Director: Kazuo
Ikehiro
Notable Cast: Raizo
Ichikawa, Michiko Ai, Shinjiro Asano, Jyo Kenzaburo, Katsuhiko Kobayashi, Naoko
Kubo, Ichiro Nakatani, Akemi Negishi, Shihio Fujimura, Jun Hamamura, Masumi
Harukawa, Yoshio Inaba, Saburo Date
Also known as: Sleepy
Eyes of Death: Sword of Seduction
After back to back entries that more than impressed, I feel
like I was riding on a Sleepy Eyes of
Death high, ready to consume more and see if the series could keep up its
energetic and impactful run. The fourth entry, Sleepy Eyes of Death: Sword of Seduction, is a film that in concept
should be ranked up there with Full
Circle Killing and Sword of Adventure,
but is held back by a scattered script. It’s one of those films that is overflowing
with a multitude of fantastic sequences and ideas just begging for a cohesive
movie to put it all together which it sadly never accomplishes. For fans
of chanbara films or the series, there is plenty to adore about Sword of Seduction. The film as a whole,
on the other hand, leaves something to be desired as it randomly leaps plots to
be as entertaining as possible.
Kyoshiro Nemuri (Raizo Ichikawa) as always, is minding his
own business when his other worldly sense of karmic doom strikes him. Dead
girls wash ashore, an old frenemy shows his face, and rumors of a virginal
saint being hunted by the anti-Christian task force all seem to be connected.
Yet, Kyoshiro is unsure of how it fits together. When he’s seemingly roped into
all of this, his sword and killer instincts may be the only thing to untangle a
mystery that’s leaving more dead bodies in its wake than he ever has.
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| He's on a boat! Even water can't stop the Full Moon Cut! |
While I know that this series is based on some famous
written works about the adventures of its lead character, Sword of Seduction is
the first film in the series that truly feels like a condensed version of a
book that’s translated to film. I'm not even sure if it actually an adapted story, truthfully, but it feels like it. In many ways, this film is much more akin to
the first entry, The Chinese Jade, than the others as it tries to craft a
larger mystery on hand where our hero must use his auteur detective skills to
navigate the threads and uncover the villains behind it all. The problem is
that too often the film feels inherently disconnected. There are three plots
initially introduced, the insane princess plot, the drug smuggling plot, and
the Christian persecution plot, and we are left to assume that they are all
threaded together somehow. While, yes, they are connected as that is revealed in smaller bits
of dialogue and plotting, but it’s loose and thin at best. Instead of each connection
being a small revelation for the audience, they are treated like subtle building
blocks for something even larger. That big unveiling of the ultimate goals
never comes. Instead, Sword of Seduction
feels like a series of random sequences tied together in loose off handed
dialogue or character beats that ultimately undermines the depth and emotional
toll that it could have generated. It’s somewhat disappointing.
That being said, Sword
of Seduction has some amazing sequences contained in its brisk runtime.
Director Kazuo Ikehiro, another fantastic addition to this series and Zatoichi alum, handles these sequences
like each one is the highlight of the film and it makes for some amazing and
memorable key moments. Some of them are dark and gritty, the manner that the
Japanese task force tortures and torments the Christians for their beliefs, and
some of them are pulpier action affair like a few assassination attempts on
Kyoshiro while he’s on the road to find a saintly nun in hiding, but the finale
marks one of the more visually appealing and fantastic moments of the entire
series thus far. Kyoshiro must battle smugglers on a boat backed by a fiery
sunset and reveals the anti-heroics that make his character so intriguing to
watch in a final duel of egos and personalities. It’s easy to see why fans of
the series rank this one so highly when an audience looks at it in this regard.
It’s almost brilliant.
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There is potential for Sword
of Seduction to do some deeper and more thought provoking material in each
of its plots, but because it jams in all three and threads them together it
takes away most of the power from each. Still, this seems like the kind of film
that will certainly grow on me as time goes on, but for now it seems like a
step back against the second and third film of the series. It’s piled with some
fantastic sequences that strike home like a deadly slice from Kyoshiro’s
sword though, but ultimately this feels a tad disappointing in its lacking efficiency
and deeper emotive resonance. Fans will still love it though.
Written By Matt Reifschneider
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