scenes that show a character quiet and alone, as they discover a new piece of the plot puzzle for themselves. I would say that parts of the film could be a bit too complex for some American audiences to follow, as so much of the story is driven by Japanese character and clan names. It seems that Criterion anticipated this problem, as they hav... included a character gallery in the extras, complete with brief character bios.

However, as is the case with many of Criterion's releases, patience is well rewarded. Those that put in the effort will find a film that is rich in its message and quite modern in its tone. While most samurai films up until this point rested on the fact that a samurai can always trust completely in his shogunate, this film is full of double-crosses and wavering allegiances. No longer is what is good for the community always best. Sometimes, this film teaches, personal interests are more noble than those of the collective.

First and foremost, it is important to note that this is a large, “A” list film. While many samurai movies are low budget stories, everything about this beautiful film is first rate. As you can see by the two hour running time, the story comes first in this piece, with the swordplay coming in later, merely to serve the story.

And an important story it is. In 1967, World War II was still fresh in the minds of many Japanese citizens. These people, who had never questioned authority in thousands of years, had j...st begun to wonder if blind loyalty to authority was always the best path. This film dares to place the honor of the family unit over that of the ruling clan. The brilliance of the film lies in the fact that even the act of disobedience is performed with the utmost respect for the ruling class, and violence is considered absolutely as a last resort.

Kill! plays like something of a dark spaghetti western comedy. Honestly, how many times have you heard that line before? A warrior with no master wanders into a ghost town, tired and hungry, to find the only restaurateur in town dead. As he begins to contemplate where he will find his next meal, a farmer wonders into town under similar circumstances. The two form a loose partnership as they discover that they have placed themselves in the middle of a standoff between the local samurai and yakuza clans. As they...find out more about what is going on in the seemingly-deserted town, their loyalties shift and they begin to concentrate more on doing what is right than on their original selfish desires.

Fans of the Kill Bill films will find much to enjoy in this film, as it will give them an opportunity to see some of the history behind Tarantino's films. This piece is an unconventional take on the same book on which Akira Kurosowa's film Sanjuro was based. I always enjoy the opportunity to see different takes on a theme, and this 1965 film is quite fascinating in its disregard for traditional samurai film conventions.

Call me crazy, but I came away from this disc feeling like I had just watched a samurai western. On one side, the film is filled with Japanese warriors, fantastic swordfighting and talk of honor and revenge. On the other hand, a major subplot of the film revolves around panning for gold in the mountains, and fighting over the claims. This excellent 1965 film has much in common with great westerns, such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, including interesting plot twists and a complicated-yet-comical sidekick t... the main character that is surprisingly similar to Eli Wallach's character in the Italian epic.

Of course, there is plenty of samurai action in this film as well. It is interesting to see the rapid zooms that are such a trademark of this style of film used in a black-and-white format. These conventions are even more interesting when juxtaposed with some of the other delicately framed deep focus shots in the film. The cinematography alone is enough to elevate this film out of the category of a basic samurai film and into that of art, but the script and the wonderfully-choreographed fight scenes really put this film into a whole new level.