DaViD´82

It would never have occurred to me that Gosha’s first movie hiccup would happen with such a rewarding theme as the famous adventures of Tange Sazen. Who cares that Gosha doesn’t give a damn about artistic ambition and that he filmed this one-watch nonsense? As he proved in the series about Kiba, he’s suits him really well. But several factors came together here that bring it down to the level of routine. On the one hand, stylization of the main character which is with all due respect ridiculous. Then there’s the story which, despite dealing with the director’s usual topics, is terribly slap-dash and it’s only purpose is to move the movie along to another “Tange versus countless ninjas" scene. And this is all highlighted by the fact that visually this is Gosha’s most interesting movie. As if he became so intoxicated by the pure presence of color that he completely ignores any attempt at visual ingenuity and precision that is otherwise so characteristic of him. The result is a dime-a-dozen, run-of-the-mill chanbara genre movie.

The two frenemies, prostitutes (one of whom is a fancy geisha and the other one a not-so-fancy hooker), are connected through the character of a good-natured pimp (at that time at war with the Osaka Yakuza), father of the first one and lover of the second. Gosha traditionally calls a spade a spade and won’t spend any time sweet talking about how being a geisha is a respectable craft with virtuous qualities. Quite the opposite, his view into the behind the scenes of the "Geisha Factory" in the city of Kōchi, where girls are given, sold or where they flee to when in debt and where nothing awaits them other than hard work, abortions, unfulfilled ambitions, abortions, waiting for Prince Charming, abortions, rivalry, abortions and, last but not least, a few more abortions is equally as tragically rigid as it is fascinating; thanks to the author of the source novel, Tomiko Miyao, whose family made a living by providing livelihood for none other than geishas and prostitutes.

A hint of Nesbø’s absurd dark Headhunters - esque style humor shines through, but that’s about it. It’s one of those movies which are easier to talk about than to watch. What’s to blame is the adaptation, a huge amount of scenes are iconic on paper but the adaptation itself is weak and flavorless. And the only successfully executed thing is the “one to one" stolen from somewhere else. What’s most interesting about the end result is that in Headhunters, the main protagonist resembled a Norwegian Walken and here he resembles a Norwegian Buscemi. And the cop neighbor is reading Nesbø’s “Leopard" in the original language. Although I wouldn’t expect any less from a Norwegian.

Japanese Noir, still a Noir. Even despite its own particularities; for example, despite all the cynicism and pragmatism, at times it’s almost inappropriately melodramatic. Nevertheless, the story is (at first) surprising, the characters are ambiguous and it’s visually polished and beautiful in that classic "Gosha" way.

Considerably less spaghetti (apart from the music) than the first Gosha movie about Kiba, this time it’s almost an orthodox chanbara. Where they relied on building a restless atmosphere of the silence before the storm in the first movie, here they opt for frequent action. Last time, it was slowed down to great effect, with very few actors, whereas here it’s frenetic and takes place amongst crowds, almost. Where Kiba was the protagonist and held the reins firmly in his hands, this time he is driven by events and by Magobei. If it weren’t for the main protagonist (and the switched guard due to the hand injury in the final duel), it would be really hard to tell that this is a sequel. Good, nonetheless, but different from the first time. In the end it’s all about which one of the sequels tickles your fancy, and not about which one is better/worse. In any case it’s a great shame that Gosha stopped filming in black and white with this movie. Few people had such a feeling for its specifics and advantages as he did. And after all it’s also a shame that Gosha did not make more movies with Rōnin Kiba; I came to like the rascal.

I strongly do not recommend this to sushi lovers! They may well end up spending all the family savings on the journey to get just this one dinner in the restaurant with no toilets in the Tokyo subway. If sushi is not so high on your list of priorities you can watch it with no fear, because it’s mainly about the old-world Japanese demeanor which is aimed at constant self-improvement through their absolute attention to detail and infinite humility. Despite having been the very best in their field for decades. But have you heard what our cooking celebrities have to say to this exceptional documentary about the “philosophy of sushi" as practiced by the Ono family (with Jiro as a leader who made it all the way into a sci-fi comic book by the culinary adventurer Bourdain) in one very special restaurant that got three stars in the Michelin guide? Zdeněk Pohlreich: Well I’ve never seen anything like that before! Look at him how he’s touching it with his dirty mitts and has the cheek to stare straight into your face, less than an inch away from you, watching you eat! Jiří Babica: Hmm, interesting, I must say. But unnecessarily snobbish ingredients. I would add ketchup and a frankfurter sausage to the rice. And in fact ketchup instead of the rice and the frankfurter because ketchup on ketchup blends nicely together and it’s a yummy treat which you can have every single god given day. Jaroslav Sapík: Excellent! Delicious! But where is the main course with six dumplings? And where is the beer to wash it down? VydroBoušek: He is too grumpy, can’t speak a word of Czech and how can you call this cooking? - It’s served raw! But you must admit that the funny activity – massaging an octopus for an hour - was the high point of this week. So 5 points for him (which isn’t enough to win), so the winner is Jarka from Velká Bíteš with her traditional meatloaf. Roman Vaněk: That seems odd. Ten years of hard labor day in, day out, just to learn the basics? Yo, losers… Come to Prakul, and we’ll teach him everything he needs to know about sushi in just five hours, for just four thousand crowns!

Gosha closes the notional circle started by Leone’s admitted remake of Yojimbo, which initiated the creation of the spaghetti western, only for Gosha to be inspired by Leone’s spaghetti western and transfer it to the environment of chanbara in another (not admitted) remake of Yojimbo. Gosha copied the then still rather coarse style of Leone’s debut so closely that it’s not to the movie’s benefit. He is such an original and able director that he doesn’t need to copy anybody else’s style. But it’s hard to blame him when it’s in all its briefness and style straightforwardness so entertaining and visually delightful.

Like Leone changed the face of the western once and for all, Gosha once and for all changed the face of chanbara samurai cinema. And in a way not too unlike how Leone achieved this in the West at around the same time. Although in his debut, Gosha took the first step on his departure from the classic, honorable, bushido-respecting ascetic samurais, it is here that he brings his revolutionary approach to the genre to absolute perfection. The ends justify the means applies at every given moment for the clans and also for all the characters who are brought together by a gold-rich river. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether you take it as holding up a mirror to society (and that’s is certainly what Gosha intended) or a pure genre movie with no overlap. It is perfect in both positions. It also glitters with highly polished, golden directing and with an incredible sense for contrasting black and white compositions full of wonderful exterior tableaus, playing with camera angles and perfectly choreographed duels with long, single-shot sequences with brief cuts from the main protagonist’s point of view. Simply a gem (not just of this genre).

Spaghetti chanbara. The affinity between samurai and western genres is well-known and proven many times (after all, there is no need to go far for examples; see some of Gosha's previous works or many western remakes of chanbara classics), but perhaps never before has there been such a pure-blooded samurai movie that is also so very "spaghetti". The camera work, the music, the protagonist… everything but the setting is a typical spaghetti western. And despite the sometimes strange composition of scenes and unnecessarily intense drums playing at the end, it is an excellent spaghetti western in which Gosha is truly enjoying compositions full of endless icy plains whipped by the wind, downpours, mud and snowy wastes by a stormy sea. Everything is rounded off with a delicious final reckoning which is enriched by a whiff of reality unprecedented in genre films: rubbing hands together to warm them up during a duel.

An Iñárritu-esque movie in the form of a Kinder Surprise; it also offers three (un)similar things in one package. Tremendously powerful in many aspects; from the details like "wearing shabby t-shirts inside out" to building a dense atmosphere. What spoils the enthusiasm somewhat is the third act, which is not bad in itself, but still crouches deep in the shadow of the opening two acts. It is schematic, predictable, and somewhat didactic. Which, since it is meant to close the circle, is a little unfortunate. Quite a little bit.