DVD Review: THE GREAT KILLING (AnimEigo)
Eiichi Kudo isn't a name that comes up too often when the casual film fan talks about the great Japanese directors. However, with the recent huge success of Takashi Miike's remake of Kudo's 13 Assassins, he's undergone something of a reexamination among film fans, and who is there is provide us with more fuel for the
fire but the ever dependable AnimEigo. Last month the indie label released Kudo's original 13 Assassins on DVD for the first time in the US, and this month they continue with his follow up to that masterpiece, The Great Killing, which is pretty spectacular on its own.
The similarities between The Thirteen Assassins and The Great Killing are difficult to avoid. We have a group of rogue samurai and others who are fighting against an unjust authority and organize a revolt. Also like its predecessor, The Great Killing takes a good while building up to its climax only to turn into a prolonged explosive action sequence that is among the most riveting and violent of the times.
The film's rather expansive 118 minutes allows all of the characters time to evolve and gain the sympathy of the viewer, on the other hand, it also allows the viewer time to distance themselves from the immediacy of the ethical struggle for survival being faced by the protagonists. Kudo's one great weakness in this film is overloading the plot with exposition, there are explanations on top of explanations that do not need to be there. I will admit to feeling overwhelmed with minutiae by the time the plot really picked up after the hour mark. However, in between these tiny pieces of expository dialogue were squeezed a number of very effective character moments that helped to retain my interest along the way.
In that way, The Great Killing is not unlike its antecedent, or even a masterpiece like The Seven Samurai. By the time each of the characters is forced into mortal combat with the overwhelming armies of the authority, they all have their own reasons for fighting, and the audience is quite clear on why each character deserves our sympathy, it is a wonderful and heart breaking thing to watch, and that last thirty minutes of vicious battle is quite intense because of it.
The film isn't just an emotional triumph, though, Kudo also understands the art of action filmmaking and utilizes the tools at his disposal quite well. The battle sequences are shot not unlike those of more modern war films, with close quarters hand-held camera work. However, back in 1964, they didn't have a steadicam, so one can only imagine the challenge of moving around those huge cameras in those tight spaces with intricately choreographed sword battles.
The Great Killing was a film of which I'd never heard before it arrived on my doorstep for review, but it is a fantastic film, even though it reminds me quite a bit of some other, even better, films in the same genre. If you're a chanbara fan, this is a great film to have, and AnimEigo have done a fine job with it.
The Disc:
AnimEigo's DVD of The Great Killing is pretty good, though not exactly on par with the bigger budget restorations out there. The image is surprisingly clean and sharp, though, with minor print damage here and there that didn't detract from my viewing experience at all. The contrast was a bit weak, but having seen the unrestored elements from the trailer, it is a huge improvement from what elements they had to work with, and I am completely satisfied. The mono audio track is also very good, dialogue is clear, and the extremely sparse background score comes across nicely.
One thing about AnimEigo releases is that they share a unique subtitling style. There are five subtitle options on The Great Killing, some do the dialogue in different colors depending upon who is speaking, some offer contextual subs to help explain cultural references in the film, and there are some that are just normal white or yellow subtitles. Some people might find this irritating, however, I always think choice is a good thing, and if you don't like one, you can try another.
The only extras on the disc are trailers for a few other AnimEigo features, and some text based production notes and bios. However, with a film this good and obscure, I think that I'm happy with the treatment it's been given anyway. AnimEigo has a ton of fantastic titles in their catalog, and this is another one they can be proud of.
fire but the ever dependable AnimEigo. Last month the indie label released Kudo's original 13 Assassins on DVD for the first time in the US, and this month they continue with his follow up to that masterpiece, The Great Killing, which is pretty spectacular on its own.
The similarities between The Thirteen Assassins and The Great Killing are difficult to avoid. We have a group of rogue samurai and others who are fighting against an unjust authority and organize a revolt. Also like its predecessor, The Great Killing takes a good while building up to its climax only to turn into a prolonged explosive action sequence that is among the most riveting and violent of the times.
The film's rather expansive 118 minutes allows all of the characters time to evolve and gain the sympathy of the viewer, on the other hand, it also allows the viewer time to distance themselves from the immediacy of the ethical struggle for survival being faced by the protagonists. Kudo's one great weakness in this film is overloading the plot with exposition, there are explanations on top of explanations that do not need to be there. I will admit to feeling overwhelmed with minutiae by the time the plot really picked up after the hour mark. However, in between these tiny pieces of expository dialogue were squeezed a number of very effective character moments that helped to retain my interest along the way.
In that way, The Great Killing is not unlike its antecedent, or even a masterpiece like The Seven Samurai. By the time each of the characters is forced into mortal combat with the overwhelming armies of the authority, they all have their own reasons for fighting, and the audience is quite clear on why each character deserves our sympathy, it is a wonderful and heart breaking thing to watch, and that last thirty minutes of vicious battle is quite intense because of it.
The film isn't just an emotional triumph, though, Kudo also understands the art of action filmmaking and utilizes the tools at his disposal quite well. The battle sequences are shot not unlike those of more modern war films, with close quarters hand-held camera work. However, back in 1964, they didn't have a steadicam, so one can only imagine the challenge of moving around those huge cameras in those tight spaces with intricately choreographed sword battles.
The Great Killing was a film of which I'd never heard before it arrived on my doorstep for review, but it is a fantastic film, even though it reminds me quite a bit of some other, even better, films in the same genre. If you're a chanbara fan, this is a great film to have, and AnimEigo have done a fine job with it.
The Disc:
AnimEigo's DVD of The Great Killing is pretty good, though not exactly on par with the bigger budget restorations out there. The image is surprisingly clean and sharp, though, with minor print damage here and there that didn't detract from my viewing experience at all. The contrast was a bit weak, but having seen the unrestored elements from the trailer, it is a huge improvement from what elements they had to work with, and I am completely satisfied. The mono audio track is also very good, dialogue is clear, and the extremely sparse background score comes across nicely.
One thing about AnimEigo releases is that they share a unique subtitling style. There are five subtitle options on The Great Killing, some do the dialogue in different colors depending upon who is speaking, some offer contextual subs to help explain cultural references in the film, and there are some that are just normal white or yellow subtitles. Some people might find this irritating, however, I always think choice is a good thing, and if you don't like one, you can try another.
The only extras on the disc are trailers for a few other AnimEigo features, and some text based production notes and bios. However, with a film this good and obscure, I think that I'm happy with the treatment it's been given anyway. AnimEigo has a ton of fantastic titles in their catalog, and this is another one they can be proud of.
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