Hunter in the Dark (Yami no karyudo, 1979)
Gosha Hideo
Japan
138 mins, color, Japanese (English subtitles)
A bunch of people try to kill a bunch of other people in 18th century Edo. Most of them succeed. Out of several dozens extras only one remained by my count; a sure-thing recipe for gripping drama. HUNTER IN THE DARK (slang for gang member) is about an amnesiac one-eyed ronin who gets mixed up with the Edo underworld and just when he finally recovers his memory (guess what caused its loss in the first place... can you spell t-r-a-u-m-a-t-i-c experience?), he dies of love overdose. Gomyo, his boss with a golden heart under a rough exterior, played by the great Tatsuya Nakadai, who looks awfully like DeForest Keely, also gets bitch-slapped in a hen-house (and I mean this literally).
In all truth, the first 40 minutes of the film were really slow. However, I watch everything as long as it's Japanese, and this time my patience had its reward. Despite a cool severed hand, this is not a chambara film, although Kurosawa it ain't. Most of the acting is hammy, but Nakadai was superb, as always. HUNTER IN THE DARK has several things going for it. The plot could have been better --- the story is great, but the execution is lacking. There were many opportunities for high drama, after all Yataro Tanigawa's (Yoshio Harada) story is gut-wrenching, but they were all squandered on meaningless revenge subplots. I do appreciate all the eye candy though. Like Oriwa (Ayumi Ishida), Yataro's ill-fated wife, whose suicide was as emotionally testing as it was unassuming. Like Omon (Keiko Kishi), Gomyo's hapless rejected lover, whose unrequited love drove her to ruin and unhappiness. Like Osaki (Ai Kanzaki), the spy who was supposed to help murder Yataro but instead fell in love with him and paid for it with her life. Like Oren (Kayo Matsuo), the tireless assassin, who did not stop in her quest for revenge until it literally killed her. There has never been a film with so much mayhem directed at beautiful women. Unfortunately for us, the audience, they all die. Them being so beautiful makes each death a poem.
The widescreen presentation is fine, and Gosha Hideo has some sublime moments too. For example, the love scene between Gomyo and Oriwa shines. The final scene between Gomyo and Omon is also very moving, especially because of her performance. So I have to say that I don't know why so many people dislike the film. It may be somewhat slow for the chambara fan, or not ponderous enough for the art-house connoisseur, or simply confusing for the newcomer to the samurai genre. To me, HUNTER IN THE DARK is a great piece of entertainment marred slightly by limping pace and inappropriate music. I say give it a try.
June 13, 2001. BLS