Destiny's Son

Kenji Misumi's 1962 Japanese film follows Shingo, born the son of an assassin. His mother was executed for killing her lord's concubine; years later the adoptive family who kept that secret is massacred and Shingo sets out alone. The film joins the samurai narrative to fate. Shingo possesses an unbeatable sword technique that gains him nothing; every victory isolates him further. The narrative shows revenge as an obligation rather than an aim. Misumi is a director who works through composition; the frames are geometric, the movement sparse and the fights last seconds. Raizo Ichikawa leads. The film runs under seventy minutes and that brevity sharpens its hardness. Who it's for: those who like classic samurai cinema and formally tight work. Who it's not for: viewers expecting long fight sequences; the film keeps its violence short and sudden.