The first impression of Japanese culture is noble and clean. Japanese tea has tea ceremony, flowers have ikebana, and one step can play chess for half a day. Different from the profound Chinese culture, their small freshness is famous all over the world. It is from "Chrysanthemum and the Sword" that I learned about Japanese culture, which refreshed my understanding of Japanese culture, but it was written by non-Japanese after all, and a small part may not be accurate. Then came this movie. From the perspective of a Japanese director, it feels complicated to satirize the Bushido spirit of Japan.
The director is decidedly leftist, and the film satirizes the hypocritical Bushido ethos promoted by the Japanese right.
In the movie, the truth of the Bushido spirit is: the neat environment of the Ii family relies on the foundation that is completely opposite to the spirit it manifests, and the brave and pure Bushido spirit is actually maintained by the ugly spirit. The cut belly originally represented the brave spirit of a warrior, but when this behavior became a ritual, it became a binding moral code, and then became a standard for judging whether a person has a warrior spirit, but this is not right. The male protagonist doesn't look brave or loyal to outsiders, but he is braver and more loyal than anyone else. The Ii family seem to be the guardians of the Bushido spirit, but in fact their actions have already betrayed the Bushido spirit. They only defended the form of the Bushido spirit, but abandoned the content of the Bushido spirit, and finally even used the musket that the samurai hated the most. It's ironic that the spirit of Bushido is maintained. They cover up the truth at the end of the movie, write a lie in the history books, and leave an empty anthem.
The constant reversal in the movie is also quite interesting. No matter what age, morality is self-discipline, not self-discipline. Never judge a person one-sidedly, making it seem like how wise you are, it's too stupid.
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