Japanese Cinema Thread

[imperiouskitten]

Castle of Owls aka Ninja Hichō Fukuro no Shiro - 1963

Much more lighthearted than that last one!! This is a ninja movie, the first in this genre I've watched. This may be a genre feature, but to my mind it crosses up the samurai genre with the mysticality and superpowers of chinese kung fu films.

It's about a man from Iga whose province is sacked by Hideyoshi and his parents killed, and sister "violated ... by many, many of them" before taking her own life. He lives his life seeking a ninja's vengeance against Hideyoshi with the remnants of his clan. Spy games ensue, including an Iga traitor and the rival Koga ninjas conducting counterespionage for Hideyoshi.

It's a pretty, pastoral Japanese film like most samurai movies, with unremarkable but sound cinematography for the genre. Combat is super cool and unique, involving lots of zipping around quickly, throwing clouds of dust, finding cover, throwing poisoned darts wicked-fast, slicing down bamboo trees to cover the battlefield, feigned retreats and dudes popping out of camouflage to stab you in the back after you walk over them. There are a few wire scenes where the ultra-powerful guys catapult horizontally like superman.

There's also a really great romance arc for a Jap movie, where the swoony beefcake protag meets an opposing Ninjesse who is quite lethal and dedicated to her work, but she can't help but fall for the Ultimate Warrior. Ultimately it's a quite cheery movie where forgiveness and life reigns -- and because most Japanese films are very bitter, a bit of warmth in one is actually meaningful and feels very nice in contrast to the same-iness of Western cinema's guaranteed happy endings. The 13yo girl who gets played by a 35 year old man doesn't even talk about suicide over her loss of honor or whatever.

There's emphasis on how Ninja are free people compared with samurai, and that for them the real dishonor is death itself. So, no obsessing on honor killings, and relatable modern characters. Fun movie.