The Hidden Blade ☯ Japanese Samurai Movie
Ranked #5,372 in Entertainment, #59,969 overall
Yamada Yoji's Samurai Trilogy, the second movie
From director Yamada Yoji (The Twilight Samurai) comes The Hidden Blade (a.k.a. Kakushi Ken Oni no Tsume), another loving depiction of the bygone days of samurai heroism. Nagase Masatoshi (Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl, Pistol Opera) stars as a samurai, whose adherence to his code of honor is tested by the forces around him. It is mid-nineteenth century Japan, and the way of the samurai is fading, as Western influences and corruption are slowly taking hold in Japan.
Contents at a Glance
Summary
Original title: Kakushi Ken Oni No TsumeCountry: Japan
Year: 2004
Genre: Drama, Romance
International MPAA: R (USA)
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
Language: Japanese
Runtime: 132 min
Company: Shouchiku Co.
samurai duty
vs.
friendship
fight a duel to the death
with the best friend
Plot
During the westernization of Japan's political and military methods, Katagiri is struggling to adapt to the situation. After Hazama, one of his best friends, left for Edo to seek his fortune, and another friend married his sister; Katagiri is living with his elderly mother and the devoted servant-girl Kie.
Secretly wishing that Kie would stay with him, Katagiri is deeply affected by her decision to marry a prosperous oil seller. The years pass and Katagiri is now witnessing his mother dying alongside the age of the sword.
One day, Katagari crosses paths with Kie and, to his surprise, she doesn't seem to be living the happy life she had expected. While Katagiri is trying to get Kie out of the grips of her villainous and abusive family, he is told that Hazama, his old friend, was arrested for plotting against the clan leaders and the clan also suspects Katagiri because of his connection with him.
Cast
Director:
(Hint: hover on image for cast info, images are also clickable)
Actors and actresses:
Yamada Yoji's samurai trilogy
Curious facts
Did you know that..
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Director Yamada Yoji, popular for his series "It's Tough Being a Man" ("Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo") which started in 1969 and is the world's longest theatrical film series about a bad luck lovelorn peddler named Tora San, has won innumerable awards for his work. -
The Hidden Blade movie is the second movie in Yamada Yoji's samurai trilogy. The first one was The Twilight Samurai.
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As well as the first film The Hidden Blade is based on Shuhei Fujisawa novels. It combines short stories of "Oni no Tsume (The Devil's Claw)" from Fujisawa's "Kakushi Ken (Hidden Sword)" series of unconventional 'swordfighter' tales, with story of forbidden love "Yuki Akari (The Gleam of the Snow)".
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Shuhei Fujisawa is one of Japan's most revered authors of samurai fictionis. Over fifty of his books were published with circulation about 23 millions copies, including both full-length novels and short story anthologies through the course of his lifetime. In 1973, Shuhei received the Naoki Award for Ansatsu No Nenrin (Annals of Assassination), establishing himself as a leading author of period stories. He would go on to win six further prestigious literary awards. -
The production reunited many of "The Twilight Samurai" staff. Director Yamada again shared credit with Yoshitaka Asama on the script, cinematography by Mutsuo Naganuma. Art director is Mitsuo Degawa, lighting by Gen Nakaoka and Kazuko Kurosawa (dauther of famous Akira Kurosawa) designed the costumes. Music was provided by the legendary Isao Tomita.
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The Hidden Blade movie was nominated for Japan Academy Awards in 11 categories and won the Best Art Direction (Mitsuo Degawa, Yoshinobu Nishioka) in 2005 year. Same year Yoji Yamada was nominated for Golden Berlin Bear on Berlin International Film Festival. And in 2004 Takako Matsu won Hochi Film Award in The Best Actress category.
Posters and photos
Review Links
Twitch - The Hidden Blade Review
What follows is an updated version of our earlier more...0 points
Kung Fu Cinema » Hidden Blade, The (2004)
Veteran director Yoji Yamada makes his second fora more...0 points
[KFCC] Hidden Blade Review
This page is dedicated to reviewing movies from Hong more...0 points
DVD Times - The Hidden Blade
Multi-Region DVD News, Reviews and Features0 points
Hidden Blade - Rotten Tomatoes
HIDDEN BLADE reviews from the nation's top critics more...0 points
The Hidden Blade trailer
The Hidden Blade DVDs
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poddys
Feb 27, 2011 @ 12:59 pm | delete
- Sounds like a good movie. I have been hooked on Japanese period dramas since watching Shogun many years ago, and love The Last Samurai.
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eddiepetosa
Feb 23, 2011 @ 1:56 am | delete
- There are so many great Japanese movies. I am a big fan of movie swords and I collect them. These movies always give me ideas about what the next item in my collection will be. I really like that they keep their culture and although so different from the Hollywood movies, Japanese movies are unique and very entertaining.
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This lens was last edited on January 15 2012, by asiacue.
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The Hidden Blade DVD
The Hidden Blade
Amazon Price: $6.49 (as of 02/14/2012)
Special Features
* Behind the scenes featurette with director Yoji Yamada
* Berlin Film Festival premiere
* Yoji Yamada press conference
* Japanese and US theatrical trailers
The Hidden Blade Soundtrack
audio CD
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