From: Andy
Message:
the purchase of this film and its review is brought to you tangentially
from an article by alexi sayle for the observer.
lone wolf, assassin for hire, and his cub, daigoro, exist at the xroads
of hell. they also exist in a small village in japan where there is mud,
men with baskets on their heads who play dischordant bells, and prancing
singing fools. diagoro doesnt like the basketbell men especially, but he
does like the fools and follows them through the village whereupon they
tell him to go home. home seems to be a difficult place to get to so he
wanders round in the dark looking for his father in woods, huts and
temples and, damn, if he doesnt eventually run into his father's sworn
enemy who recognises him for one who stands at the xroads of hell but
doesnt recognise him for the only son of his sworn enemy until lone wolf
appears and they face each other for the first time in a long time. its
the last thing lone wolf needs. he's been contracted out to find and
kill the tattooed lady with the fine breasts who's been dispensing clan
members this way and that. /and/ he's got an army hot on his tail.
hopefully the baby cart is up to the challenge.
i havent seen the first 3 films tho the dvd i got gives a longhaul view
of each of them before you get to the main picture. the film quality of
those films didnt look up to much, and the picture quality of BCIP isnt
brilliant, but its good enough so you dont notice too much, and some of
the vistas lone wolf and diagoro pass through are beautiful. There is
one fight scene in a dark shed in which its very diffcult to see
anything except the occasional bloody stump, but the rest of the film is
ok. There's bazookas too, and this time im not talking about the
tattooed shortsword wielding lady.
The story is surprising in many ways i wont reveal here, developing the
characters well, exploring themes of love and honour, kinship and
family. both lone wolf and diagoro are played well; lone wolf with a
kind of knackered bewilderment bordering on amused coma; daigoro with an
impish stonecold naivety.
A great film.
