The Hidden Blade | DVD Review

After 70 odd films, prolific Japanese director Yoji Yamada follows up his first ever samurai epic (2001’s critically acclaimed The Twilight Samurai ) with his second samurai epic, The Hidden Blade .

Essentially a love story amid the rigid social structure of turn of the century Japan, Hidden Blade takes place at the crossroads between the death knell of the samurai period and the introduction of western fighting techniques. Munezo is a samurai of low social standing from a poor village in Northern Japan. Trying to live his life simply, he is continually thrust into the tumultuous lives of those he cares about even as social changes are taking place all around him. Numerous plot lines run throughout the film and through them all Munezo must battle to maintain a sense of respectability in a climate that seems designed to strip him of his dignity.

As an addition to the long history of the samurai film, Hidden Blade puts forth the idea that samurai culture was not nearly as violent as most film’s in the genre suggest. In fact, it suggests that most samurai were fearful at the thought of killing, much less drawing their blades. The Hidden Blade takes it’s namesake from an advanced sword fighting technique that requires one, against all logic, to conceal their sword by turning their back to an opponent to instigate an attack. As metaphor, Munezo must learn to turn away from the ancient traditions that define the code of the samurai in order to grow and find happiness.

The extras consist of a ‘Behind The Scenes…’ featurette, ‘Berlin Film Festival Premiere’, ‘Yoji Yamada Press Conference’, and the Japanese and U.S. versions of the theatrical trailer. The ‘Behind The Scenes…’ consists mostly of a feature on the authenticity of the film’s props and a mini highlight on the film’s youngest cast member. Because it’s always fun to see the first public audience reaction to a film, the extras also include Hidden Blade’s Berlin Film Festival Premiere. There’s also a press conference with Yamada in which the director discusses his oeuvre and some kind of lifetime achievement award he received. There’s not really a lot here, but there is some interesting insight into Yamada’s approach to the samurai film.

The Hidden Blade features a terrific performance from lead Masatoshi Nagase (Munezo), and has the kind of distinguished look one would expect from a respected director doing an epic period piece.

Movie rating – 4

Disc Rating – 2.5