Kiru

Before watching Kiru "Kill!" see SEven SAmurai, Hidden Fortress, Sanjuro, Yojimbo and the awesome SWORD OF DOOM then you will catch all of the inside jokes and truly appreciate this masterful parody. The humor in this movie is conveyed elegantly. For example the director of "Kiru," Okamoto, who also directed Sword of Doom, included a stone Buddha atop of the hill overlooking the desolate town setting of the movie in reference to "Daibosatsu Toge" which means "Great Buddha Pass" (the Japanese title for Sword of Doom). Okay that wasn't the best example, but can you imagine henchmen screaming EXTRA loud when they are butchered? Or how about a grimy farmer turning away a cute girl he calls a "powdered monster!" Amidst the exaggerated dust storms, references to the value of rice, mountain treks and the trouble 7 "children" or samurai cause when planning a conspiracy is a trio of heroes: a farmer who yearns to be a samurai, the last henchmen of an annihilated gang, and a vagabond (rather than a dashing ronin) played by Tatsuya Nakadai. Yes, there are staring duels, flying daggers, great fight scenes with wooden swords but lastly a showdown that is NOT in the middle of a ghost town or rolling field but in a tiny room. This film is for the fans!!!

As films like 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly' serve as anti-Westerns because of their morally ambivalent characters who fly in the face of traditional good guy/bad guy roles, it seems to me that 'Kill!' serves as an anti-samurai film of sorts. There are few signs of a code of honor to be found here, and the samurai (or would-be samurai) fight instead out of some personal motivation, like hunger or ego. One of them (Tatsuya Nakadai) is actually an ex-samurai, and he regularly cautions another man (Etsushi Takahashi) against taking up the profession.

I liked that aspect of it, but what stopped me from liking it as a whole was how messy and confusing the story was. That may have been the point, that it's all helter-skelter and you have different clans killing one another for reasons they (and the viewer) aren't completely sure of, with powerful men in the background quietly pulling the strings, but I think that could have been illustrated in a more satisfying way. The film blends together so many elements, parodying famous samurai films like Sanjuro and Yojimbo, getting in battle scenes of its own, and including some comedy, the more humorous moments of which take place in a brothel. I would have liked it more if it had been a fully comedy or a full revisionist samurai film with a better plot, but as it was, it ended up in a weird middle ground for me. Anyway, it's a wild ride and I'm sure more suitable for connoisseurs of the genre, but it was a little too messy for me, and I probably missed some of its references.

With all its dark humor and cynical attitude towards samurai code of honor, Kill! comes as a truly unformulaic and genre-bending period drama. Written and directed by the famous Kihachi Okamoto, the film's loosely based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's widely read short story Peaceful Days (also the basis for Kurosawa's Sanjuro). Kill! (or Kiru in Japanese) combines a well-crafted, complex plot with audaciously choreographed fight scenes, some visually-stunning, long shots of Japanese landscapes, with a bunch of witty - and often farcical - dialogues.

The picture presents a story about two luckless, hungry would-be warriors, who find themselves in the middle of a ferocious battle between the opposing sides of a dangerous yakuza clan. Genta (Tatsuya Nakadai) is a former samurai, who got tired of the difficult lifestyle of a wandering ronin. He wasn't able to find any other work, and just wound up in the deserted city, where he met Hanjiro (Etsushi Takahashi), an ex-farmer who wants to become a samurai, but didn't have a chance to prove his abilities yet. As soon as the two discover that the abandoned city is a battleground for a merciless group of samurai retainers, it's simply too late, and they get dragged into the whole deadly intrigue in just a matter of minutes. It becomes clear that one side of the conflict betrayed the other, and the resolution of the struggle might come only when one of the parties kills the other. In the cutthroat game of murder and betrayal, the two main characters take differing sides, and in order to achieve success they need to kill each other at first. Though Hanjiro's first assignment as an aspiring samurai is to dispose of Genta, he hesitates for a long time, as Genta proved to be a valuable source of information regarding the precious samurai life. As the tension mounts, and both groups become more and more irritated and bloodthirsty, Hanjiro and Genta decide to team up and outsmart everyone in their way, leading on to one of the most riveting and satisfying finales in a samurai picture ever filmed.

The problem with Kill! is that it's not as well-known around the world as it really should be. Moreover, it's simply an under-watched samurai epic, even though it actually shares - and makes fun of - all the far-reaching values of many prominent Kurosawa pictures. Here the portrayal of typical samurai warriors is a most parodical one, as Kill! shows so deliberately that there are those, who behave only badly and those, who behave only honorably, and there's nothing in-between. It's a game-changer of sorts when it comes to the topic of samurai, given its highly fanciful attempt at denuding all the hidden aspects of those seemingly convoluted personas.

The cinematography is as raw-looking as it is actually picture-perfect. It brings out all that's eye-popping about the beautiful, yet blood-filled, Japanese scenery.

Kill! also references various other samurai pictures, playing with the idea of a dramatic and serious samurai film, giving itself an utterly lighthearted tone. Kihachi Okamoto created a little, under-appreciated gem that's not only engaging, but also truly smart and concise.

This is an excellent Japanese action picture just chock full for fighting, killing and samurai stuff. That's fine with me, as I like that sort of film a lot. However, I don't particularly remember the film being THAT funny and it is certainly not a comedy. I am writing this because based on some of the other reviews, I person might assume that to be the case. Action--YES. Comedy--NOPE.

However, I could see the parallel between this movie and the Zatoichi series. Our hero, Ichi, is always looking to help the little guy in trouble and he, too, did bad early in life and is always striving to undo this through good works (like the lead in KILL).

Tatsuya Nakadai is no stranger to Samurai films, having played in Ran, Yojimbo, and Sanjura among the almost 100 films he has done. This film is based upon the same book as Sanjura.

Tatsuya Nakadai plays Genta, a yakuza that travels from town to tow. He meets up with Hanji (Etsushi Takahashi) a farmer who wants to be a Samurai. Reminds you of the farmer in the Magnificent Seven who wanted to be a gunfighter.

They get caught up in a local fracas that pits seven samurai against a lord taking over the town. It is a one-sided fight, to say the least.

You will find some Kurasawa in here, as well as some Clint Eastwood as "the man with no name"; along with some very funny dialog. All of this will serve to keep you glued to the action until the very end.