In the 60s of the XX century, Japanese cinema underwent great changes: social changes led to open reproaches of power and hierarchy, the desire of young Japanese people for freedom and liberalization. The most famous manifestation of such events in the cinema of the land of the rising sun was transmitted by Oshima Nagisa, a representative of the new Japanese wave, who filmed recordings of student street riots. These events also affected the genre of “chanbara”, films about samurai fights, which competed with the directors of “New Wave” in criticizing the post-war democratic society of Japan.
Masaki Kobayashi, Hideo Gosha, Kihachi Okamoto and Kenji Misumi knew about the war firsthand and returned to their homeland with distrust of the authorities. All these men made films about samurai, but using old methods, they brought their films to a pronounced social protest. They talked about the cruelty and injustice of feudal Japan, about unconditional obedience and duty to the vassal. Their films took place in historically distant periods of the country’s history, but each expressed opposition to modern rule.
Eiichi Kudo's film "The Great Confrontation" is one of the vivid examples of how "chanbara" is able to express the thought of a person far from the samurai era. Kudo himself stated that his story is allegorical and reflected the protest mood of students in the 60s.
The main character of the film is Jinbo, a young swordsman whose wife was killed by a fanatical battalion by a government service to combat dissent. Remaining one hero goes on the run, but fate brings him to Ronin, who abandoned any political views and left society, deciding to lead a solitary and detached life. After spending the night in the wanderer’s shelter, Jinbo leaves him, disgusted by the infantile and apolitical nature of ronin and again goes in search of like-minded people, eventually joining a group of conspirators led by a rich patron.
The script is exciting, intriguing behind-the-scenes connections, in the course of the narrative, increasingly whipping up drama and nervousness. Characters show weaknesses, new circumstances leading to cruelty and sorrow are revealed: one of the participants dies at the hands of a sexually concerned conspirator, the other betrays his comrades. Violence and bloodshed play a big role in the film, which is the final massacre and a brilliant directorial reception, showing the mountains of corpses of all sides of the conflict. Killings are becoming a grotesque farce.
Some Japanese directors gain incredible fame abroad, while others remain forgotten. Eiichi Kudo and The Great Confrontation do not deserve such a sad fate.
8 out of 10