The Sword of Doom
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Sword of Doom |
| Original title | Dai-bosatsu tōge ( Japanese 大 菩薩 峠 ) |
| Country of production | Japan |
| original language | Japanese |
| Publishing year | 1965 |
| length | 120 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Kihachi Okamoto |
| script | Shinobu Hashimoto |
| production | Tōhō , Takarazuka Eiga |
| music | Masaru Satō |
| camera | Hiroshi Murai |
| cut | Yoshitami Kuroiwa |
| occupation | |
| |
The Sword of Doom (original title: 大 菩薩 峠 , Dai-bosatsu tōge , literally: “Great Bodhisattva Mountain Pass”) is a Japanese feature film from 1965 , which takes place between 1862 and 1864 at the end of the Edo period . The screenplay was based on a novel by Kaizan Nakazato (1885-1944), who published the novel as a sequel in a Japanese newspaper from 1913 to 1921. The film was first released in German on DVD on March 8, 2006.
action
The action begins in the spring of 1862 in the mountains near a village, namely on the Great Bodhisatva Mountain Pass, after which the film is named in Japanese. The young samurai Ryūnosuke Tsukue insidiously murders an old man who is on the move with his granddaughter. Ryūnosuke is the strongest swordsman in town, but particularly cold-hearted and cruel, and was therefore excluded from the local sword fighting school. He has mastered a behavior that is unusual for samurai, which gives him advantages in combat. In an upcoming competition in the village he is supposed to compete against the honorable samurai Bunnojo Utsugi, for whom the victory is very important, as the prince can only then transfer the direction of the Kogen-Itto-School to him. Because the fate of Bunnojo's family also depends on it, his young wife Ohama seeks out the Ryūnosuke and asks him to forego victory so that the sword fighting school can stay in town. For Ryūnosuke no additional loss of face is to be feared, since he has already been excluded from the community because of his sociopathic behavior. In return, Ryūnosuke demands that Ohama give herself to him, which she does to save her family. Ryūnosuke promises to let Bunnojo win.
However, Bunnojo finds out before the competition and dislikes Ohama. In anger, he swears to break the competition rules and kill Ryūnosuke, but succumbs and is killed. After the competition, the outcast Ohama goes to Ryūnosuke again, submits to him and warns him of an ambush at the Sakashita gate by the Kogen-Itto students. Ryūnosuke kills many of the students and flees with Ohama, whom he takes to live with his wife. The action continues in parallel with the fate of the granddaughter of the old man who was killed at the beginning.
Ryūnosuke begins a seedy life as a hired murderer in the semi-official Shinchōgumi police unit , killing people for small sums of money. When he is commissioned to kill two notable people, a well-known swordsman and a defenseless philosopher, he first turns to the school of Toranosuke Shimada and asks for an exhibition match to see the fighting techniques. In this context he learns that the brother of the killed Bunnojo is now studying at Shimada's school and is preparing to avenge his brother.
Before the previously opened storylines are merged, there is a rival fight in the Shinchogumi in a house of joy. Ryūnosuke goes nuts and is attacked by members of his own group. There is a bloody slaughter and a conflagration .
Importance of the film
The film takes place in the late Edo period , when an increasingly larger part of this class became ownerless and impoverished. The feudal structures were still intact, but already in decline due to the beginning industrial age. It offers an insight into the Japanese way of life at that time.
Like many others of its genre, this film is best known in Japan. The acting performances are remarkable. Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshirō Mifune are some of the few Japanese actors of the time who also became known abroad. The film has so far largely gone unnoticed in the West, but has recently been accessible to German audiences under the title Sword of Doom .
Reviews
“As bitter as it is bloody samurai drama that has long been ennobled as a classic of the genre. Furious sword fights, overwhelming camera work and the premonition of the loss of a life in honor condense into a gripping portrait of a man and a time that believes it has lost its future. "
Publications
The film was released in Germany in the Nippon Classics series by Rapideyemovies and is also available in The Criterion Collection in its original language. The German title corresponds to the international The Sword of Doom .
Further films
The novel Dai-bosatsu tōge by Kaizan Nakazato had already been filmed three times, in 1935, 1957 and 1960.
Web links
- The Sword of Doom in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ The Sword of Doom. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .