Incredible and powerful film - but not necessarily a samurai film

Author: sir_dancelot
3 August 2003

A samurai and his wife search to find happiness with themselves, their relationship, and their station as they weather the disillusion of their past and current circumstances.

Written by Akira Kurosawa and directed by Takashi Koizumi after Kurosawa's death. This is a breathtaking reflection of Kurosawa's early and later storytelling sensabilities. But it is a very complex film, one that upon initial viewing may defy the viewers expectations of the samurai genre and seem simplistic, overly long, or as one reviewer described: unexciting. This film reminds me very much of Red Beard, another Kurosawa story that while set in feudal Japan is not necessarily a samurai film.

Rating 9/10