Films
Target Sunday Samurai Film Series
Sundays, July 5, August 2, and September 6
Screenings at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm
Samsung Hall (Space is limited and is on a first-come, first served basis.)
FREE general admission courtesy of Target*
PARENTAL DISCRETION ADVISED:
Due to the violent material contained in many samurai films, parents may wish to preview films before allowing their children to view them. Few foreign films have been assigned a rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, but when available we have indicated them below.
*Target First Free Sundays—free general admission on the first Sunday of every month and the family programs offered on that day—is made possible by Target. Free admission is granted on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to capacity restrictions, admission is not guaranteed. Galleries may be crowded. Special exhibition surcharge of $5 is applicable for Lords of the SAMURAI.
Sunday, July 5
Films by Akira Kurosawa
Arguably the most celebrated Japanese filmmaker of all time, Akira Kurosawa had a career that spanned from the Second World War to the early nineties and that stands as a monument of artistic, entertainment, and personal achievement. With the production of Seven Samurai (1954), the most popular and important Japanese film of its time, Kurosawa began a long and fruitful obsession with medieval Japan. Kurosawa pioneered widescreen cinematography in Japan, and his films inspired the “Spaghetti Western” genre in Italy. Kurosawa reinvigorated the samurai film genre in Japan and revitalized the American Western in the process.
11:00 am
Yojimbo (The Bodyguard)
Japan, 1961, 110 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles
The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa’s visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice, by Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars) and Walter Hill (Last Man Standing), this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential films ever produced.
2:00 pm
Sanjuro
Japan, 1962, 96 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, the jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan’s evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a “proper” samurai on its ear.
Sunday, August 2
Sixties Swordplay Classics
The political and cultural tumult of the early 1960s shook Japan as it did the rest of the world. Japanese filmmakers responded to the changing times by disguising themes of dissent in the traditional form of the swordplay film, or chanbara. Previously populated by heroic samurai, self-sacrificing masterless samurai (ronin), and historical figures who exemplified noble Japanese virtues, the genre began embracing a new kind of hero, or antihero: the lone outcast, distrustful of authority but maintaining a personal code of honor. Samurai Spy and Kill! films from two masters of Japanese cinema, redefine for a modern generation the meaning of loyalty and honor, as embodied by the iconic figure of the samurai.
11:00 am
Samurai Spy (Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke)
Masahiro Shinoda
Japan, 1965, 100 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles
Years of warfare end in a Japan unified under the Tokugawa shogunate, and samurai spy Sasuke Sarutobi, longs for peace. When a high-ranking spy named Tatewaki Koriyama defects from the shogun to a rival clan, however, the world of swordsmen is thrown into turmoil. After Sasuke is unwittingly drawn into the conflict, he tracks Tatewaki, while a mysterious, white-hooded figure seems to hunt them both. By tale’s end, no one is who they seemed to be, and the truth is far more personal than anyone suspected. Director Masahiro Shinoda’s Samurai Spy, filled with clan intrigue, ninja spies, and multiple double crosses, marks a bold stylistic departure from swordplay film convention.
2:00 pm
Kill! (Kiru)
Kihachi Okamoto
Japan, 1968, 114 minutes, Black and White, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles
In this pitch-black action comedy by Kihachi Okamoto, a pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin. Based on the same source novel as Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro, Kill! playfully tweaks samurai film convention, borrowing elements from established chanbara classics and seasoning them with a little Italian western.
Sunday, September 6
Films by Yoji Yamada
Born in 1931, Director Yoji Yamada is now in his 44th year of filmmaking. He has won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture four times and his film Twilight Samurai was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards. The museum will screen Twilight Samurai (2002) and The Hidden Blade (2004) as part of the Target Sunday Samurai Film Series.
11:00 am
The Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei)
Japan, 2002, 129 minutes, Color, DVD, not rated
Japanese with English subtitles
Seibei Iguchi is a low-ranking samurai living in the fading days of the Shogun period in Japan. His wife has died of tuberculosis, and with two daughters and an elderly mother to support, he and his family must survive in austerity. But when news of his sword-fighting prowess gets out, his superiors order him on a dangerous mission: kill a renowned warrior who is on the wrong side of a clan power struggle.
2:00 pm
The Hidden Blade (Kakushi ken oni no tsume)
Japan, 2004, 132 minutes, Color, DVD,
rated R for some violent material
Japanese with English subtitles
Munezo Katagiri (played by Masatoshi Nagase), an honest and low ranking samurai is trapped in a state of personal and professional imbalance. Secretly in love with his family’s maid, Kie (Takako Tabata), Munezo begins an uneasy courtship with her, knowing that a relationship is impossible. Raised to respect traditions from the past and the demanding moral code of the samurai, circumstances have now forced Munezo to look to the future. Required to master western military strategies, particularly the art of artillery, Munezo is ordered to find and kill Yaichiro, a former friend, samurai, and brilliant swordsman. Munezo knows that he cannot beat Yaichiro with fire power alone, so he enlists the help of his old teacher, Kansai Toda, a master swordsman who entrusts Munezo with the secret and power of The Hidden Blade.
Videos in the Daimyo for a Day Activity Room
Daimyo for a Day Samurai Video Schedule
Daimyo for a Day Art and Activity Room (aka: Education Resource Room)
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 10:00 am–5:00 pm
Thursdays (following Samurai stories): 12:00 noon–9:00 pm
Films will be screened on loop. Schedule is subject to change without notice.
Growing up, I always watched Japanese samurai TV dramas with my grandmother. Instead of cowboys and Indians, or cops and robbers, my childhood heroic realm consisted of samurai and ninja, duels and ambushes, honor and deception. This series highlights different aspects of the samurai genre. From classic to contemporary, tragic to light-hearted, here is a broad sampling of the world of the samurai as envisioned in film and TV.
—Ken Ikemoto, School Programs Associate and samurai film buff
PARENTAL DISCRETION ADVISED:
Due to the violent material contained in many samurai films, parents may wish to preview films before allowing their children to view them. Few foreign films have been assigned a rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, but when available we have indicated them below.
Friday, June 12 – Tuesday, June 23
Throne of Blood (Kumonosu jo)
Not Rated, Directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1957, 110 minutes, Black and White, Japanese with English subtitles.
Samurai MacBeth! Lady Washizu (Lady MacBeth) is creeptacular. One of my personal favorite Kurosawa movies.
Wednesday, June 24 – Sunday, July 12
Samurai Banners (Furin Kazan)
Not Rated, Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, 1969, 165 minutes, Color, Japanese with English subtitles.
This film shows that a daimyo of this period was truly a warlord, at times ruthless, cunning, and brutal, especially when caught in a love triangle.
Tuesday, July 14 – Sunday, August 2
Samurai Champloo
Not Rated, Fuji TV animated series, Directed by Watanabe Shinichiro, 2004–2005, Episodes 1-4, 25 minutes each, Color, English
This anime is notable for its hip-hop culture references and soundtrack, dynamic fight scenes, and slick character design.
Tuesday, August 4 –Sunday, August 23
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart on the River Styx
(kozure okami: sanzu no kawa no ubaguruma)
Not Rated, Directed by Misumi Kenji, 1972, 81 minutes, Color, Japanese with English subtitles.
The film adaptation bursts with over-the-top stylized samurai action. Stretches of long tension-building are capped with almost revelatory violence.
Tuesday, August 25 – Wednesday, September 9
Zatoichi (The Blind Swordsman)
Rated R, Directed by Takeshi Kitano, 2003, 116 minutes, Color, Japanese with English subtitles.
Kitano Takeshi's version of the story of the blind swordsman uses rhythm to great effect. They even have a tap-dancing festival finale!
Thursday, September 10 – Sunday, September 20
Sword of Doom (Dai-Bosatsu Toge)
Not Rated, Directed by Okamoto Kihachi, 1966, 119 minutes, Black and White, , Japanese with English subtitles.
The film asks: how far should or can a person go in the quest to become the most deadly swordsman before self-destructing?
