Winter's Flower (1978) [Film Review]

Winter’s Flower; or, In Pursuit of Forgiveness

     Uncle, thank you very much for the violin. Mr. Minami brought it to me yesterday... I was so happy that I slept with it. It's raining here in Japan now. I'm writing this letter trying to imagine your face... I'm alone in this world, so your existence is so important. It's so hard to put it in words how important it is to me. Mr. Takeda told me that... you might come back to Japan. Is it true? If it's true, I'll be too excited that I won't be able to sleep.

Winter’s Flower is a 1978 Japanese production directed by the late Yasuo Furuhata and starring the late Ken Takakura. Though the film is one out of many collaborations between the director and the actor, it is not as popular nowadays as Dearest (2012) and Railroad Man (1999). Nevertheless, Winter’s Flower is an enchantingly beautiful melodrama that deserves to be discussed over 40 years after its release.

Release Info

Directed by: Yasuo Furuhata Starring: Ken Takakura, Kimiko Ikegami, Kin'ya Kitaôji, Kunie Tanaka

Language: Japanese Original Title: 冬の華 Runtime: 120 min

Synopsis
Hideji Kano (Ken Takakura) is a yakuza member who is released from prison after serving 15 years. In the past, he was forced to kill a friend for the betrayal of the gang. In consequence, he also orphaned the daughter of a friend, Yoko (Kimiko Ikegami). While exchanging letters with her, Hideji pretended to be an uncle, always trying to support Yoko and also dreaming that one day he will meet her in person. Unfortunately, Hideji is immediately thrown back into the yakuza world after his release. The gang is threatened by the rival yakuza from another district and Hideji is asked to help the boss. The more he thinks about Yoko, the more he can’t bring himself to meet with her.

The Power of Tchaikovsky

The most striking aspect of Winter’s Flower are absolutely magnificent visuals. Skilled cinematography and wonderful locations of Yokohama provide a time capsule of Japan at the start of the bubble era in the late 1970s. The sequences of Ken Takakura wandering the streets (with a low-key music score by Claude Ciari) are just pure aesthetics.

With regard to the screenplay, the story itself is quite engaging. The atmosphere of mystique and chivalric values of the yakuza in a way reminded me of the immortal The Godfather (1972). At times, the exposition dialogue may be a bit challenging (who is who and how he stands in the hierarchy), but the ethereal sense of sadness and melancholy (Hideji’s contemplations in a café that plays Tchaikovsky) compensates for these shortcomings.

Winter’s Flower is not so much a crime drama, but a tale about the inevitable passage of time. There’s no place in the new world for traditional yakuza, and; additionally, Hideji himself realises that he has nobody close to him (his only aim is to ensure Yoko’s prosperity).

Speaking about performances, Ken Takakura is simply amazing! He was such a versatile and mesmerising actor. Indeed, he belongs to the pantheon of classic Japanese stars together with Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai. I also like the performance of young Kimiko Ikegami who is probably best known for her appearances in Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Hausu (1977) and Hideo Gosha’s Geisha (1983). In addition, the great Isao Natsuyagi and Kunie Tanaka appear in supporting parts as Hideji’s colleagues.

Recommendations
I recommend Winter’s Flower to anyone who searches for a quiet, enchanting, and compelling drama for a calm evening. It is literally a crime that this film is so rare and unknown even today. Try to grab a Blu-ray version in order to fully enjoy the magnificent panoramas of Yokohama. They don’t make such classics like they used to.
Overall score: 9/10

[Short Films] Michael Wong's The Story of 90 Coins (2015) and The Tattooist (2018)

Today’s review is a bit different because I would like to discuss short films. Specifically, I am talking about two short, but extremely engaging, productions created by art director turned filmmaker Michael Wong.

The Story of 90 Coins (2015) provides an in-depth view into a relationship of a young couple over the course 90 days and beyond. I am not a huge fan of standard romances, but I found the story to be extremely gripping. In addition, it is amazing how much of the storyline was conveyed in just 10 minutes. In addition, performances of the lead actors (Dongjun Han and Zhuang Zhiqi) as well as cinematography were simply spot on. We definitely need more dramas like this one!

The Tattooist (2018) is a micro-short (or, let’s say, a vignette lasting a little over 1 minute) which focuses on the titular Tattooist. As in the case of The Story of 90 Coins, I was again surprised at the complexity of a story that was conveyed in an extremely short time span. Michael Wong not only is able to compress meaningful tales, but he also has a great eye to detailed visuals. It is impossible to talk about this short without giving away the spoiler, so you need to check it out for yourselves. This one minute shall not go to waste!

I am not alone with my observations. Here’s what The Arty Dans from Asian Film Fans said about the shorts: The Story of 90 Coins: “If there is some way to make that into a feature, he needs to do that immediately;” The Tattooist: “This guy is insane. Imagine what he could do with 80 minutes rather than 80 seconds!”

Recommendations
All things considered, I highly recommend to anyone the shorts of Michael Wong. You can check them out legally and for free on Vimeo. I strongly hope that this director has not said the final word and that he will surprise us with new challenging projects!

The Story of Osaka Castle (1961) [Film Review]

The Story of Osaka Castle; or, The Longest Day

     Although we lost to the Eastern army at the Battle of Sekigahara, it's an insult they should treat our 650,000 koku family like an ordinary daimyo and tell us to make a trip to Kyoto for greetings. Send back the messenger now. I, Yodo, cannot accept such an order. Never!

Being in the mood for a period picture, I decided to search for a film I have not seen yet. Therefore, I picked Hiroshi Inagaki’s The Story of Osaka Castle, a 1961 colour production with Toshiro Mifune and Kyoko Kagawa in the leading roles.

Release Info

Directed by: Hiroshi Inagaki Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Kyoko Kagawa, Danko Ichikawa

Language: Japanese Original Title: 大阪城物語 Runtime: 95 min

 

Synopsis

10 years after the famous Battle of Sekigahara, the Toyotomi clan initiates a conspiracy in order to stop Lord Ieyasu Tokugawa’s political activities to take over Japan. A wandering samurai called Mohei (Toshiro Mifune) arrives at Osaka and immediately gets entangled in a maze of intrigues together with a servant Ai (Kyoko Kagawa) and a ninja spy Saizo Kirigakure (Danko Ichikawa). The protagonists eventually discover a betrayal of the clan and they rush to Osaka castle to stop the bloodshed.

 

Black Ships, Damsels, and Samurai

I did not have any expectations for The Story of Osaka Castle, but I have to honestly say that the first act left me disappointed. The exposition is very chaotic and lots of characters are not helping in figuring out what the story is about. Nevertheless, when Toshiro Mifune steps into action, the viewers instantly know that he is the main protagonist.

 

Boring first act ends with Mifune’s character sent on a stealth mission, which he miserably fails. From this point on, the action picks up and the story itself becomes much clearer. I particularly liked that the Portuguese colonisers play a small part in the conspiracy. I love this part of Japanese history when the country was open to Western influences, and it is a real shame that the only major production that focuses on this aspect is the TV series Shogun from 1980, based on James Clavell’s popular novel.

 

When the third act started, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the film. It went from a boring flick to sheer epicness, as if straight from The Guns of Navarone (1961). It’s a blast seeing Mifune riding at a breakneck pace through the middle of a battlefield! The Osaka Castle looks really beautiful, indeed. The crew evidently shot a lot of footage on location and I hope that someday I will be able to see this famous landmark with my own eyes. Additionally, the magnificent music score by Akira Ifukube cannot go unnoticed.

 

With regard to performances, Toshiro Mifune is as great as in many other period pieces he did. Kyoko Kagawa has a great role as his love interest, but unfortunately, she disappears from the film’s finale. The amazing Akihiko Hirata has a small part as Mifune’s relative/foe (it’s complicated). Danko Ichikawa steals every scene as the happy-go-lucky warrior, similar to Robin Hood.

Recommendations

If you want to experience some traditional Japanese story, then check out The Story of Osaka Castle. The first third of the film is an exercise in patience, but the story significantly improves later. It may not be Hiroshi Inagaki’s wonderful Samurai Trilogy (1954–1956), but The Story of Osaka’s Castle definitely deserves attention nowadays.

Overall score: 7/10

Yojimbo (1961) [Film Review]

Yojimbo; or, A Fistful of Ryo

      Listen, old man. I’ll get paid for killing. And this town is full of men who deserve to die. Think about it. Sebei, Ushitora, the gamblers and drifters; with them gone, the town would have a fresh start.

Yojimbo (1961) is yet another classic samurai film directed by the master of filmmaking Akira Kurosawa. The story about a mysterious ronin who cleans up the town from bad guys became so popular that it spawned a sequel, Sanjuro (1962), two unofficial continuations (Incident at Blood Pass and Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo from 1970), and countless remakes, the most popular of which is Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars (1964). Let’s take a look at Toshiro Mifune’s, arguably, most iconic role:

Release Info

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Eijiro Tono

Language: Japanese Original Title: 用心棒 Runtime: 110 min

 

Synopsis

Japan, 1860s. After the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, many samurai became masterless. One of them, calling himself Kuwabatake Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune), wanders aimlessly through a desolate countryside. He eventually reaches a small town that is the battle ground between two rival gangs. Ushitora (Kyu Sazanaka), with the help of the town’s major (Kamatari Fujiwara), wants to fully control the town, but Sebei (Seizaburo Kawazu), supported in turn by the sake brewer (Takashi Shimura), also has the same aspirations. Sanjuro wittingly decides to set in motion a game that will lead to the annihilation of the two gangs. Unfortunately, his plans are interrupted with the arrival of Unosuke (Tatsuya Nakadai), the younger brother of Ushitora.

The Honour of a Samurai

I have seen Yojimbo for the first time 6 years ago, on Criterion DVD, and it instantly became one of my all-time movies, together with Kurosawa’s direct sequel Sanjuro. Toshiro Mifune is undeniably too cool for school as a shabby ronin who tricks the baddies and settles the score.

 

The story itself may be a bit hard to follow upon initial viewing because there is a short exposition riddled with many characters, but you can get the gist of what is going on as Kuwabatake Sanjuro slashes his way through expendable rogues. I will never get enough of a scene in which he rescues a family in distress!

 

If you are a Star Wars fan, then keep an eye out for an “arm cut” sequence that George Lucas repeated verbatim in A New Hope. Part of me likes to think that the plotline of Yojimbo is exactly what happens to Obi-Wan during his 20-year-long stay on Tatooine. (On a side note, did you know that Toshiro Mifune was originally offered the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi?)

Going back to the movie, Yojimbo was allegedly inspired by a 1942 film called The Glass Key, but the researchers of Kurosawa also point at Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest (1929) novel as a major source of inspiration. Regardless of the influences, Yojimbo remains one of the first action stories with a nameless hero as the protagonist (Sanjuro actually makes up his name in the two movies).

 

With regard to performances, Toshio Mifune is evidently awesome as Sanjuro. Second best performance is the one of Tatsuya Nakadai as the malevolent samurai with a revolver. Nakadai is currently 87 and I wish him long, healthy years, because he is one of the few living legends from the Kurosawa era who are still around. Yojimbo has also many supporting parts done by frequent collaborators of Kurosawa, including Takashi Shimura, Eijiro Tono, and Susumu Fujita.

 

In addition, the music score by Masaru Sato is just amazing. It feels very experimental, yet it perfectly fits every scene. I absolutely agree with an interpretation that the jaunty sounds of flutes and big band are meant to reflect Sanjuro’s state of mind.

Recommendations

Highly recommended to anyone who wants to explore the lighter stuff of Akira Kurosawa’s impressive filmography. Yojimbo is a wonderful story that blends action, satire, and folk tale. If you have enjoyed a Fistful of Dollars with Clint Eastwood, then Yojimbo will be even greater entertainment. Check it out if you can because this film is a true 60-year-old gem. Gusts of wind have never been so epic.

Overall score: 9/10

Vixen (2018) [Film Review]

Vixen; or, Return to Nakatomi Plaza

     Sir, she's Chinese. She's alone and she's a woman. Seriously, how much trouble do you think she's going to be?

Vixen is a 2018 action film directed by Ross W. Clarkson and written by Bey Logan. Are you in the mood for a kung-fu action flick with a female lead? Let’s take a closer at the film:

Release Info

Directed by: Ross W. Clarkson Starring: Lie-rin Chen, Luc Bendazza, Bryan Larkin

Language: Mandarin, English Original Title: Vixen Runtime: 90 min

 

Synopsis

Sunny Lee (Lie-ri Chen) is a Chinese police officer who attends a top secret, international Weapons Expo conference. When she leaves the panel and goes to the bathroom, a group of terrorists, led by a mysterious man called Benza (Luc Bendazza), take over the building and take all the attendees hostage. Lee manages to contact her ex-boyfriend, an Interpol agent, via cell-phone, but he is unable to get any help. Lee has to act on her own to take down the bad guys.

 

Diamonds Are Forever

From the first scene, this movie clearly follows the footsteps of the classic action movie Die Hard (1988). However, at times Vixen repeats certain plot points of Die Hard too closely, even to such an extent that it acknowledges its source material. In the scene when the ex-boyfriend tries to persuade a cop about the police situation, he responds: “So, you’re calling me from Binhai city, China with some cheap rip-off of Die Hard? Die Hard with a chick? Starring your girlfriend who is the only one free in there?”

 

Nevertheless, unlike Die Hard, Vixen is more focused on stealth. Although her femininity is repeatedly questioned by an American politician taken straight out of the 1980s TV shows, the main protagonist does not want to fight and she does not have a “saving the day” attitude. Most of the time, we see her sneaking around the ventilation shafts. She engages into a fight quite accidentally.

 

The screenplay is definitely not original, but Bey Logan managed to come up with some great one-liners and funny moments. The factor that keeps the story from falling apart is the commanding presence of a stunt woman turned actress Lie-ri Chen. She really has that classic vibe of a Girl with a gun (Am I the only one who remembers In the Line of Duty movies?). Allegedly, actress Veronica Ngo herself was originally scheduled to play the leading role, but she had to be replaced because of an injury. I guess it’s for the best, because Chen could showcase her action skills, whereas Ngo moved on to do the critically acclaimed Furie (2019).

 

While watching the film for the first time, I was under the impression that some of the actors had difficulties speaking English dialogue, but I found out the information that, in fact, the sound was improperly recorded on the set, which resulted in studio redubbing. In addition, director Ross W. Clarkson claims that he was left out of the post-production process. In consequence, shoddy sound editing seems to be the only major flaw of Vixen.

 

Recommendations

I very much recommend Vixen. It is certainly one of the better Die Hard-esque movies (unlike *choking sounds* that The Rock flick from 2018). Vixen is not The Villainess (2017) type of entertainment, but it is still very much enjoyable.  We really need more action movies with Lie-ri Chen. My thanks go to TriCoast Studios for sharing the screener. They released the film under their DarkCoast label. See the trailer below:

Overall score: 7/10