Shinobi: Heart Under Blade

Japan at the start of the seventeenth century. Two ninja clans have lived apart for centuries and the war between them has been stopped by decree. The shogun lifts the ban and orders five from each clan to fight to the death; the aim is not to decide which side remains but to weaken both. Among those chosen are Gennosuke and Oboro. The two love each other and the clans do not know. Ten Shimoyama directs. Yukie Nakama plays Oboro and Joe Odagiri plays Gennosuke. The source is Futaro Yamada's novel. The idea is that neither side is in the right; neither clan wants the war and the order comes from above. Each of the fighters has a different ability; the narrative introduces them in turn and the combats are built on those abilities. The visual manner rests on slow motion and computer effects, a common preference in Japanese genre cinema of the period. Its emotional strand is the relationship between the two and the narrative builds it as a classical tragedy. The same novel had been adapted before as comics and animation. Who it is for: viewers who like Japanese period action and fantastical martial films. Who it is not for: there are many characters, the effects have dated, and the narrative leans on melodrama.