Country: Japan
Date: 1964
Runtime: 1h 42min
Format: .avi with .srt subtitles
Here's a movie that's a bit hard to define and it's not exactly Christmas material but whatever. Some say it's a period drama, some say it's a horror movie and some say it's an erotic horror. I'd say it's a period drama first and a subtle horror flick second.
The movie is set during the Nanboku-cho period (which is like mid medieval times in ol' Europa) but this is no movie of samurai bravery or acts of just vengeance. The movie is about two women who live by sneakily killing soldiers and looting their equipment (as you would in any normal RPG). Their lives are very basic and they are very poor so it's something that the movie displays really well through character interactions and sets. This is where the "horror" part comes because there is no supernatural force here, the people are the horror and their deeds are atrocious no matter what they do. In contrast to human ugliness the scenes of nature (the whole movie is in a dense tall grass field) are beautiful to behold. Beautiful and sort of menacing or even indifferent to humans that run around it.
This might be a bit too slow for everyone to watch. It is kinda samey but I like the feeling and the atmosphere that the movie delivers. There's something in here that I really like but I can't really put my finger on it. I guess I just like this sort of thing for its macabre theme and feel.
You can read a more comprehensible review here.
Or you can download it and see for yourself: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.
Posts
Nice, sounds like this is just my thing. Sad thing that this director just died this year.
ReplyDeleteThe story about two poor women selling the armour of samurai reminds me a bit of a part from the Vagabond manga. In Akutagawa's Rashomon there it was a woman selling hair from dead people.
Anyway, I love such stories, thanks for sharing this!
According to Wikipedia the story was based on a Buddhist folk tale so it's possible that other authors used it as well.
ReplyDeletemediafire says the files are now blocked.
ReplyDeleteFuck, seems like they invented some new rule for this. I'll see what I can do about it. In any case try searching for a torrent of the movie, I'm sure you'll be able to find something.
ReplyDelete