I'm sure there's some rationale as to the great reviews, but I do not share them.
I don't have a lot of patience for most samurai film as they tend to:
1) Take forever to develop, and "develop" is a questionable state 2) The cultural and era often make no sense (in contemporary American terms) 3) They take the traditions and bushido code far too seriously 4) They're absurdly brutish masculine, almost like animals
This film takes a different approach in that 90% of the film is story-telling, and the sword play is almost ancillary. It's a nice change, but ultimately boring.
STORY: If you've watched Japanese (samurai) film then the story is old. It's as simple as vengeance sought for some injustice, which isn't a bad thing. But after awhile, this becomes boring, if not useless. There is ZERO CHARACTER development here, which seems inconsistent with the (seeming) intent of the director. But I felt almost nothing for the characters, or their travail.
ACTING: Again, as to Japanese samurai film, it's fine. But there's NO acting that stands up, let alone out. Just dull, flat, mechanical. Aside from the perfunctory grunting, the dialogue is predictable.
TEMPO: Very, very, very slow. Not atypical for the sub-genre, but brutally slow.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The scenery is lack-luster, but at least tidy. Props are OK, but sparse. Sound is OK, but nothing interesting.
DIRECTING: This same director churns this stuff out on script and cue. For the sub-genre fine, but doubt there's much transferable skill to other film genre.
Overall, a slow-moving, run-of-the-mill samurai film. Dull. Pointless.
I don't have a lot of patience for most samurai film as they tend to:
1) Take forever to develop, and "develop" is a questionable state 2) The cultural and era often make no sense (in contemporary American terms) 3) They take the traditions and bushido code far too seriously 4) They're absurdly brutish masculine, almost like animals
This film takes a different approach in that 90% of the film is story-telling, and the sword play is almost ancillary. It's a nice change, but ultimately boring.
STORY: If you've watched Japanese (samurai) film then the story is old. It's as simple as vengeance sought for some injustice, which isn't a bad thing. But after awhile, this becomes boring, if not useless. There is ZERO CHARACTER development here, which seems inconsistent with the (seeming) intent of the director. But I felt almost nothing for the characters, or their travail.
ACTING: Again, as to Japanese samurai film, it's fine. But there's NO acting that stands up, let alone out. Just dull, flat, mechanical. Aside from the perfunctory grunting, the dialogue is predictable.
TEMPO: Very, very, very slow. Not atypical for the sub-genre, but brutally slow.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The scenery is lack-luster, but at least tidy. Props are OK, but sparse. Sound is OK, but nothing interesting.
DIRECTING: This same director churns this stuff out on script and cue. For the sub-genre fine, but doubt there's much transferable skill to other film genre.
Overall, a slow-moving, run-of-the-mill samurai film. Dull. Pointless.