David Moran wrote:
> Mark Sullivan wrote:
>
> > David, it sounds like you know a whole hell of
a lot more about Japanese
> > films than I do (not that that takes much), so
since you just mentioned
> > the second Yojimbo, have you seen Zatoichi
Meets Yojimbo? Any good?
>
> I'd never even heard of it until you mentioned it.
The IMDB opinion seems
to
> think that's it's not so good. My guess would be
that it probably isn't,
as
> is the case with just about any sequels that have
progressed that far from
> their source material.
I haven't seen it, but first and foremost, it's not really a
sequel. Kurosawa had nothing to do with it, and "yojimbo" is
merely Japanese for
"bodyguard." The IMPLICATION is that it's the same guy Mifune
played in the Kurosawa films, but that, I believe, is more of
a marketing ploy than anything else. The Zatoichi series was
a lot of fun, despite being extremely formulaic and thus
repetitive. But part of that formula was an underlying
melancholy which -- just barely -- resonates with the concept
of noir. They were actually more like series of Japanese
ROCKY movies, with a lot more sweetness and a lot less
chest-thumping. And on a smaller scale.
>
> Honestly I don't know as much about foreign genre
pics as I do about
American
> movies (what can I say? ours are the best) but for
rudimentary
> off-the-beaten-path samurai pic recommendations, I
have three:
>
> The Gates of Hell (I don't think I ever knew what
the Japanese title was,
and
> now I can't find it on IMDB...)
Ugetsu
>
> Miyamoto Mushshi (with Toshiro Mifune doing his
"crazy samurai" act
> again...but it's a good movie despite
that)
Released here as SAMURAI, SAMURAI II, and SAMURAI III. There
are others with "Musashi Miyamoto" in the title, since he was
a historical figure whose story was filmed and
refilmed.
>
> Chushingura (When I saw it it was called the 47
Ronin, but it's not a
sequel
> or remake of any sort of the Mizoguchi movie of the
same name...they just
both
> take their plots from the same historical
episode).
The story of the Loyal 47 Ronin (or "Chushingura") may well
have been filmed more times than any other movie. I've heard
it said there are hundreds of films based on this historical
occurrence. Only about three or four versions have achieved
any lasting popularity or acclaim.
THE BAD SLEEP WELL is ostensibly based on, or rather
suggested by, HAMLET. Which I suspect makes it on that count
alone just noir as hell.
Jim Beaver
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