What Remains Would Indicate This to be Makino's Silent Masterpiece

Makino Masahiro started his directorial career in the mid 1920's. Fans of pre-war Japanese cinema know what this means, and like with so many other directors, very little remains of Makino's silent heyday.

This film was hailed to be a very important release when it when came out, also earning a place in the Kinema Junpo's annual top ten. The film was originally 11 reels, but out of that, only 30 minutes remain. Watching the restored fragments is not unlike watching a long trailer for a movie, that would seem to be pretty great.

The main character of this film is the kind of serious-faced and pompous samurai, that you would come to expect from a silent jidai-geki. He is very proud, and can not stand being laughed at. In the beginning, another samurai dares to laugh straight to his face, and the end-result is his death in a sword fight. After this killing, a group of revengers start to track down the main character.

The film criticizes both revenge and being overly proud. The plot-line is hard to follow due to segments missing, but the remaining images are great. For a pre-war jidai-geki, the depiction of women is the most interesting thing in this film. Women are shown shooting firearms, and the final sequence, which I shall not spoil, is also a riveting female action scene. It's gorgeous, and haunting.

Makino's direction is more invested than in his post-war works, and it is very sad that this film is no longer available as a whole.

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