The Hidden Blade

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The Hidden Blade

R,

2004,

2h 12m,

History/

Drama

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Watchlist

84%

32 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

10,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

84%

Tomatometer

32 Reviews

84%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

A lower-class samurai, named Katagiri, secretly loves Kie, a servant in his family's household. Eventually their perception of honor forces them to part, and he must turn his focus toward a disheartening task. His old friend, Yaichiro Hazama, has been fomenting rebellion against the government, and Katagiri must hunt him down and kill him.

Critics Consensus

A slow and steady samurai flick a la John Ford that brings emotions and psychology to an epic-scale adventure.

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Jeff Shannon

Seattle Times

Jul 14, 2006

3/4

A tenacious survival tale in which passionate lovers are held apart by outmoded traditions. How they overcome obstacles to happiness is what makes the film so dramatically engaging.

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Wesley Morris

Boston Globe

Jul 14, 2006

3.5/4

Yamada's enormously enjoyable The Hidden Blade is a movie that deftly balances the obligations of samurai history with love story.

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Ruthe Stein

San Francisco Chronicle

Jul 7, 2006

3/4

Reminders of feudal Japan are mixed in with a prescient glimpse into the country's future. The samurai will not be part of it, and The Hidden Blade poignantly shows what is lost in the name of progress.

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Louis Proyect

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Sep 7, 2008

Second installment in Yamada's samurai trilogy. Once again the hero is unlike the super-warriors of the genre, but far more interesting.

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Kam Williams

Upstage Magazine

Jul 7, 2007

2/4

A character-driven, martial arts adventure more concerned with motivations than karate moves.

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David Noh

Film Journal International

Mar 1, 2007

Hidden Blade works, then, as that rare, intellectually stirring historical pageant, but also as a deeply emotional, satisfying samurai movie, one of the crown jewels of the genre.

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Yôji Yamada

Director

Masatoshi Nagase

Munezo Katagiri

Takako Matsu

Kie

Hidetaka Yoshioka

Samon Shimada

Yukiyoshi Ozawa

Yaichiro Hazama

Tomoko Obata

Shino

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Synopsis

A lower-class samurai, named Katagiri, secretly loves Kie, a servant in his family's household. Eventually their perception of honor forces them to part, and he must turn his focus toward a disheartening task. His old friend, Yaichiro Hazama, has been fomenting rebellion against the government, and Katagiri must hunt him down and kill him.

Director: Yôji Yamada
Producer: Takeo Hisamatsu, Ichirô Yamamoto
Screenwriter: Yôji Yamada, Yoshitaka Asama
Production Co: Shochiku Co. Ltd.
Rating: R (Some Violent Material)
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jun 23, 2006
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 19, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $38.1K
Runtime: 2h 12m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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