Tadashi Imai's Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai (Bushidô Zankoku Monogatari) was released in 1963. The film won Golden Bears at the Berlinale for Best Film and Best Actor that same year, which makes the February DVD release of the film by AnimEigo somewhat timely (Berlinale is, after all, in February). Whatever the case, Bushido is an exceptional dramatic work with a downbeat tone and hard edge.
The film begin in modern times as Susumu Iikuru (Kinnosuke Nakamura) is called to the hospital to attend his finance Kyoko (Eijiro Tono) after her suicide attempt. The events leading up to Kyoko's suicide cause Susumu to question his behavior and reflect on whether his family history was the source of his woes. As it turns out, Susumu is descended from 7 generations of samurai who lived under the strict code of Bushido ("The Way of the Warrior").
Bushido follows the Iikuru family history all the way from the Keicho period to the 1960s with Kinnosuke Nakamura playing the centeral male family member in each era. Each chapter in the family's saga basically follows the same arc: an Ikuri male abides by the samurai code, gets screwed over by doing so, and ends up committing seppuku to save his family from disgrace. After one or two chapters, any sense of surprise in the plot goes away because the fate of the characters is preordained. However, each story is so well executed and so interesting that the similarities don't really matter. The tone is serious and staid but the stories have violent, scandalous undercurrent that provides a hook for the viewer. The direction is tight, and the performances are solid. Kinnosuke Nakamura (aided by scads of facial hair and latex scalps) really brings something different to each of the 7 roles. This approach is much better than if multiple actors played the parts.
The AnimEigo DVD presents the film in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Subtitles are in English, and the Japanese language audio track is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. Extras include trailers, program notes, biographies, an image gallery, and two essays on Bushido.