RYOMA ANSATSU
(“The Assassination Of Ryoma”)
Production: Japan, 1974
Director: Kuroki Kazuo
Category: Samurai
Ryoma Sakamoto was a notorious rogue samurai, an imperial loyalist who tried to unite the Choshu and Satsuma clans and prepared the way for the Meiji Restoration (1868). He was assassinated just before his plans came to fruition, and Kuroki’s film portrays his last few days. With some of the most striking black-and-white cinematography and visual compositions of any film, this enigmatic period piece combines scenes of murder, sex, forced suicide, graveyards, sudden death, violent confrontations, voyeuristic exchanges, weird revelry and transvestite swordplay, all assembled in seemingly random patterns and climaxing in a brutal blood-drenched massacre. Kuroki’s previous film was the yazuka tale Nippon No Akuryo (“Evil Spirit Of Japan”, 1970).
Posted by Lady Belladonna