You’ve got Nakadai in the lead, Tamba antagonist
It’s gone well before, it’ll go well again
Chuck in Kinnosuke Nakamura and with Hideo Gosha directing its samurai buzzword galore - it’s a good time it’s a good time
The same actors and names popping up does definitely make this type of film all the more lovable to me, and it is without a doubt my fav genre/ subgenre or whatever
At least at the moment
This said, I found this film had so so much baggage and loads of throw away moments that felt so lazy
There were concepts and visuals that felt really one of a kind, but thrown in with a lot of recycled stuff it couldn’t shine the way you might hope
Even the final duel and whole ending suffered from this fatal flaw
Or at least I found
The new fresh stuff just couldn’t break free of the uninspired elements
It is a formula I’ll never ever tire of, but I want to see it filmed nicely or more interestingly but this rarely did either
The snow looked brilliant but it didn’t indulge enough for my tastes
Overall though, like I said at the beginning, you just cannot go wrong with this combination
There’s absolutely going to be a net positive here
I love Nakadai so so much I haven’t seen one of his films in such a long time this was so nice
Also MASSIVE sidenote (this is quite the tangent):
It was really really nice seeing Nakamura showing up in something other than Revenge
I’ve had a few of his films on my radar but I had no idea he was in this until the opening credits (and I don’t know if I’ll ever get round to his Musashi series) and it was very exciting
I love Revenge and despite how consistent it is in its framing and tone and just such a well made film overall I love it so much (I think there is ltr a scene or two holding it back from a 5 star for me it’s crazy) , I think a big reason why Revenge is so stuck in my mind is because of this darn actor Nakamura
His face in Revenge makes me feel so uncomfortable and off guard it’s really impressive, and now this proves this is on purpose
It’s 10 years later so maybe he just broadened his acting skills, but it’s insane to me how different of a character he is here and I looked forward to every scene I saw him in
Is it just bc it’s the first film of his I’ve seen out of Revenge?
Probably
But was he bad here?
Not at all he was so charismatic for such a hollow character
Regardless, this has provided many answers for my complicated relationship with Nakamura’s acting, which is very satisfying given it’s such a specific feeling he brings to the table which I could talk about for hours
Such a love hate relationship I think
This had nothing to do with Goyokin really but I had to write it down in case I can’t place this feeling again lmao
You’ve got Nakadai in the lead, Tamba antagonist
It’s gone well before, it’ll go well again
Chuck in Kinnosuke Nakamura and with Hideo Gosha directing its samurai buzzword galore - it’s a good time it’s a good time
The same actors and names popping up does definitely make this type of film all the more lovable to me, and it is without a doubt my fav genre/ subgenre or whatever
At least at the moment
This said, I found this film had so so much baggage and loads of throw away moments that felt so lazy
There were concepts and visuals that felt really one of a kind, but thrown in with a lot of recycled stuff it couldn’t shine the way you might hope
Even the final duel and whole ending suffered from this fatal flaw
Or at least I found
The new fresh stuff just couldn’t break free of the uninspired elements
It is a formula I’ll never ever tire of, but I want to see it filmed nicely or more interestingly but this rarely did either
The snow looked brilliant but it didn’t indulge enough for my tastes
Overall though, like I said at the beginning, you just cannot go wrong with this combination
There’s absolutely going to be a net positive here
I love Nakadai so so much I haven’t seen one of his films in such a long time this was so nice
Also MASSIVE sidenote (this is quite the tangent):
It was really really nice seeing Nakamura showing up in something other than Revenge
I’ve had a few of his films on my radar but I had no idea he was in this until the opening credits (and I don’t know if I’ll ever get round to his Musashi series) and it was very exciting
I love Revenge and despite how consistent it is in its framing and tone and just such a well made film overall I love it so much (I think there is ltr a scene or two holding it back from a 5 star for me it’s crazy) , I think a big reason why Revenge is so stuck in my mind is because of this darn actor Nakamura
His face in Revenge makes me feel so uncomfortable and off guard it’s really impressive, and now this proves this is on purpose
It’s 10 years later so maybe he just broadened his acting skills, but it’s insane to me how different of a character he is here and I looked forward to every scene I saw him in
Is it just bc it’s the first film of his I’ve seen out of Revenge?
Probably
But was he bad here?
Not at all he was so charismatic for such a hollow character
Regardless, this has provided many answers for my complicated relationship with Nakamura’s acting, which is very satisfying given it’s such a specific feeling he brings to the table which I could talk about for hours
Such a love hate relationship I think
This had nothing to do with Goyokin really but I had to write it down in case I can’t place this feeling again lmao
