The Hidden Blade [DVD] (2004)

As other reviewers have stated, the film does not introduce an original plot. However it tells it's story with quiet and dignified momentum, provoking your emotions without having to force the issue. You can sense Karagiri's (the hero)quiet and reserved courage simmering throughout.
The romantic story is also very slow and hushed, in keeping with the cultural expectations, and fortunately, the film has not let it's self down with a silly 'westernised' ending. Indeed, the absence of hollywood style sword fights and unsubtle messages is what makes this film (and others of its kind) so appealing. The viewer is expected to have some knowledge of the historic period, and this will certainly enrich your experience when watching this film.

Finally, for me the most intriguing aspect was to observe the way of life depicted in the film. The courtesy, the dedication to work and productivity, and of course that unbreakable code of honour. Whilst much of it is sadly no longer compatible with modern, western life, as the film ends you may find yourself wanting to just sit quietly for a few moments and simply take stock of your own life and how you conduct yourself.

With Yoji Yamada's The Hidden Blade, set in the early 1860s, the age of the samurai was passing; the age of moviedom's bastardization of the samurai was sometime in the future. The Hidden Blade is one of three movies Yamada made based on stories by Shuhei Fujisawa. They all deal with the end of the rigid social caste system of the Tokugawa era, the cracks and corruption in the samurai code, and the effects of this on some of those in the samurai class whom we come to know. These movies aren't flash and slash epics or just cheap entertainment. The films in many ways are quiet, even when there is violence. Sadness and difficult choices are pervasive. The films, in other words, are wonderful. For the record, the three films are The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei) (2002), The Hidden Blade (Kakushi Ken Oni no Tsume) (2004) and Love and Honor (Bushi no Ichibun) (2006).

The Hidden Blade is the story of Munezo Katagiri (Masatoshi Nagase), a poor samurai who does his duty to his clan in a small village in the north of Japan. His father was forced to commit hari kiri unjustly, but the father submitted because obeying the lord was the core of his life. A friend of Katagiri's, Yaichiro Hazama, who earlier went to Edo, has been implicated in a treason plot against the shogun. Hazama is sent back to the village for imprisonment. At the same time, Katagiri's sister has married a good friend, his mother has died, and he has found a merchant husband for the family's maid, a young woman named Kie (Takako Matsu), the daughter of a farmer who had been trained in many skills by Katagiri's mother. We can tell there is affection and respect between the two, but the idea of marriage is never recognized because of the rigid separation of the four castes. Katagiri rescues Kie from the cruel marriage but cannot keep her with him. He returns her to her farmer father.

When Hazama escapes, Katagiri is ordered to go to Hazama, one of his best friends, and kill him in a duel. Hazama is a fine swordsman. Katagiri is almost as good. Katagiri learns his clan's senior advisor is venal and dishonest. Katagiri must obey, but afterwards, in disgust, takes his own actions. At last he secures his future, whatever that might be...but it won't be as a samurai.

If this all sounds mundane, it is and it isn't. In slightly more than two hours, Yamada lets us see these people's lives, everything from the rigid strictures of behavior and outward respect to how a servant washes clothes, from how to cut firewood to what a prisoner basket is, from what a poor samurai's house is like or a merchant's fabric shop to what it takes to train barely educated bumpkin samurai in gunnery and marching. It's all fascinating, more so because these are all more-or-less ordinary people in a system of rigid class inequities, where people have few if any options. Yet if Munezo Katagiri's story is told deliberately, it is never slow. Yes, we have a great (and not flashy) sword fight toward the end of the movie, and a fast and satisfying act of deadly justice to witness. The heart, however, of the movie's tension comes from Karagiri's struggle to obey the old rules while realizing how unjust and corrupt they can be. Masatoshi Nagase gives a marvelous performance...thoughtful, serious, underplayed. The movie ends with a mutual expression of love and commitment between Katagiri and Kie that is delightful and touching.

One of the fascinating aspects of Japan is how rigidly enforced and how accepted the social order was, and then how quickly and, in some cases, how ruthlessly it began to crumble. The samurai class, above the other three classes, was made up of warriors without wars. They sank into near irrelevance except for their privileges and social status. The merchant class, lowest of the classes, rose to power because they produced nothing of value, in the Buddhist sense, just money. Money proved more powerful than swords. By the end of The Hidden Blade it's clear that disciplined peasants bearing expensive firearms can take care of any charging, sword-bearing samurai they might encounter.

i love twilight samurai (same director) and when my uni's arts centre were showing this i had to go and i was not dissapointed, it is a very good film. the main problem with the film is that it is quite similar (particularly in basic plot) to twilight samurai its odd. but give it a go anyway,

however saying that its at least as good in my opinion if not better in its own way. theres a lot more humour particularly from the side characters, the old and middle aged samurai reluctantly learning western ways of warfare from an enthusiastic young tutor is gentle humour but very funny.

but there is also the emotional side of a reluctant samurai in love with a poor non-samurai girl who is ordered to fight against a dangerous criminal. which is very similar to twilight samurai. however the ending is significantly different and engaging and with the different tone it is able to differentiate itself well enough from twilight samurai.

it is also in my opinion more emotionally involving and i liked the characters more.

however it looses 1 star because of it rediculous similarity to twilight samurai, i just hope the director doesnt try it a third time or it will just become repetative.