My passion for samurai films is really unreasonable. Well, for that and Yakuza films. And the films of Takashi Miike, Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, anything Takeshi Kitano was ever in (especially Brother), Japanese serials like Lone Wolf and Cub. Alright, fine, pretty much anything made by a Japanese film maker anywhere.
But Vancouver is about to be blessed with a ridiculous number of top-drawer, full-on, ass-kicking samurai films at Pacific Cinematheque in late January and February.
Starting January 18th and continuing until 21st, Cinematheque is showing Kill!, Samurai Rebellion, Yojimbo, Sanjuro. Then on January 26th, the tales of everyone’s favourite blind, sword-wielding Japanese masseur (I am not making that up), Zatoichi, come to town for three nights.
Then, as if that weren’t enough, starting February 1st we get Sword of Doom, Kurosawa’s take on Macbeth, Throne of Blood and his samurai comedy, The Hidden Fortress, Seven Samurai (the most expensive samurai film ever made, later remade into The Magnificent Seven), Harakiri, the hard-to-find Three Outlaw Samurai, Samurai Saga and Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron.
If you have it in your head that these films are the Japanese cousin to the swashbuckler or just glorious displays of violence, it’s time for some schoolin’. These are some of the best films made anywhere, worthy enough to win at Venice and Cannes, funny, moving, occasionally deeply romantic and sad (Samurai Rebellion might be the best samurai date movie ever made).
Go. Just go.
Posted by Andrew Ball
Tags: Art, Film, Inspiration, Pop Culture, Vancouver
