Ninja bugei-cho

Band of Ninja / Ninja [the English title on screen] /[Ninjan sotakirja] / [Ninjas krigsbok]. JP 1967. PC: Sozosha. P: Masayuki Nakajima, Takuji Yamaguchi, Nagisa Oshima. D: Nagisa Oshima. SC: Nagisa Oshima and Mamoru Sasaki – based on the manga by Sanpei Shirato (1957). DP: Akira Takada – b&w - 1,37:1. M: Hikaru Hayashi. Theme song: "Ninga bugei-cho". Singer: Sumito Tachikawa. ED: Keiichi Uraoka. Voices in the Japanese version: Shoichi Ozawa (commentary), Kei Yamamoto (Jutaro Yuki), Akiko Koyama (Akemi), Kei Sato (Shuzen Sakagami), Noriko Matsumoto (Hotarubi), Yoshiyuki Fukuda (Mufu-dojin), Hideo Kanxe (Nobutsuna Kamiizumi), Shigeru Tsuyguchi (Mitsuhide Akechi), Fumio Yatanabe (Nobunaga Oda / Kynnyo), Hikaru Hayashi (Tokichiro Kinoshita), Mutsuhiro Toura (Kagemaru), Hosei Komatsu (Onikichi / Zoruko), Nobuo Tanaka (Munetoshi Yaguy), Juro Hayano (chief of Raiunto). [Japanese version 131 min.] On display was the short English-language version, 100 min. Print: Kawakita Memorial. Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 27 Aug 2009. - A decent print of the short version. The film is probably more watchable in the short version. - This is a ninja action manga film. This is not animation (or anime) in the true sense, as the film is photographed from the frames of Sanpei Shirato's manga, and the cinematic impact is based on movement inside and into the manga frames, on montage, and on the soundtrack (music, song, commentary, voices, sound effects). - The birth of the ninjutsu and the ninja in the 16th century. A rebellious jidai-geki based on the manga favoured by the student radicals of the 1960s. - At first the film based on static drawings feels jarring and disappointing. Towards the end it gets more effective. - The story is very cruel and violent, and there are endless battle scenes. - Women have a prominent role as fearless fighters, including a pregnant lady and a nude ninja fighter. - The final message: "keep on fighting until all men can live equally". - The music by Hikaru Hayashi is original and effective. There is a theme song resembling of the western. The singer Sumito Tachikawa has an attractive voice. - Not a profound or sophisticated film, but an interesting experiment, one that one would not wish to be repeated in a feature film. - Antti Suonio remarked that a similar approach is now commonplace in dvd extras.

Amakusa Shiro Tokisada / Shiro Amakusa: The Christian Rebel

天草四郎時貞 / [Shiro Amakusa: kristitty kapinallinen] / [Shiro Amakusa: den kristna rebellen]. JP 1962. PC: Toei. EX: Yasutaro Kon. P: Hiroshi Okawa. D: Nagisa Oshima. SC: Nagisa Oshima, Toshira Ishido. DP: Shintaro Kawasaki ‒ b&w ‒ Shochiku Grandscope 2,35:1. M: Riichiro Manabe. ED: Shintaro Miyamoto.
    CAST: Hashizo Okawa (Amakusa Shiro Tokisada), Satomi Oka (Sakura), Ryutaro Otomo (Shinbei Oka), Rentaro Mikuni (Uemonsaku), Sayuri Tachikawa, Takamaru Sasaki, Choichiro Kawarazaki, Takao Yoshizawa, Kei Sato, Mutsuhiro Toura. 100 min.
    A Kawakita Memorial print with English subtitles. Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 26 Aug 2009.

Another surprise from the young Nagisa Oshima: a full-blooded jidai-geki, with grand, tragic action, and reversing samurai expectations with a novel aspect: Christianity, which takes (or should take) literally Jesus' word of turning the other cheek.

In 1637, peasants are bitterly oppressed by the landlord, and the oppression is enforced by the cruel samurai. The sadism of the oppressors with their torture chambers is underlined. Women are fair game for the landlord, too. The debates among the Christian peasants are thrilling. But finally they are driven to such despair that they start to rebel against impossible odds. 37.000 Christian believers died in action led by Shiro of Amakusa.

The visual concept is bold (DP: Shintaro Kawasaki): the picture starts in the dark, and much of the action takes place at night. The takes are often static but intensive. Then there are huge, expressive close-ups. In the action scenes the scope frame is brilliantly put into use.

The music by Riichiro Manabe is original and effective: muted but compelling, portentous without over-emphasis, relying on the power of the image, his sound is unique and memorable.

A film of tragic grandeur.

The print is watchable but with a duped look, deep black often missing. The image gets better towards the end.