Crest of Betrayal (1994)

Crest of Betrayal is an awesome mixture of Japan's two greatest stories, the loyal 47 Ronin and the Ghost of Yotsuya. By combining the two stories into one, director Fukasaku has created a masterpiece. When former ronin Tamiya Iyemon joins the Asano Clan, he brings with him a legacy of death and destruction. Aside from Horibe Yasubei, he is the only one with fighting experience and his past exploits with the sword should help in the group carrying out their long-awaited vendetta against Lord Kira. Meanwhile, his personal life takes a twist when the granddaughter of a wealthy clan official falls in love with him and tempts him to leave his wife Oiwa and marry her. Powerful and haunting, this combination of love and action will have you on the edge of your seat as the tension mounts before the great attack on the vile Lord Kira.

… In Crest of Betrayal, Fukasaku focuses strongly on Iemon's individualist nature. A once-proud man, his poverty-stricken situation causes him to betray his morals and search for some kind of guarantee of an economically sound future and a way out of the ruts. By putting this character against the background of a dwindling economy, Fukasaku is obviously drawing parallels to Japan's economic and social state in the mid-1990s. In his best films, the director has always sought to question the developments he saw in society around him. Examples run from the early Wolves, Pigs and Men (Okami to Buta to Ningen, 1964) to his controversial hit Battle Royale (2000). Although it takes the guise of a period costume drama, Crest of Betrayal adheres to Fukasaku's filmmaking philosophy and becomes all the better because of it. It's one of those films which works both ways: as masqueraded social commentary or as a genre-traversing period piece. Choose either one or both, you can't fail to be entertained and impressed. Beautifully photographed with striking, dreamlike images, Crest of Betrayal is Kinji Fukasaku in terrific form.

5% recovery record included
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