Kôshirô Matsumoto

MUBI:
A spectacular drama depicting the truth about the birth of the world’s top company “Toyota Motor”.Read More »

imdb Bandits on the Wind, Inagaki. This movie is beautiful, funny, heroic. It’s a shame it’s not better known. At one point the most immature and pathological bandit (in a bad bunch) is forced to pretend to be a prince. The timing that shows this Japanese’s inability to sit cross legged is hysterical. There’s a wonderful joke where a bandit weeps to recall how peasants were forced to build a defensive wall, and then slaughtered to keep it secret. “How did you escape?” another bandit wants to know. “Escape nothing: I was one of the guys doing the killing!” The martial arts triangle defense–two katana and a spear–is stellar. The bandits blend cooperation and chaos as it suits them; in the end their Bushido is heroic.Read More »

Set in the 17th century when all forms of swordplay were banned, Hiken (Young Swordsman) stars Shogoro Ichikawa as Tenzen – a young swordsman who believes the ban is unfair. By contrast, his brother Chojuro (Hiroyuki Nagato) is a conformist, and keeps his opinions about the law to himself.

When Tenzen becomes possessed by his own evil sword style and is later banished, it falls to Chojuro to restore the family’s lost honor, and to challenge Tenzen to a death-duel!Read More »