The usual complaint the reader of a book's adaptation of a book is about is a movie that misses the source material. This is the lack of reading a book before watching the movie, especially if it is a book that we like. We have already created a certain picture of how the movie plays. Very fond of manga samurai Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura , I think this is a material that can not be raised into a film. Serial maybe, but the movie seems impossible. But the film version was successful in doing so.
I mean, it's not about how he can summarize his original long plot or embody the ultimate unique and poetic moment (I'm sure this will only hit the manga or anime only), but more to his success in bringing the right atmosphere. The film is made by the legendary modern Japanese director, Takashi Miike . He is not a "Bad Miike" who once gave us Yakuza Apocalypse or Terraformars , but "Good Miike" which handles Ichi the Killer and 13 Assassins . This is the 100th Miike movie, and from the end result, well, it's worth celebrating.
Blade of the Immortal was lifted from a manga of 30 volumes that was once the nominee of the Eisner Awards. Not many manga have the honor to compete in the highest honors for graphic novels from around the world. It is impossible to encapsulate all the material from the manga, so the script takes only a few key elements that make the movie feel a bit episodic and repetitive, but on the other hand, gives Miike a container to shed the brutal epic cinematic style that characterizes it.
Lha how not to try. The main character, basically a samurai who can not die. His body can be punctured, his hands and feet can be cut off, and Miike is free to turn it on again to be stabbed and cut. His name is Manji (not wearing "the world", played by Takuya Kimura ), a no-man samurai whose body is infected by a magic worm called Blood Cave. When Manji is injured, Bloodworm will work to connect the arm or heal the wound quickly. This worm was injected by a mysterious old woman after Manji slaughtered dozens of thugs who had killed her sister.
For information, this Manji is actually always carrying no fewer than 8 different swords. Each type of sword is described in more detail in the manga. Everything is hidden under the shirt and then makes me curious: How does he carry that big sword? Why were his swords invisible from the outside? Is it a Doraemon sleeve but a weapon? I have no idea.
The next character is Rin ( Hana Sugisaki ), a princess of the famous dojo owner who was made an orphan by the Ittoryu college who massacred the teacher and all the pupils in the dojo. For revenge, Rin hired the services of a samurai who could not die earlier. For Manji, this is a bit personal because Rin coincidentally resembles the brother who failed to save him.
Ittoryu College is led by a charismatic androgynous samurai named Anotsu Kagehisa ( Sota Fukushi ). He intends to unite all the dojo in Japan under the Ittoryu umbrella. Government dojo is not an exception. Together with his entourage, Anotsu traveled around Japan to make deals with various dojos and eliminate any dojo who would not join.
The three roads of course will cross each other. But before that, Manji had to face some samurai from Ittoryu in a plot mechanism similar to video games: the opposite of various crew before the big boss. And his men are very varied. There are samurai of human head collectors, sadistic samurai women, to samurai who are very similar to Manji. Nuance in the new story will we get before the peak moment when Manji, Rin, and Anotsu meet to maintain their respective samurai principles.
You may be more familiar with Takuya Kimura as one of the boyband personnel in Japan, but as Manji, he is fantastic. Drowning in disheveled hair, blind eyes, and a face full of wounds, he is no longer a "Kimu-Taku" that is shriveled, but is entirely a lazy samurai who is tired of living a long time. Manji's wounds may be healed, but the pain still he felt. Manji does not regard his immortality as a miracle, rather than a curse.
The weakness of the film also has the same source with its power. The film picks up some plot points from the manga, but not enough clicks link it to the main story. A sideline story about a government conspiracy or a criminal sent as a government secret agent passes by. This makes the film that is long already feels elongated. A little ironic, in 151 minutes, the film could not provide enough personality for some pretty crucial side characters.
The action scenes are stylish and thrilling. Not pretty, but sadistic and epic. And this movie has so many scenes, where the average in colossal style by involving many people. In one chaotic scene, Manji has to fight dozens of samurai at once and Miike shows it in such detail in choreography and camera movements that do not make headaches. See, how to try how to handle action sequences involving hybrid spears and swords that are bersiku and berdantai? Miike makes it look convincing.
I can imagine why Samura gave his blessing to Miike to adapt his manga. The film is basically 13 Assassins with just a simpler characterization, fewer main characters, larger scales, and more chaos. Miike's long experience is emblazoned in every action scene handled skillfully. If it were not for Miike, this movie could have been boring.
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