firstly, i did enjoy this film and would recommend it. that said i find it to be a peculiar blend. it reminds me of a spaghetti western in many ways. this isn't necessarily bad, just odd. since leone's westerns owe something to the samurai genre maybe we just see some reverse leakage. we don't get the very long peering-into-the-sweating-pores close ups, and the unusual music isn't up to morricone's standards, though it is headed that way, but there is a bridge somewhere in here that the genres have met upon more than once. a further point is that i simply find samurai films done in color to be on the edge of lurid; my own limitation i suppose. lurid can be fun.
the other oddness is that i felt part of the time as if i were watching a samurai adaptation of Agatha Christie's poirot working out the personal machinations of another sundry lot bent on the quotidian as some crime or other worked its way toward the surface of the social pool. this, too, is fine, as we seem to like the tried and true plot devices that have satisfied us previously.
as i said, i did enjoy the film; it is fun, and i don't want to put anyone off. it will get watched again at this house.
the other oddness is that i felt part of the time as if i were watching a samurai adaptation of Agatha Christie's poirot working out the personal machinations of another sundry lot bent on the quotidian as some crime or other worked its way toward the surface of the social pool. this, too, is fine, as we seem to like the tried and true plot devices that have satisfied us previously.
as i said, i did enjoy the film; it is fun, and i don't want to put anyone off. it will get watched again at this house.