Goyokin / Goyôkin (1969) [Remastered] [Re-UP]

Posted By: Someonelse
Date: May 9, 2015

Goyokin (1969)
DVD9 Custom | ISO | PAL 16:9 | Cover | 01:58:24 | 6,43 Gb
Audio: Japanese AC3 2.0 @ 224 Kbps | Subs: English (added), French
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama

Director: Hideo Gosha
Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tetsurô Tanba, Yôko Tsukasa

Tatsuya Nakadai plays a samurai overcome with guilt over his unwitting part in a massacre of a small village. Now a ronin, he learns of a scheme by his old clan to repeat the same crime. determined to stop them, he endures great hardships in an attempt to atone for his earlier mistakes.

IMDB | Wikipedia | Kungfu Cinema

"Goyokin" is probably one of the least-known of the samurai films from Japan. That's a pity, because it is also, arguably, one of the best ever made of that genre. Released in 1969, the film had a limited release in the US, and then languished in storage due to legal matters.

The story focuses on Wakizaka Magobei (Nakadai Tatsuya), a samurai who returns to face the clan that he'd left meany years before. A subterfuge, performed to steal the official gold of the title; a massacre, done to eliminate any convenient witnesses or informants. All create the psychological tension that forms the drama surrounding Nakadai. The director, Gosha pits clan loyalty against morality, or doing what is right. In this respect, Gosha is similar to Masaki Kobayashi, who explored similar themes in "Harakiri," (also starring Nakadai) as well as his "Human Condition" trilogy.


Several other folk have mentioned that this film reminds them of the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone. That observation isn't so far-fetched. This film was copied and made into a forgettable Hollywood western: "The Master Gunfighter," with Tom Laughlin, of "Billy Jack" fame. Think of it as Cowboys with Swords.

An intelligent script, superb direction, outstanding cinematography ("Goyokin" was the first film in Japan to be filmed in Panavision) and the excellent acting of Nakadai. The climactic duel in the snow, with Nakadai and Nakamura Kinnosuke as the clan head (his brother-in-law), is visually stunning.
Amazon

From its very genesis over a century ago samurai have played an integral part in the history of Japanese cinema. From the umpteenth number of retellings of The Loyal 47 Ronin through the legendary films of Kurosawa and Inagaki to the manga inspired “Lone Wolf and Cub” series and all the way to the present day spate of revisionist samurai dramas from the likes of Yoji Yamada and even Hirokazu Koreeda the top knot and the katana have made their way through theatres around the world, a beloved entertainment export that have gone on to spawn video games, graphic novels and helped to reinvent the American western. Some have been more successful than others, but for sheer entertainment you can’t go wrong with Hideo Gosha’s 1969 film “Goyokin” which not only delivers some amazing sword fighting action, but also integrates aspects of another cinematic genre: the heist picture.


Magobei Wakizaka (played by the incomparable Tatsuya Nakadai) is an impoverished ronin exiled from his northern homeland of Sabai. Three years earlier his brother-in-law and the Sabai clan leader Tatewaki Rukogo (Tetsuro Tamba) was in a bind. With his domain heavily in debt to the ruling Tokugawa bakufu he could see no other way but to give into treachery to pay what was owed. This involved ordering the inhabitants of Kurosaki, a small fishing village, to help the Sabai samurai sink a bakufu ship and steal its cargo of “goyokin”, silver and gold mined from Sado Island as explained in the film’s preamble. Once this was accomplished, though, Tatewaki gave the order to have the entire population of Kurosaki massacred to cover up the theft. Magobei, shocked and disgusted by his brother-in-law’s actions, is given only one choice: go into exile and never speak of what occurred in Kurosaki or be put to death himself.


At the beginning of the film we find Magobei, grim and tattered, working as part of a traveling hucksters act in Edo. When his skills with a katana are witnessed by a group of samurai the past that he so desperately wants to forget comes back to haunt him. After dispatching all but one of the samurai in a furious duel he learns that Tatewaki’s prospects have not improved much in three years and that he’s planning another sinking of a bakufu ship and another village massacre in order to pay off the Shogunate. Magobei can’t stand by and have more innocent blood spilled, so he vows to return to his homeland and do whatever it takes to stop Tatewaki. On the way he’s joined by the beautiful Oriha (Ruriko Asaoka), the only survivor of the Kurosaki massacre, and the scheming ronin Samon who may be more than he lets on.


I quite enjoyed “Goyokin”. I never get tired of seeing Nakadai in a starring role, he’s probably my favorite Japanese actor and the rest of the all star cast is great. The plot, while being fairly involved at the beginning is always and engaging especially with the high stakes that it sets up for Magobei. And you can’t talk about “Goyokin” with mentioning the wonderfully choreographed fight sequences. The only drawback for me was an aesthetic one; while you have a cast of faces that starred in some of the most famous and critically acclaimed Japanese films of all time the film also has the feel of, in the camera work and soundtrack, of a 70’s chop-saki exploitation film. Having been made in 1969 it’s understandable, but at the same time an uneasy mix and there were times that I wished the film had been shot in black and white and that Toru Takemitsu had provided the score instead of Masaru Sato. In the end though this might just be splitting hairs. If you want a great two hours of samurai action then seek out “Goyokin”.
J-Film Pow-Wow

Goyokin is one of those movies that I wanna scream from the rooftops just how incredibly awesome they are. The kind of film I wanna grab every person I know by the neck and force them to watch it with eyes wide open, Clockwork Orange style. It's really a cinematic crime that Goyokin is not as widely seen and regarded as the works of more famous Japanese directors, like Kurosawa. It might be a genre movie and as such attract mostly chambara fans, but this really deserves to reach more mainstream audiences. Put simply, if you like beautiful movies, you have to see this one.


The plot concerns a clan that is struggling financially who schemes to steal a shipment of the Shogun's gold and silence the nearby villagers who witness the crime and the ronin Magobei (played by the unparalleled Tatsuya Nakadai) who makes a moral stand and decides to go against his former clan. I won't go too far into plot details, but let's just say Goyokin is an anti-samurai film at heart. Like the best work of that other great jidai-geki director, Masai Kobayashi, Hideo Gosha doesn't try to pass moral judgement on his characters and treats them with compassion and affection. We're in 1830 and these are hard times for samurais as Japan finds herself on the brink of change. As one character realises in the end, "We sit here and die in the cold, and what does the Shogunate do? They get fatter in the heat". Gosha doesn't condemn the samurais for their soon to be obsolete code, rather puts things into perspective and shows us that desperate people will do desperate things. Innocent people die but who is really responsible for these crimes? It plays out like a good ancient Greek tradegy, minus the melodrama. Every emotion is incredibly nuanced here, every glance, move and frame. Gosha wisely lets the visuals tell the story.


And that brings me to the next point. The visuals. I am not exaggerating when I say that Goyokin is one of the most beautiful movies ever conceived. Yes better than most Kurosawa films, if the comparison has any merit. The colours are like small strokes of a brush on a white canvas as most of the film was shot outdoors in snowy landscapes. The rugged terrain is a pivotal character here, from the stormy sea to the blizzards to the open vistas. The cinematography and the way Gosha treats the locations as an integral part of every scene, reminded me of the spaghetti westerns of the great Sergio Corbucci (Django, The Great Silence). The muddy streets of a small town (as in Django). The snow blizzards and the cold, hostile terrain (as in The Great Silence). Samurais trying to prevent frostbite from setting in before a duel, unable to pick up their swords and fight. That nature is so tightly interwoven to the plot is another testament to Gosha's attention to detail. His cinematography is truly outstanding. I simply can't stress how visually awe-inspiring this movie is. Every frame is a painting. In a way it brought to mind the maestro Sergio Leone. After all the jidai-geki and the spaghetti western are very similar in the ways they depict their scarred heroes, the duel and the terrain.


I don't know what else to say about Goyokin. The performances are great all around with Ruriko Asaoka stealing every scene she's in, not least thanks to her drop dead gorgeous looks. Tatsuya Nakadai is once again outstanding in the lead role. The swordplay is fantastic, quick and brutal thrusts of the sword with an emphasis on the ritualistic aspect of the duel. The silence before and after. Although not as bloody and action-oriented as something like Lone Wolf and Cub, Goyokin left me more than satisfied in that department.


There's not much else to add, except that Goyokin is criminally underseen (judging by the amount of votes here). Maybe in the years to come western audiences will open up their horizons and realize what they've been missing. In the meantime if you're reading this, seek this movie out. You won't regret it.
IMDB Reviewer

Special Features:
- Presentation of the film by Julien Seveon (04:30, in French only)
- Photo galleries
- Filmography

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