F I L M G H O U L

Sword of the Beast (Hideo Gosha, 1965)

“[…] But Gosha was not just a rebel; he was a great filmmaker as well. Sword of the Beast was only his second feature film, but already it showed a mastery of the themes and techniques found later in his much admired Goyokin (1969) and The Wolves (1971). Like many of his films, Sword of the Beast is concerned with rebellion against the Japanese feudal system. Its twin protagonists, the fugitive ronin Gennosuke (played by Mikijiro Hira, one of the three outlaw samurai from the TV series and the film version spin-off) and the gold seeker Jurota (Go Kato), are pitted against each other but also, together, against the very notion of authority itself. […] 

As Sword of the Beast begins, Gen­nosuke is on the run, not just from vengeance-seeking pursuers but also from time itself. He’s a portrait of nobility reduced to the status of a wounded animal. But Gosha gives his outlaw one more chance to redeem himself and the caste he represents. This redemption will not be for the sake of an impersonal master-servant system, but for an individual on his own terms. […]” — Patrick Macias via The Criterion Collection [1]