"Sword and Halberd Movies", as a branch of Japanese period dramas, are an important part of Dongying movies. This type of film began after the Great Kanto Earthquake in the 1920s. It was inspired by Hollywood westerns, but the protagonist was replaced by a samurai or ronin with Japanese characteristics. The film generally puts the background of the era in the Edo period, and the biggest feature is the pursuit of real and cruel cold weapon combat. The halberd film was launched in the country, and it was the master Kurosawa Akira and his queen actor Toshiro Mifune who reached the top. Works such as "Seven Samurai", "Spider's Nest Castle", and "Intentional Stick" even surpassed the category of halberd films. Called the classic of film history.
In the 1960s, Daiei's "Zatoichi" series of films dominated the stage of sword halberd films, and Katsu Shintaro, who appeared in more than 20 films of this series, became a representative figure in the field of period dramas and Kurosawa Akira. The role of the blind man in "Zato City" has not only changed the traditional sword halberd movie that was always the same as the samurai ronin, but also has a relationship with "Tanshizuzen", "Miyamoto Musashi", "Tsubaki Saniro", "Baiichiichi", etc. People are also known as the most famous heroic image in the history of sword halberd films. After Shen Zuo Xin II led the last wave of halberd films in the 1980s, with the collapse of the film studio system and the collapse of the bubble economy in the 1990s, coupled with the repeated decline of Japanese audiences’ interest in such films, The sword halberd piece is finally at sunset. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the Daiei company closed down, and Toshiro Mifune, Shintaro Katsutaro, and Akira Kurosawa passed away one after another, heralding the end of an era.
Of course, since the new century, sword and halberd films are not without good works. Yamada Yoji’s "Samurai Trilogy" ("Twilight Kiyobei", "Hidden Sword Ghost Claw", "Samurai's One Point") is recognized as a masterpiece. Director Yamada has incorporated expert civilians in traditional period dramas The elements focus a large number of perspectives on the daily life and inner activities of the samurai, showing a different kind of delicacy and warmth. As for Takashi Miike, who is famous for his violent aesthetics, he will naturally not miss the field of swordsmanship. The previous "Izang", "Thirteen Assassins", and "Yi Ming" are all relatively good films, and even played them. A handful of "Sukiyaki Westerns" that combines the East and the West is also a new way and no shortage of new ideas.
However, in recent years, the contributions of the three monsters in Cult films and halberd films have been lacklustre. On the contrary, normal works such as "The Lion Standing Upwind" have won some praise. This kind of strange circle is also reflected in "Infinite Living". . Even if this is the 100th film directed by Takashi Miike who participated in the 70th Cannes Film Festival, even if there are big names such as Kimura Takuya and Fushi Sotai and popular fresh meats, they still can't stop the word-of-mouth box office. .
Speaking of it, the IP of "Infinite Residents" is not small. Its original comics have won wide acclaim in the industry and readers. It is a real, absurd, bloody and beautiful, solemn and strange, and full of aesthetics of sorrow. . How do you understand the title "Infinite Residents"? Simply put, it means "a person who lives in an infinite world", which refers to the protagonist ten thousand times. Because of the blood fairy worm buried in his body by the eight hundred bhikkhus, he has an immortal body, so it is like being in eternal time. Residents.
In the original work, there are three main clues: First, the first protagonist Wanci is determined to kill a thousand wicked people, so as to untie the blood fairy and die; second, the second protagonist Yidaoliu ruler Tianjin Yingjiu attempts To unify the world's dojo, and to achieve political ambitions by this; third, the representative of the shogunate Tugou group pretended to cater to Tianjin Yingjiu, and secretly aimed to suppress the Yidao stream. In fact, one of the difficulties of comic movies is that it is difficult to present such a large and complicated relationship between characters in the original work in a short film. Therefore, the choice of plot has become the most challenging place for the director.
However, the live-action version of "Infinite Habitat" is full of 140 minutes, but it makes people unable to see where the focus and highlights are. Although he takes Wanci as the protagonist, his past explanations have been passed on, so that his personality and values are ambiguous and unable to stand up, and he has not dig deep into the ideological roots of unraveling the bondage of the blood fairy and eager to die. The second protagonist, Tianjin Yingjiu, is more flat. From political ideals and ambitions to the prosperity and catastrophe of Yidaoyu, it does not show the pattern and transformation that the characters should have. The protagonist is already like this, not to mention the supporting characters like a dragon. It can be seen that Takashi Miike obviously made a significant reduction in the shaping of the role.
Of course, as a director who pays attention to stylization, it is understandable to moderately weaken the role and literary drama in a commercial entertainment film, but the martial arts in this film are also uncomfortable. The original author Shacun Guangming’s storytelling is extremely exciting, which is not reflected in the film. Whether it’s a one-on-one battle between Wanji and Yidaoyu, or the most eye-catching "Hundred People Slash" in the two sword halberd movies, the shot scheduling, the coordination of weapons and martial arts, and the rhythm of relaxation are also good. Well, there are almost no impressive bridges. Instead, there are only screens of plasma, stumps, and corpses.
An objective evaluation of "Infinite Residents", there is no story, no characters, no civil and martial arts, just a self-repetition made by the director in the name of popular comics. The so-called "Success and failure are also failures." Sanchi Takashi became famous for his "violent aesthetics," but he was gradually lost in the "violence" and never looked back on the road of blood plasma. Reminiscent of the success of "The Lion Standing in the Wind", instead of struggling with "violent aesthetics", the old monster is not determined to completely transform and seek new life. On May 4th, "The Witch of Laplace" will be released in Japan. This is the first time that Takashi Miike has directed Keigo Higashino’s novel adaptation of a film. It is also one of the few suspenseful genres in his career. People are looking forward to it. However, given that this novel is not highly rated in Japan and China, it seems that we still have to sweat for the boss.
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