SWORD OF DOOM (1966) – Kihachi Okamoto

[ravenus]

SWORD OF DOOM (1966) – Kihachi Okamoto

I might be foolish about this but really I cannot see what all the glowing word about this film is about. The premise of Sword of Doom centers on its protagonist, the impeccably skilled Samurai Ryunosuke Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadai) and his sword. The film (and arguments in favor of it) tries to make some profound statement about the cause of the evil acts of Ryunosuke…whether it lies in himself or in the sword he wields. Whatever it may be it all adds up to a protagonist who is an utter blackguard, an outright caricature villain without any real shade to his character. Be it casually slashing across a harmless old man, demanding a woman’s sexual favors in return for deliberately losing in a duel to her husband Bunnojo (later taking her on as a mistress after he kills her husband), joining a rogue political outfit and executing their murderous stratagems…there’s nothing which our man backs off from and he has no qualms about it. Ryunosuke’s own father despises his evil ways, and to further convince us of his villainy he is also presented as a cold-hearted fellow who spends his time gulping sake staring malevolently into space, while his beleaguered mistress makes assorted wails.

The late Bunnojo’s brother Hyoma, determined to kill Ryunosuke in combat, trains assiduously under Shimada (Toshiro Mifune), another skilled Samurai but, unlike Ryunosuke, a man of honor. In one scene there is even a confrontation between Hyoma and Ryunosuke in Shimada’s dojo but they do not know each other at this point. On another occasion, Hyoma sends a letter of challenge to Ryunosuke to fight with him, but oddly this seems to have been forgotten in subsequent sequences. There is a tension between Ryunosuke and Shimada, both being first-class fighters but with opposing philosophies, but this is again left by the wayside. Jammed into these proceedings is the excruciatingly melodramatic story of a young girl whom Hyoma is attracted to, who is sent to be a courtesan and is coincidentally the granddaughter of the old man that Ryunosuke kills at the beginning of the story. The script contrives heavily for her to be connected to both Hyoma and Ryunosuke but, like so many other devices, doesn’t make any good use of it. This is one of my big problems with the story…it sets up these situations and then just abandons them.

Tatsuya Nakadai is an actor of immense talent but his role here gives him precious little to work with…most of the time he just grimaces and speaks in gluttural undertones and I just couldn’t generate any real interest in his character’s emotional makeup. I will admit however that his presence lends some semblance of grace to what I regard an irredeemably shallow role. Toshiro Mifune performs gamely but again is not required to flex his acting skills to any great degree. The two had a great chemistry in Yojimbo but the few scenes of their interaction here are not good enough to generate the same spark. The rest of the cast is just about adequate. The film has decent technical values (although not as consistently striking as Samurai Assassin) with some fine cinematography. As in Samurai Assassin, very good use is made of the widescreen format in framing its visuals. The sword skirmishes are conducted expertly, both Nakadai and Mifune very convincing as the finely honed warriors they’re supposed to be.

The climax is notable for its extremely graphic violence as well as its astonishing abruptness, but all of that only serves to increase my annoyance with a film I consider very pointless in the way it turns out.