THE HIDDEN BLADE
DIRECTOR: YÔJI YAMADA
JAPAN, 2004
Set at the end of the samurai era, when Western weapons and military tactics are replacing the traditional schools of swordsmanship and codes of honor, THE HIDDEN BLADE takes as its hero Munezô (Masatoshi Nagase), a low-ranking samurai whose heart also feels the conflict of the old and the new. In love with his family’s maid, Munezô is unable to marry her because of the strict feudal class lines dividing them. At the same time, when a former friend and fellow samurai is arrested for treason, Munezô is ordered to kill him. Director Yamada (THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI) crafts a quiet, heartfelt melodrama, an elegy to the passing of the samurai era. (132 mins.)
This screening will be introduced by Samurai aficionado Patrick Galloway, author of such fan favorites as “Stray Dogs and Lone Wolves,” “Warring Clans, Flashing Blades: A Samurai Film Companion,” and “Asia Shock: Horror and Dark Cinema from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand.”