ArnoldReview: The Hidden Blade: ****
This film is easily one of the best samurai films to emerge since Kurosawa's 'Ran' in '85. The almost shallow color palette, graceful use of setting and mise-en-scene, dense landscapes, especially the winter landscpaes, all resonate in the tone of 60-70s samurai auteurs like Okamoto and Inagaki.
The story feels traditional enough to lure you into a state of mind where it's hard to believe that this film was made in 2006, if it weren't for the modern concerns that lie below the films surface. It addresses, through reflection on the past, globalization now and in the past, the effect western technologies, religion and ways of life must have affected 17th century Japan, and also how it affects them now. It's more a reflection on the past as a method of coping with the present.
The beginning presents the main character as a lower class samurai struggling to adapt to the changing landscapes of Japan, new methods of warfare, increased corruption in the Tokugawa regime. He is trying to read English and Dutch firearms manuals, and failing to learn how to use firearms and other Western military devices and tactics. It's poignant in how it addresses the changes in lifestyle for the samurai, the battling between generations and urban vs. rural landscapes. A samurai was trained to live and die by the sword and now they are being asked to respond to drill sergeants, to march in line, to work as a team.
It's an intense samurai flik in the style of Japanese classics, but dense with application. Intriguing as a cultural and historical study as much as it is entertaining as a film alone, as Yamada slowly begins to reveal what the Hidden Blade actually is. If you're not interested in diving into the philosophy of the film you'll still enjoy the quick pacing, good final sequence and the intensity of the various conflicts building throughout.
