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

Samurai Reincarnation (1981) [Film Review]

Samurai Reincarnation; or, Sonny Chiba vs. Evil Samurai Spirits from Hell!

      Master Jubei, if you encounter God, God will be cut. If you encounter an evil spirit then it will be cut. This... this is the greatest sword ever made by Muramasa.

When the leader of a group of slaughtered Japanese Catholics comes back to life as a demon and assembles the team of the most badass dead samurai in order to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate and plunge Japan into raging chaos, you know there is nobody else to call than Sonny Chiba himself.

Release Info

Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku Starring: Sonny Chiba, Kenji Sawada, Tomisaburo Wakayama, Ken Ogata
Language: Japanese Original Title: 魔界転生 Runtime: 120 min

Synopsis

The movie starts with the crush of the real Shimabara Rebellion in the 17th century, during the Edo Period. Thirty-seven thousand peasant Catholics rebelled in the name of religious freedom but the Shogunate army quickly besieged and massacred them at Hara Caste. The Christian leader Amakusa Shiro (Kenji Sawada) was beheaded and his severed head was put on public display outside the castle. However, due to evil forces, he comes back to life in order to avenge his people. He renounces God and embraces Satan as his true deity instead; which gives him supernatural powers. In this way, Shiro travels through Japan recruiting the most powerful samurai at their deathbeds, so they could help him kill the shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna (Noboru Matsuhashi). In order to stop the vicious demons, an honourable samurai with an eyepatch, Jubei Yagyu (Sonny Chiba) sets off on a journey to hunt them down and kill once and for all.

Resurrection from Hell

The movie is based on a novel by Futaro Yamada called Makai Tensho and the author devised probably one of the finest pieces of historical fiction. Yes, the story of samurai demons trying to take over Japan sounds interesting in itself (most especially for those who played the game Throne of Darkness fifteen years ago), but the real awesome thing in this movie is that there are only real historical figures in it. The Demonic team consists of: Amakusa Shiro (a Christian leader), Lady Hosokawa (a female samurai), Inshun Hozoin (a priest and a master of spearmanship), Musashi Miyamoto (obviously, the best samurai who ever lived), and Munenori Yagyu (a retainer of the Tokugawa house). Whereas “Team Salvation” includes Jubei Yagyu (son of Munenori and one of the most recognisable samurai in popular culture), Muramasa (a famous swordsmith who was allegedly able to make “wicked swords” that could defeat demons), and Otsu (daughter of Musashi’s wife).

Now that is a lot of characters for one story, but the movie tends to focus predominantly on the demons rather than on the good guys. The whole process of recruiting the fallen samurai and getting to know their back stories consumes the first half of the picture. The second half, on the other hand, centres on the demons' attempts to destroy the Shogunate and Jubei’s preparations to confront them. Nevertheless, it is still highly interesting to watch this film, mostly due to the fact that the only true villain in the story is Amakusa Shiro who deceived the restless souls of fellow samurai. Due to the leader’s sick manipulations we get to know that the rest of the baddies simply want to fulfill their hidden desires which they did not manage to do during their lifetimes.

Needless to say, all of the fights starting from Shiro’s slaughter of the troops and finishing on the final epic confrontation in the burning Edo Castle are awesome and Sonny Chiba definitely displays some kick-ass sword skills. The only disappointing thing may be the score. It is really bland and does not fit into the dark tone of the film. Apart from this issue, the ending seems a bit rushed, as if the makers for some reason decided to cut out the concluding scene. Nevertheless, these things do not really disrupt the reception of the movie.

Recommendations

If you want to enjoy this film, I suggest you watch it with zero expectations. Samurai Reincarnation may not be one of the chanbara classics with Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai, but it is certainly one of the highlights from the period in which this particular genre started losing popularity in Japanese cinema. Plus, if you like Sonny Chiba, the film is definitely worth watching.

Overall score: 7/10