"Love & Honor" closes the trilogy that the veteran Japanese director Yoji Yamada has dedicated to samurai cinema, after the critically acclaimed "The Twilight Samurai (Japan, 2002) and "The Hidden Blade" (Japan, 2004). The protagonist of the story is Shinnojo Mimura, a samurai in the service of a shogun lord. His mission, like five other companions, is to taste the Great Lord's food every day to check that it is not poisoned.
Everything happens monotonously, day after day, until on one occasion Shinnojo eats a fish in poor condition and becomes blind as a result of the fevers and pains he suffers. His boss despises him and then his beautiful wife, Kayo, sacrifices herself to save the family honor in a gesture of fidelity to her husband. From that moment on, Shinnojo promises to take revenge and restore his honor as a warrior and as a husband.
This is the plot on which this production is based, which can be seen on June 25th and 26th, at the Cine Cuñuel of the CIC El Almacén. The schedule is at 9:00 p.m. Tickets cost three euros and can be purchased half an hour before the start of the sessions, from 8:30 p.m. Organized by the Culture Service of the Cabildo de Lanzarote.
A drinker of the cinematographic traditions of his country, Yamada's cinema is closer to classics such as Yasujiro Ozu or Akira Kurosawa than to modern directors such as Takeshi Kitano. With a slow pace and a minimalist planning of the shots and sets, Yamada's latest film moves more in a reflective environment than in the usual parameters of action cinema.
Starring Takuya Kimura (Shinnojo Mimura), Rei Dan (Kayo Mimura) and Takashi Sasano (Tokuhei) in the main roles, the film is a demonstration of how very different baskets can be made with the same materials. The same Kitano mentioned before, using a blind samurai as the protagonist, makes a very different film in "Zatoichi" (Japan, 2003).
Yamada seems more interested in approaching a laconic epic than Kitano's explosions of violence. And this is not only influenced by his classical and traditional training, but also by the novel by Shuei Fujisawa on which the film is based. In short, a great work for fans of Japanese samurai cinema and for admirers of the great Kurosawa, who can find in Yamada a worthy disciple.
