Sword of Doom (Dai-bosatsu tôge, 1966)
Okamoto Kihachi
Japan
120 mins, black and white, Japanese (English subtitles)
A relentlessly downbeat bleak samurai film noir about the murderous master swordsman Ryunosuke (Tatsuya Nakadai) whom everyone, good and evil alike, wants to kill. Stars Toshiro Mifune as sensei Shimada, whose remark about the sword being the extension of the soul is almost singlehandedly responsible for the ultimate madness of the main character that sends him on his last bloody rampage through a brothel.
SWORD OF DOOM is quite unlike all other samurai films I've seen. It's very dreary, even by medieval Japanese standards, and although it has some political intrigue, and even the beginnings of a love story, it is mostly the story of a talented, but disturbed, young samurai. I have a bone to pick with all reviews of this film that I've seen. Every single critic seems to think that Ryunosuke is (a) evil, (b) psychotic, (d) deranged, or (c) some combination of the three. I guess it has to do with the senseless murder of the old man in the very beginning of the film, but such characterization is not satisfactory.
First, the old man was actually praying for death, although I think he scarcely imagined his prayers would be answered so fast and so literally. That should teach everyone that utters an insincere prayer once and for all. Then, there's the admittedly lecherous and ungentlemanly dalliance with his opponent's wife, although that is/was hardly uncommon. The problem with these two supposedly defining scenes is that they are quite ambiguous. Ryunosuke does promise to spare the wife's husband in return for sex and it appeared that he was genuinely going to keep his promise. Unfortunately, the jealous husband (who had found out about his wife's unconventional persuasion methods and just divorced her) tries to kill him during the duel, and Ryunosuke reacts instinctively by returning the attempt (successfully). He is then treacherously ambushed by friends of the slain husband, who all die quick and miserable deaths. The end result: Ryunosuke is banished from the village and has to become a sword for hire in order to provide for himself and his "family." Yes, he actually takes in his opponent's wife and has a child with her. I don't see anything particularly evil about it. As a matter of fact, it does look like the honorable thing to do.
Everything else in this film is just as ambiguous. The protagonist is clearly driven by ambition to be the best that there is, which is why he challenges Shimada to a duel. Ryunosuke is also quite disturbed by the realization that his evil soul has produced an evil sword. As a matter of fact, he is so distressed that he is unable to attack Shimada, he is unable to duel with the brother of his slain opponent, and although he does eventually kill his "wife," it is not until after she has tried to stab him in his sleep. It is not clear what happens with the child, but it is presumably abandoned. In the end, Ryunosuke is beset by the ghosts of all the innocent people he's murdered, which drives him insane, and it takes about thirty dead samurai to bring him down. Actually, it is not quite clear that they do bring him down. The film was supposed to be a first part in a series, which also explains the unresolved subplots, so Ryunosuke may well have survived that ordeal. Unofrtunately, the reception of the pilot was cool, and none of the other series was ever made. Pity. So there it is, I don't think he was very evil. In fact, I don't really know what to think and who to blame for the outcome.
The film is marvellously shot, with grainy black and white compositions to enhance the grim nature of the proceedings. The sword fights are excellent, much more natural-looking than the SAMURAI TRILOGY and ZATOICHI, and much bloodier, gorier, and merrier than Kurosawa's films. Nakadai's role is vaguely reminiscent of his character in SANJURO (who, incidentally, also meets with timely death) but raised to the tenth power, and with some strange dualism added. He may be disowned by his father, who also sicks the brother of the slain husband after his own son, the bastard, but he clearly suffers when he learns of him dying. The steely performance, composed and agitated at the same time, has earned Nakadai a bunch of admirers, this reviewer included. He managed to overshadow Mifune who had to do with his flat and boring sensei character. Anyway, SWORD OF DOOM is unlike any other samurai film, which makes it all the more worthwhile to see.
April 16, 2001. BLS
Visitor Comments
just some thanks for your sword of doom comments (17 Jun 2001)
I watched sword of doom recently not knowing quite what to expect. The film
was quite engrossing, to a large part because if it's ambiguity and
complexity.
It stayed with me, after watching it alone, and so I just checked online to
see what others had thought of it and found your take to be particularly
insightful. Thanks for taking the time to share your view!
The ending was a shock to me. I remembered one scene where the master
swordsman is describing the style of the main character and how he acts in a
way to draw his opponents to attack and then strikes him down. This left me
wondering if he was even actually hurt in the final fight scene or just
pretty much using a few nicks and scratches to lure in his opposition...he
seemed to weaken and I found myself rooting for him almost in spite of
myself... and was glad to see him fight off more and more attackers again
and again with what seemed to be his last gasp... at the end it almost felt
like he had become too big for the story and had slayed the audience, the
cameraman or whoever it waas that was guiding us through this story...
Best Wishes,
robert walsh