Guest pressureworld Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Genre:Samurai Title:Bakumatsu Zankoku Monogatari (The Cruel Story) Director: Kato Tai Cast: Okawa Hashizo, Fuji Junko, Uchida Ryohei This paragraph contains basic background info The Emperor and the Shogun were at war because of the opening of Japan to the west 1863-1868 the old way of life represented the Shogun vs the future, which was the Emperor, who understood knowledge from the west was critical to japan's survival. The Shinsengumi were a paramilitary group made up of farmers and ronin who fought to protect and secure the Shogunate. Life is cheap under the Shinsengumi you break a rule and the big question is who is going to be your decapitator, this is reality for the men who serve under Kondo Isami. This is a film I have wanted to see for ages. I always thought the synopsis was interesting and every review I have ever read on this film has been positive. This ultraviolent movie is about a weak, naive young man who joins the Shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi potrayed here are simply ruthless. These men are extremely vicious socialpaths with no regard for life. This is a 360 degree turn around from the groups portrayal in the movie When the Last sword is Drawn, Shinsengumi Assassians of Honor, etc. believe me there is no honor here. Instead of dealing with the politics the nation of japan was going through, the film focuses on the inner workings of the Shinsengumi with the main story centered on Enami Saburo. The young man entering the violent world of the Shinsengumi reminds me of a young person entering prison life for the first time if he does a long stretch chances are he is not the same person when he comes out, so the question of today is, does Enami Saburo lose his soul in the end, sorry there will be no spoilers here. Upon watching this film I thought it was average but as the film went on it exceeded my expectations, needless to say my opinion changed drastically. I simply couldn't get the story out of my mind. I feel this was a very intellegent well thought out drama. The story is extremely violent and grim, the ending packs a powerful punch (it would be a crime to give it away) and the film boast some of the best acting I have ever seen in this wonderful genre, watching Okawa Hashizo play Enami is like a car crash it's hard to watch but you have to look. The reviews are correct for once, the director Kato Tai is brillant and this film should be in the upper echelon of everyone's collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KevinClo Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Good review Pressureworld! It’s been a few years since I watched this one, but I too remember watching it just thinking it was average. Then as finished it I realized there was much more to this one than I thought. This is really good story telling. The beginning is powerful in how they show how they accept new members in the group. Let’s put it this way, you can’t make any mistakes in how you handle a sword if you are new recruit! It reminded me a lot of a very serious spy movie where there is so much paranoia about trusting each other. The black and white filming adds to all this. KC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pressureworld Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 thanks for showing some love Kevin the beginning was powerful and paranoia ran through the entire film. This was a nice surprise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr Dragula Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Been wanting to see this for a while now, but still waiting on the re-release. Pressure has only made me want to see it more, damn him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member presureworld Posted June 24, 2008 Member Share Posted June 24, 2008 I recently watched this again and I stand by my review this is a powerful film that gets better with each viewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venom10463 Posted January 8, 2010 Member Share Posted January 8, 2010 For those who are interested in this film, I timed the subtiles from the tv broadcast version to the R2J, which is available to download for free at Asian DVD Club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member klepto Posted January 13, 2010 Member Share Posted January 13, 2010 The Cruel Story is in brutal black and white and is one of the better films on the Shinsengumi. Okawa Hashizo is one of my favorite actors and is very famous for the Shingo series. The story about the Shinsengumi is far from cut and dry. There are many sides to the Shinsengumi story. Serizawa Kamo supposedly is killed because he was corrupt and broke many rules of the Shinsengumi. Hijikata Toshizo was corrupt and broke many rules as well. It is wolf eat wolf here and in the end no one survives. Check out the Mito insurrection and the movie Tengu to starring Nakadai Tatsuya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Pressure Posted May 3, 2010 Member Share Posted May 3, 2010 I'm bumping this thread for my old review of this wonderful film, if you haven't seen it check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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