Samurai Spy (1965)

I remember a long time ago, IFC showed Samurai Spy one Saturday morning. I recorded it and watched a few minutes before turning it off and deleting it. I couldn't really remember why I didn't finish the movie. Watching it again makes me remember. The first few minutes is a bombardment of Japanese names. This is sometimes normal for a Japanese film, if you're a Western viewer. But, Samurai Spy is the worst offender I've seen thus far. I'd imagine even the filmmakers got confused as to who's who.

As a film, it's pretty good. It's nowhere near the Kurosawa samurai films, but it doesn't try to be. It feels a little more raw than Kurosawa's work. The compositions are great most of the time, even if they are a little too stylish in parts. The plot moved at just the right pace, never becoming boring, with some great twists. The action ranged from good to decent, but there's really not much of it.

One of my favorite parts was when Sasuke goes into the storehouse, looking to rescue the woman who was kidnapped. The entire scene is sparsely lit, to show the darkness that the spies sneaking in are able to blend into so well. He begins to move around, and after placing his hand on a wooden beam, pulls it away and up into the light to reveal that his hand is now covered in blood. A moment after he realizes this, a cut to a beautiful shot of the night sky, with a full moon on the left and clouds quickly moving from the right to eclipse it. Also, the big showdown at the end is great, with fog billowing softly around the two men as they exchange heated words. It stays in the scene all throughout, increasing the tension between them. Great scene.