The Sword of Doom

The Sword of Doom (Dai-Bosatsu Toge) (1966)

Runtime: 120 minutes

Directed by: Kihachi Okamoto

Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai (RIP), Michiyo Aratama, Yuzo Kayama, Yoko Naito, Toshiro Mifune

From: Toho

RIP Tatsuya Nakadai. That name wasn’t as familiar to Western audiences (or even film fans) as Toshiro Mifune despite starring in multiple Kurosawa classics-including High and Low, Ran, Kagemusha, and Yojimbo-along with leading the all-timer Harakiri. I briefly gave him some props in a review but despite not appearing in movies outside of Japan like Mifune, experts say he was his equal, if not superior in talent. He deserves more credit from me; thus, one of his more famous movies today that hadn’t been viewed before was reviewed. In addition, it features Mifune in a supporting role-a small one, but naturally it’s always great seeing him.

Nakadai portrayed Ryunosuke, a samurai in the 1860’s (the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, meaning the end of the samurai era) who is a master with his blade but it was uncommon to follow a samurai in a movie who was obviously amoral and even worse, killed indiscriminately. The opening featured him slicing an old man praying at a Buddhist shrine for no logical reason. The viewer follows him for several years as he engages in increasingly evil acts. Eventually, he is haunted by his actions.

The movie slowly unfurls its plot over the two-hour runtime. The collection of interesting characters and the number of subplots kept me captivated. One sin is that the conclusion left more than one of those unresolved… but evidently there were to be sequels, only those were canceled after some objected to how violent the film was, especially its conclusion. I can't punish the movie too hard for that. The setting (occasionally a snowy landscape), the score, and the direction from Kihachi Okamoto was top-notch.

However, it was Nakadai as the lead which anchored the film. The cold, emotionless demeanor, the steely glare that implied he lacked a soul, his great performance as such an amoral character… the classics he did w/ Kurosawa should be tackled first if you want to discover for yourself why he’s regarded as one of the best Japanese actors of all time. However, if you’re thirsting for more after that-especially if the samurai genre is groovy to you-The Sword of Doom is a wise choice. I’m happy that some films of his were seen by me before he passed away days ago at the age of 92.