I had been meaning to watch this movie for a while and thru a loophole of a loophole was finally able to get around to it - (all I will say is, if you can get Kanopy, do so - and if your library doesn't have a thing with them....there are libraries that do that you can get a library card with without being in the city - google) -
This is about a 70 year old man who for 40 years or so has been an extra in Samurai movies and shows. He shows up for work every day and generally dies a gruesome death - (I loved the tagline - he has lived for the art of dying) This is a man who has to accept that his world has changed, and the art form he loved has changed. Before he goes he takes the time to mentor a young woman who, upon becoming a star, brings him back for one more glorious death onscreen.
I think this is a movie that hits harder for me at 50. I recently heard the same about Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan. From the eyes of middle age, these movies say something different. They remind us of who and where we are, and what is waiting when we realize our best isn't in front of us.
I had tremendous compassion for the lead actor, Seizo Fukumoto, and his "apprentice" as it were, played by Chihiro Yamamoto - there is a bit of an unspoken backstory here that she reminds him of a woman he loved that maybe, died while he was ramping up his career as a young man?
But I love samurai cinema, and I love this stuff. This was a movie about mortality, change, and passing on to the next generation, and it even had a fair degree of fun sword play in it even though it was all actors :) I don't know if this blog will continue to focus on Criterion releases in sequence or if I will just start jumping around and posting about movies that really hit me hard, but this one will stay with me forever.
