Hana

Soza (Junichi Okada) embeds himself in the poor quarters of Edo, seeking vengeance for the death of his father. But life in the row houses slowly starts to grow on him especially when he starts to tutor the neighborhood kids. Hirokazu Koreeda's film is an anti-thesis to most movies depicting the jidaigeki era. The protagonist is better at wielding a pen rather than a sword and is heavily conflicted about his duty. The other characters in the film are quirky and fit seamlessly in the scenes of comic realism. Koreeda's masterstroke is in juxtaposing the story of the  47 ronin by having a couple of them hiding out in the row houses. Putting Tadanobu Asano in a small but important role just adds to the class of the movie. And to really sweeten the deal there is Rie Miyazawa... enough said!

Rating: * * *

Twilight Samurai

Yôji Yamada's masterpiece set around the time of the Meiji Restoration follows Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada), a low ranking Samurai. The role of the Samurai is fast disappearing and its effect is magnified for people like Seibei. But he stoically moves on struggling to look after his two daughters and ailing mother. The film is beautiful and caresses the screen with poise and elegance. The acting of Sanada and the direction of Yamada have much to do with that. A movie that needs to be revisited every now and then.

Rating: * * * *