Cruel Tale of Bushido

Winner of the ‘Golden Bear’ at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival, this powerful and harrowing Japanese masterpiece from 1963 offers the antidote to the often romanticised Samurai films. Instead, CRUEL TALE OF BUSHIDO offers a bleak picture of the unswerving loyalty - often with harrowing consequences - the samurais had to abide by in order to honour the feudal ‘Bushido’ moral code. Here, Kinnosuke Nakamura does an Alec Guinness by taking on seven parts in multiple stories, covering seven generations of one family.

Kabuki actor Kinnosuke Nakamuro is the perfectly demonstrates his versatility by taking on different samurais (all of different ages) bar the frame story, which is set in contemporary Tokyo (that is to say, 1963) and although his Susumu Iikura is no longer a Samurai, the world of 60’s corporate Japan seems close enough with its own set of restricting rules and regulations. Consequently, the opening sequence is initially misleading as we see an ambulance racing through the nightly city towards a hospital. Are we in the right film? Actually yes, we are. Ambitious salaryman Susumu is utterly distraught upon learning of his fiancée’s attempted suicide. Why did she do it? As she lies in hospital bed, tended to by doctors and nurses, he watches over her nervously and wonders what may have brought on such a drastic reaction. In order to distract himself, he starts reading his recently discovered Iikura family records which were left by his late mother. It’s from here on that one tale after another is revealed, tracing his family history across 350 years and starting at the time of the Edo Shogunate at the beginning of the 17th century.

At the forefront of each tale lies the bushido code and it is repeated over and over that a samurai’s life is never his own but belongs to his master. Despite the samurai’s unwavering loyalty and self-sacrifice, each tale ends with the cost of their lives and often, even that of family and relatives. The third tale is an eye opener as here, Nakamuro plays his descendant Kiyutaro, who is taken as a male concubine by his daimyo or lord. It is the first depiction of homosexuality on screen in a chanbara film. When Kiyutaro falls for the female servant of the household and begins a secret affair with her, his master’s revenge is beyond cruel when he finds out…

In another tale, Nakamuro plays samurai Shuzo, who first loses his wife Maki (Ineko Arima) to his lord. Maki commits suicide before he can have her. Shuzo then is forced to deliver his daughter Sato (Kikko Matsuako) to the lecherous lord, despite the fact that she is already betrothed to someone else. When neither of them are prepared to play by the rules, the lord’s revenge on Shuzo is pure evil when he tricks a blindfolded Shuzo into executing two criminals, apparently… There are other harrowing scenes in the films as well, for example the public execution of rebellious farmers who have their heads sawn off with bamboo swords (luckily, this is only suggested and we don’t see any gore).
Back in 1963, salesman Susumu Iikura contemplates on what has been happening and in a lengthy flashback sequence, we come to understand what pushed his fiancée into attempting suicide. The bushido code has made way for corporate espionage…

Toshiro Mayuzumi’s score perfectly underlines the overall bleak atmosphere and Tadashi Imai’s direction is near flawless (as are the performances).
CRUEL TALE OF BUSHIDO has recently been released on Blu-ray in a Limited Edition O-card slipcase (2,000 copies) plus collector’s booklet. Additional bonus includes various audio options, interview with film critic Tony Rayns, new video essay by Jonathan Clements plus trailer.