Sword of the Beast (1965)

[font=Century Gothic]With striking black and white cinematography, "Sword of the Beast" starts out with Gennosuke(Mikijiro Hira), a ronin, on the run after killing the clan counselor. A conjugal visit quickly turns into a trap, but he makes his escape. His next escape requires a little help since his pursuers have enlisted a lot more help. Gundayu(Takeshi Kato) has dreams of panning for gold on a mountain with Gennosuke working as his bodyguard. The only problem with this is that the gold is under the protection of the shogunate and anybody caught taking it will be decapitated.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]At that point, "Sword of the Beast" gets a little muddled as it shifts gears away from being a pure chase movie, introducing a handful of major characters on the fly.(By comparison, the movie stops at the beginning to introduce Gennosuke and his pursuers individually.) By the end, everything has come together in a satisfying climax.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]The movie is set in 1857, just after Commodore Perry has paid a visit to Japan, as the old status quo is starting to fall apart, replacing it with upward mobility.(Of note is the large role that women play in this movie which is unusual for a samurai film.) At the same time, the movie wonders if this is automatically a good thing.[/font]