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The San Francisco Chronicle

SAMURAI FESTIVAL: FILMS WITH AN EDGE
- G. Allen Johnson
Sunday, November 27, 2005

The Balboa's 16-film, three-week Samurai series begins on May 13,
1630, with a disillusioned ronin knocking at the gates of authority
and ends 250 years later, near the beginning of the Meiji
Restoration, with a blind swordsman caught in a gang war.

In between, there are classics, rare oddities and a few movies in
need of rediscovery -- perhaps none more so than the two films by
Masaki Kobayashi, whose "Harakiri" opens the festival Friday and
runs exclusively for five days before giving way to the rest of the
festival's selections.

"It's one of the finest samurai movies ever made," says San
Francisco native Patrick Galloway, author of the new "Stray Dogs &
Lone Wolves: The Samurai Film Handbook."

"In my book I champion the 1960s (from which 11 of the series' films
originate) because so many things were changing," says Galloway, who
will introduce the series Friday and sign books. "There was the
general milieu of the '60s, a questioning of authority --
specifically by Kobayashi. He was anti-war in World War II -- he
even refused promotion to stay a private. He had a particular
disdain for the Japanese militaristic government no matter the time
period."

"Harakiri," which won the Special Jury Prize at the 1963 Cannes Film
Festival, is perhaps the least action-packed of the series, but the
most potent (and when it bleeds, baby, it bleeds). It is also an
excellent showcase for the unjustly neglected star Tatsuya Nakadai,
who is represented with six films in the series but whose place in
film history is overshadowed by the iconic Toshiro Mifune (eight
films here, including all five of the festival's Kurosawas).

Tsugumo (Nakadai) is the disillusioned ronin (a wandering swordsman -
- basically, a samurai without a job) who appears at the doorstep of
a powerful clan near the dawn of the Edo era, specifically the
Tokugawa shogunate, a period of feudalism and totalitarian
authority.

The destitute Tsugumo, without a war to provide employment, asks to
use the clan's courtyard to commit suicide honorably -- a common
ruse designed to gain either a job or money from a sympathetic lord.

When the clan decides to grant his request -- calling his bluff, in
other words -- the group thinks it has cleverly defused his con
game. That is, until vengeance-minded Tsugumo reveals his true
motive, one designed to demonstrate how the samurai code of honor is
in fact a hoax.

Kobayashi, whose "Human Condition" trilogy directly addressed
Japan's folly in World War II, indirectly portrays the 20th century
mind-set of military aggression here.

"The world does not bend to sentimental tales," intones the clan's
leader. "If you really think that samurai honor is ultimately
nothing more than a facade, then you never had a chance to sway us."
Of course, when the "honorable" clan leader orders a hit, he leaves
for safety, then orchestrates a cover-up worthy of a Pentagon
official.

In "Samurai Rebellion" (Dec. 15-16), Kobayashi shows how
authoritarian rule can crush even the privileged. Mifune is a
fiercely loyal samurai who agrees to an order from his clan lord
that his son marry the lord's disgraced mistress.

Against expectations, the young couple falls in love, so when the
lord demands her return, the samurai refuses. Whoops ... It's a
hundred years after "Harakiri," but the themes of the individual
against society, and the repression that extends even to the
claustrophobic set design, are identical.

This time, however, since it is also a family drama, there is a rare
powerful female presence in this otherwise testosterone-driven film
series. Yoko Tsukasa's Lady Ichi is a full throttle, full-blooded
woman who holds her own even alongside the great Mifune.

What's surprising is just how fresh Kobayashi's samurai films are
today, as opposed to, say, the director's horror classic "Kwaidan."
Perhaps it's because stories of individuals versus corrupt political
machines never go out of style.

Like other films in this series, they are also a reminder of how
this genre, once steeped in nostalgia and tradition, became
subversive: In examining their country's militaristic past, these
post-World War II filmmakers began to make a kind of Western, their
alienated heroes wielding swords instead of slinging six-shooters.

Other series highlights:

-- Akira Kurosawa films: Often seen and widely available, the
master's best films still pack a wallop on the big screen. Included
are the venerable classic "Seven Samurai" (Dec. 17-18),
the "Macbeth"-inspired "Throne of Blood" (Dec. 7-8); two films that
later became spaghetti Westerns -- "Yojimbo" (Dec. 15-16) and its
sequel, "Sanjuro" (Dec. 19-20); and "The Hidden Fortress" (Dec. 9-
10), the acknowledged inspiration for "Star Wars."

-- "Zatoichi" films: Shintaro Katsu's blind swordsman, experiencing
a resurgence of popularity thanks to Saturday morning showings on
IFC and a recent remake by Takeshi Kitano, is showcased in three
early films, most notably "Zatoichi the Fugitive" (Dec. 13-14), the
colorfully entertaining fourth film in the series.

-- Two by Kihachi Okamoto: Both starring Nakadai, "Sword of Doom"
(Dec. 19-20), which co-stars Mifune, may be the most action-packed
film of the series and may redefine the term slasher film. "Kill!"
(Dec. 21-22), just as fast-paced, is a send-up of the samurai genre,
and has a little spaghetti Western in its DNA as well.

-- "Cyrano de Bergerac": Mifune even has the big nose in "Samurai
Saga" (Dec. 11-12), a version of Rostand's classic, perhaps the
oddity of this series.

Samurai movies: The series runs Friday through Dec. 22 at the Balboa
Theatre, 3630 Balboa, San Francisco. (415) 221-8184,
www.balboamovies.com