novelraw Chapter 164: The Shock of Film Critics! Is This Filming Samurai? It's Bushido!
Chapter 164: The Shock of Film Critics! Is This Filming Samurai? It's Bushido!
Tokyo Shinjuku Ward, this old-brand cinema with a long history, at the entrance people were crowded, exceptionally lively.
In a corner of the cinema lobby, five figures however appeared out of place.
They were dressed in suits and leather shoes, expressions solemn, not infected by the festival atmosphere in the slightest, instead their whole bodies emitted a sternness of refusing people thousands of miles away.
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They were the senior film critic team of 'Kinema Junpo', famous in the industry for their strict taste and sharp writing style.
The one leading was Tanaka Kenta, a strict man over fifty years old with his hair combed meticulously without a single strand out of place.
His eyes were sharp, seemingly able to see through the truth and falsehood of any movie at a glance.
"Senior Tanaka, you look over there."
Young film critic Suzuki Hirotada pointed to the massive poster of "Samurai of the Cherry Blossom Tree", and the young girls screaming around the poster, his tone carrying a trace of disdain: "Sure enough it is idols dominating the way ah, those little girls, just for that face, can squeeze the cinema until it bursts."
Sato Ichiro, a film critic around forty years old, slightly plump in figure, with a mocking smile always hanging on his face, also sneered: "Can't be helped, this is the law of the market. The more developed the economy is, those idol stars who know nothing, will be all the more sought after. After all, appreciating art requires a threshold, but acting like a lovesick fool towards a good-looking face, doesn't." "As I see it ah, this "Samurai of the Cherry Blossom Tree", is estimated to be that kind of, aside from good looking pictures, the plot is a complete mess terrible film again."
The only female film critic, Kato Mieko, also chimed in echoing, she wore a well-tailored black coat, her eyes full of exhaustion: "Really don't know what those producers are thinking, spending hundreds of millions to hire a bunch of flower vases to act, might as well invest the money into a genuinely talented director."
"Alright, everyone say a few words less."
Tanaka Kenta finally opened his mouth, his voice carrying a trace of impatience: "We came today, but not to look at those little idols. Although it's Christmas, but the manuscript for the newspaper office tomorrow still needs to be submitted, for that bit of salary, we can only come here to suffer."
He paused, his gaze landing on the poster of "Seven Samurai", his eyes profound.
"But, that "Seven Samurai"... is actually somewhat interesting." Tanaka Kenta pushed his glasses, his tone carrying a trace of inquiry: "Director Kurosawa's signboard, plus Nohara Hiroshi that young man who has been making a huge uproar recently... heard tomorrow the entire film industry is waiting for the reviews of this movie. The greater the controversy, the more worthy it is for us to go take a look. Let's go, buy tickets and go in."
The others heard this, and all exchanged tacit smiles.
They are professional film critics, naturally sneering at those idol movies.
But towards those movies carrying controversy and topic degree, they however possess an almost paranoid kind of persistence.
After all, only such movies, can stir up the thousand layers of waves under their pens, can allow them to display their unique "venomous" discernment in front of peers.
The group arrived at the ticket office, bought the movie tickets, and then walked towards the ticket inspection gate.
"Hm?"
Just as Tanaka Kenta was about to hand the ticket to the ticket inspector, from the corner of his eye he suddenly glimpsed three familiar figures.
Those three people all wore masks and hats, lowering their figures, keeping a low profile queuing at the very back of the line.
One of them was tall with elegant bearing, another was thin but with a straight posture, like a silent mountain.
And that young man walking in the very center... although he wore a hat and mask, but that calm bearing, those profound eyes that couldn't be concealed even when blocked, made Tanaka Kenta's heart, uncontrollably violently shrink.
Nohara Hiroshi?
And... Deputy Director Asumi? As well as... Director Kurosawa?!
Tanaka Kenta's body slightly stiffened, he subconsciously stopped his footsteps.
"Senior Tanaka, what's wrong?" Suzuki Hirotada asked doubtfully.
Tanaka Kenta shook his head, on his face surfacing a thoughtful smile: "Nothing, perhaps it's seeing wrong. Let's go, go in."
He handed the movie ticket to the ticket inspector, and then taking heavy steps, walked into that dark space about to stage a miracle.
...
Inside the cinema, the lights gradually dimmed down, and the noisy discussion sounds also subsided.
Light and shadow flowed on the massive silver screen.
Accompanied by drumbeats full of tragic and fate-determining feeling, frames of images of a land devastated and covered with scars by the ravages of war, were presented before all the audiences.
That was the opening of "Seven Samurai".
The movie started.
Within the screening hall, in a short time there only left the occasionally transmitted, unsuppressible sounds of gasping cold air, and those focused gazes thoroughly attracted by the movie's pictures, unable to look away anymore.
The group of Tanaka Kenta, also similarly in less than ten minutes into the movie opening, was thoroughly captured by the unique charm of this movie.
The opening of the film, like splashed ink landscape painting, presented that turbulent land in the late Warring States period before the eyes of the audiences.
The iron hooves of the mountain bandits, like black tidal waves, time and time again ruthlessly crushing the unarmed farmers.
Their clothes were ragged, their eyes numb, like a group of captive livestock, shivering under the threat of death.
"This... this opening, is a bit depressing ah." Suzuki Hirotada subconsciously muttered softly.
However, just as his voice ended, the scene shifted.
The down-and-out samurai Shimada Kambei, in order to save a child, actually shaved off that topknot symbolizing the identity of a samurai, disguised himself as a monk, and using an almost humiliating method, completed the rescue.
Moreover afterwards that steadiness of being immovable like a mountain, that compassion deeply hidden at the bottom of his eyes, directly shaped this character to be three-dimensional!
"This samurai... is somewhat interesting." Sato Ichiro's eyes lit up slightly, he saw on this character, that brilliance full of humanity that surpassed the traditional samurai image.
Or to say, this is exactly the positive image of a samurai that everyone acknowledges nowadays!
Immediately after, one by one vivid characters seemingly able to piece through the silver screen, sequentially made their appearances.
Kyuzo, a samurai who pursued the extreme of kendo all his life.
Reticent, swordsmanship like a god.
That scene of his appearance, in a split second, defeating two unexcelled in arrogance ronin with a single bamboo stick, that calmness and power, caused the screening hall to resound with a wave of unsuppressible gasping cold air sounds!
"This action scene... clean and neat, no dragging through mud and water! Simply textbook level!" Kato Mieko softly praised in admiration, she originally thought this would be a dull literary film, didn't expect the opening to be so stunning.
Hayashida Heihachi, always cheerful, even when in a desperate situation able to use a joke to defuse the tension of companions.
That optimism and open-mindedness of his, like a ray of sunlight, pierced through the haze of the film's opening, bringing the audience a rare relaxation.
Katayama Gorobei, proficient in military strategy, seemingly calculating but in reality full of wisdom.
That calmness of his in devising strategies within a command tent, let the audience see the deeper wisdom of samurai besides military force.
Also that young samurai born of noble birth, yet ignorant of the ways of the world, harboring the purest yearning for the samurai spirit, Okamoto Katsushiro.
That greenness and idealism of his, gave this story full of tragic colors, a trace of rare warmth.
Every character, is like a piece of a puzzle with sharp edges and corners, collectively constructing a group portrait belonging to this "samurai" class, full of glory and tragedy.
However, what truly made everyone present feel their scalps go numb, was still that, full of controversies and contradictions, counterfeit —— Kikuchiyo.
Upon appearing, he displayed a rough attitude, the flaw of lustfulness, and even loves to brag, blowing his own trumpet, possessing a kind of lowly national inferiority that makes people see through at a glance.
And according to the introduction of the movie plot, they also knew this was just an outsider who used a forged family genealogy, a stolen samurai sword, to forcefully squeeze into this team he originally didn't belong to.
He is like a clown who intruded into a sacred hall, using that performance full of comicality and clumsiness of his, to pretend he is a samurai.
"This character... is too subversive!" Suzuki Hirotada's eyes widened, he never thought in a samurai film, there would actually appear such an "anomaly".
"Yeah... he is simply sullying 'Bushido'!" Sato Ichiro's eyebrows slightly wrinkled together, he is a traditional film critic, towards this "rebellious and unorthodox" character setting, instinctively feeling uncomfortable.
However, Tanaka Kenta merely silently watched the silver screen, his eyes burning brighter and brighter, all the disdain and exhaustion on his face had faded away, replaced by, a kind of focus.
From his professional perspective, he could guess, this Kikuchiyo, is absolutely not just a simple "clown".
On his body should be hiding the deepest and also the cruelest core of this story.
The film entered the middle stage, the samurai began to train the farmers, constructing defensive fortifications.
The picture gradually transformed from depressing darkness, into vitality full of hope.
The farmers under the teaching of the samurai, picked up weapons, learned to fight, in their eyes no longer numb, but gradually ignited the desire for survival.
However, this brief peace and hope, yet in the repeated attack of the mountain bandits, was thoroughly shredded to pieces!
Heavy rain poured down, the entire world seemingly enveloped by a piece of gray despair.
The iron hooves of the mountain bandits like black tidal waves, time and time again impacted that fragile defense line constructed of flesh and blood.
The samurai slaughtered in the mud, fell in the firelight.
Hayashida Heihachi, that always cheerful man, in order to cover his companions, had his body pierced through by several long spears, before he died, on his face still carrying that touch of familiar, smile full of warmth.
Kyuzo, that man who pursued kendo all his life, in order to protect Katsushiro, was hit by a musket, the moment he fell, in his eyes there was no fear, only a trace, of faint regret of not being able to duel with a stronger person.
Death like the withering fallen leaves in autumn, came fiercely, also full of fate-determining tragicness.
This plot was shot extremely brilliantly.
The rhythm was also extremely fast.
Almost not letting any audience have the ability to think for themselves, only able to follow the rapidly advancing plot on the screen.
In the screening hall, the audiences all held their breaths, some emotional audiences, even already began to silently wipe their tears.
And precisely in that Asura field that had long been dyed red with fresh blood, that counterfeit once despised by everyone, Kikuchiyo, yet like a beast thoroughly enraged, erupted out an unprecedented, heart-palpitating energy!
He looked at his companions falling one by one, looked at those farmers he once despised, exploding out the brilliance of humanity in order to protect their homeland, in those eyes that were always full of slyness and desire, for the first time burned a raging wildfire sufficient to start a prairie fire!
He is no longer fighting for that fake glory.
He is fighting for protection, for those people weaker than him!
When he held the banner high, facing the musket of the mountain bandit leader, letting out an earth-shaking roar, ultimately perishing together with the enemy...
The entire review room, fell into a death-like silence.
Everyone held their breaths, on those faces written full of shock, only left a kind of reverence!
The film entered its finale, the mountain bandits were wiped out, the village was saved.
The surviving farmers, on that land soaked with fresh blood, sang and danced, celebrating the hard-won harvest.
That cheerful singing, formed a stark contrast full of sarcastic irony with those four lonely graves stuck with samurai swords on the hillside.
The surviving Kambei, looking at that jubilant field, slowly, spoke out that cruel line, sufficient to make all heroic narratives pale in comparison.
"Again we are defeated. The winners are those peasants."
Immediately following, is that line of dialgoue that was taken out of context at the press conference, triggering a massive uproar ——
"What do you take farmers for? Think they're saints? Don't make me laugh! Farmers are the most cunning! If you ask for rice, they say they have none. Ask for wheat, they say they have none. Actually they have everything. Look under the floorboards! If they're not under the floorboards, they're in the storeroom! You'll find plenty of things. Rice, salt, beans, sake... Go look in the valleys! There are hidden rice fields! On the surface they look honest but they are the biggest liars, they will lie about anything! As soon as there's a battle, they make bamboo spears and hunt the defeated samurai! Listen to me! So-called farmers are the most stingy, the most cunning, cowardly, mean, stupid, murderous demons!"
"But wait... Who made them such beasts?"
"You did! You samurai did it! Burn the villages! Destroy the crops! Take the food! Draft the young men! Take the women! Kill anyone who resists! What are the farmers supposed to do? What should they do!"
When this argument full of dialectics and sarcasm, resounded from the silver screen with a bang in Kikuchiyo's rough yet powerful voice...
In the screening hall, everyone thoroughly understood.
They understood what the "Easter egg" Nohara Hiroshi spoke of at the press conference exactly was.
They understood the true, great underlying theme of this movie, that transcended class, transcended good and evil, and pointed directly at human nature!
The lights came on.
The movie lasting three and a half hours, ended.
In the screening hall, one could still hear a pin drop.
Everyone blankly sat in their seats, on those faces written full of shock, reverence, as well as a numbness of having their worldviews thoroughly overturned.
A long time passed, before a patch of unsuppressible sighs rang out.
"...This... is this really a movie that humans can shoot out?" Suzuki Hirotada's voice, carried a trace of trembling.
On that young face of his, at this moment only left a paleness after being thoroughly conquered by art.
"Masterpiece... This is simply a masterful work!" Kato Mieko slowly took off her glasses, using the back of her hand to wipe away that bit of uncontrollable moistness at the corners of her eyes.
In her voice, carried a trace of unsuppressible shuddering: "I... I've watched movies for almost thirty years. I never thought, a story about samurai, could actually... be told so magnificently, and so, directly pointing at the heart!"
"Yeah!" Sato Ichiro also heavily nodded, on that face always full of nitpicking, at this moment also written full of heartfelt admiration: "This is no longer a simple samurai film! This is deconstructing 'class' and 'human nature'! Deconstructing the era!"
"Especially that Kikuchiyo!" Suzuki Hirotada was flushed with excitement: "Although he is a counterfeit, but he possesses more 'Bushido spirit' than any true samurai! He let us know, the so-called 'Bushido', has never been determined by identity, but determined by the 'heart'! This... this is simply... a stroke of genius ah!"
For a time praises surged like tidal waves!
And Tanaka Kenta, this chief film critic of 'Kinema Junpo', yet merely sat there silently.
In those eyes of his that had seen countless worldly vicissitudes, all the contempt and disdain had faded, only left a patch of deep shock and reverence!
He thought of those words spoken by Nohara Hiroshi at the press conference.
"We are always discussing samurai, discussing farmers. Discussing the so-called elites, discussing the so-called commoners. But we, ignored that ultimate, and also the only, protagonist that truly determined all their fates."
"That is, the era."
"The end of the samurai era, is not because they were not elite enough. But because the appearance of muskets allowed a well-trained farmer to easily kill a samurai who had practiced swordsmanship bitterly for twenty years. This is the victory of technology, the victory of productivity, the victory of the era."
"And the arrival of the commoner era, also didn't happen overnight. It evolved into our current國民 era, where everyone is equal, where everyone has the opportunity to change their own destiny. This, is likewise the progress of the era."
"Every one of us, whether the so-called 'elites', or the so-called 'commoners', are nothing more than, an insignificant, spray in the waves of this era."
"What we can do, is not to complain about the solidification of class, is not to envy the success of others. But we should be like me, seizing every opportunity bestowed by this era that can change our own destiny."
At that time, he thought Nohara Hiroshi was quibbling.
Was secretly substituting concepts.
But now, when he personally saw this movie.
He finally understood...
That young man, he was not quibbling.
He was expounding a, most simple truth that had been repeatedly verified by history!
He was also not secretly substituting concepts.
He was using the most profound perspective that transcended the era, transcended class, and directly reached humanity.
To re-examine our nation, that tragic fate that had long deeply rooted in the bones!
Tanaka Kenta slowly stood up, he walked to the exit of the screening hall.
His gaze, peacefully swept past those audiences who were similarly sitting blankly in their seats, with shock written all over their faces.
And recalled those three figures he saw at the ticket inspection gate again.
He finally understood.
That young man, he was not playing with public opinion.
He was using the most brilliant method that can only be used by a monster who truly saw through the era, and also saw through people's hearts, to lay a path leading to the "altar" for this movie!
Every word he said, every action he took, were all nothing more than a small foreshadowing in his grand narrative!
"Let's go." Tanaka Kenta's voice, carried a trace of unprecedented exhaustion, yet also contained a kind of, deep relief after being thoroughly washed clean.
"We... should go back to write manuscripts."
His voice was very light, yet clearly transmitted to the ears of those several companions behind him similarly rendered speechless by the movie's shock.
"Senior Tanaka, you... how do you plan to write?" Suzuki Hirotada carefully asked.
Tanaka Kenta didn't speak, he merely slowly turned around, a complex smile surfacing on his face.
"I plan..."
"I plan, to write a, film review about a 'miracle'."
"About a, twenty-three-year-old young man, how, relying on the power of one person, thoroughly overturned the film industry of the entire Nippon, and even the entire society, a 'miracle'!"
These words made the other four film critics all freeze.
They looked at Tanaka Kenta, in that gaze, written full of unbelievable horror.
They knew, this man who was always extremely strict, he was not joking.
He really thought so.
And since he said it out like this, definitely also planned to do it this way!
He is announcing the end of an era.
He is welcoming the, final descent of a, brand new era belonging only to that young man!
"..." The others were all silent as a crow, passing through their minds reminiscing the plot just now, and those classic lines, uncontrollably their breathing became more and more rapid.
They discovered, this isn't an ordinary samurai film, nor an action movie.
But a... movie of Bushido!
A movie that transcended ordinary samurai, focusing on explaining what is Bushido, and in what era Bushido represents what, expounding the level of 'Dao'!
"The wind is about to rise." A film critic slowly opened his mouth, carrying heartfelt emotion in his tone.
The others didn't deny it, all nodding in agreement.
Because they all believed, the fact is indeed so!
"Wait!" Suzuki Hirotada suddenly thought of something, looking at the poster of another ancient costume samurai film beside the cinema, hurriedly shouting loudly: "No, we can't leave! We still have other tasks! Don't forget, there's still "Samurai of the Cherry Blossom Tree" that still needs our reviews!"
Tanaka Kenta originally wanting to quickly return home to write manuscripts, letting his excited mood completely turn into words, the pace under his feet slightly paused.
Thinking of what the president gave instructions on, must also go watch "Samurai of the Cherry Blossom Tree".
Uncontrollably frowning tightly, but still suppressed it saying: "En, true. Since the president instructed, then let's go take a look."
So he took everyone, turning around and walking towards the screening hall ticket office beside it.
(End of Chapter)