Hideo Gosha Puns

I just finished watching this one and wanted to talk about it, and share my initials thoughts on it. There will be minor spoilers throughout, but I won't talk about the ending ~45 minutes of the film. If you want to avoid any spoilers though, the TL;DR: highly recommended for any samurai film fans.

It took a while to get around to this one, as it's one of the more difficult ones to track down. I was finally able to get a torrent of it, and man, I really hope this one gets a remaster/re-release at some point.

The basic premise is this: Okada Izo (Shintaro Katsu) is a ronin, down on his luck and penniless. He's a stray dog, angry and ready to do anything to up his place in the world. At this point, he's never killed anyone before- but that will soon change. In order to bring fame to his name, he joins the Kinno-To, a group of imperial loyalists led by Takechi Hanpeita (Tatsuya Nakadai). Seeing the potential in Izo, Takechi grooms him into becoming a ruthless assassin, a 'Hitokiri' which translates as 'man-slayer'; a hardened killer.

This is a film that really highlights the gruesome, messy, and ruthless tactics employed by the samurai in this period of Japan's history, the Bakamatsu, the turbulent years towards the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the beginning of the Meiji government. The film is based on true events, and to my knowledge, is fairly accurate in their portrayal (though, disclaimer, I'm no historian).

The methods employed by Takechi, his clan, and opposing clans, feel more akin to something we might think of as gang warfare than glorious, honorable samurai battles and duels. Assassinations, clashes in the street, and deception are the norm here, and the fighting in 'Hitokiri' reflects that. Combat in this film is brutal and dirty. Fights take place in cramped alleyways, or a crowded building at night off the road. There are no quick clean deaths here, only bloody struggles.

Izo as the protagonist in the film is very interesting. He is very much like a dog; wild, hungry and eager to find a home, then fiercely loyal to his new master, Takechi. He is naive, and a bit slow. He is quick to anger and ambitious. He is someone Takechi can easily take advantage of. At times, he is quite likeable. At others, loathsome. It's clear he is a product of his society, but his willingness to kill anyone for Takechi as well as his sometimes quite abusive relationship with Omino (Mitsuko Baisho), a prostitute hopelessly in debt and one of the few peopl

I am a long time Criterion fan and of all the amazing filmmakers it has introduced me too I find HideI Gosha's to be one of the most entertaining, thought provoking and eclectic. Tell me about your favorites! Tell me other film makers who I might love. Watch death shadows!

For your Japanuary viewing. Will be updating off and on.

I’m avoiding historical documentaries because Ghost of Tsushima is more inspired by films than reality. Just a heads up, I only know who has the US streaming rights. If you find a different service has them in your own country, let me know and I’ll make a note in the original post. I won’t post links to “sites of questionable integrity.”

Documentaries

Mifune: The Last Samurai (2015)
Where to Find: Prime Video, VUDU, GooglePlay, AppleTV (all rental)
I’m leading with this, but it’s really something to watch after you’ve seen a few of the films listed below. It isn’t just about Mifune and Kurosawa, but the genre as a whole. Narrated by St. Keanu of Reeves.

Mainstream Classics

Glossing over most of these because they’re talked about often. These are things well-regarded by mainstream film scholars across borders and highly influential. And far too many of them can be depressing as fuck.

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)
Where to Find: Criterion Channel, TV Time
One of Kurosawa’s surviving wartime films. An adaptation of the kabuki version of one of the tales of Yoshitsune (Yo!). I won’t lie- it’s slow. But it’s interesting to see actual yamabushi practices onscreen.

Seven Samurai (1954)
Where to Find: Criterion Channel
You know it, you’ve seen it (and even if you don’t know it, you’ve probably seen it). But if you liked Clone Wars, come and see where Embo’s species got its name.

Throne of Blood (1957)
Where to Find: Criterion Channel, HBOMax
MacBeth a la samurai.

The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Where to Find: Criterion Channel, HBOMax
See Toshiro Mifune as Obi-Wan Kenobi (as Lucas originally wanted) and two hapless, asshole peasants as R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Yojimbo (1961)
Where to Find: Criterion Channel, HBOMax, PrimeVideo (Rental), Apple TV (rental)
Red Harvest, then this, then Fistful of Dollars (and Last Man Standing, etc.) But Fistful of Dollars owes more to this than it does to Red Harvest.

Sanjuro (1962)
Where to Find: Criterion Channel, PrimeVideo (Rental), Apple TV (rental)
The only official sequel to Yojimbo.

Ran (1985)
Where to Find: PrimeVideo (free with subscription as of date of this post); VUDU (rental); AppleTV (rental)
Kurosawa’s King Lear

Hara-kiri (Seppuku) (1963)
Where to Find: Criterion Channel, PrimeVideo (Rental), Apple TV (rental)
Tatsuya Nakadai is not as well known in the West as Toshi

I recently watched some older Japanese movies from the 1930s/40s/50s by Ozu, Mizoguchi and Naruse and found them to be fascinating. I was surprised by how many of them were about Geisha. This seems to be a whole subgenre of Japanese cinema that I had been unaware of.

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960) Naruse

Street of Shame (1956) Mizoguchi

A Geisha (1953) Mizoguchi

Ginza Cosmetics (1951) Naruse

A Hen in the WInd (1948) Ozu

Sisters of the Gion (1936) Mizoguchi

I also watched Irezumi (1966) by director Yasuzō Masumura and The Geisha (1983) and Tokyo Bordello (1987) both by director Hideo Gosha.

If you're a fan of Japanese movies, are there any more examples you know about?

All airtimes E.S.T.

MON 01

(12:00am) As the Earth Turns (1938/46 m/Director/Richard Lyford)

(1:00am) Metropolis (1926/2h 33m/Silent/Fritz Lang)

(3:45am) Vampyr (1932/1h 23m/Horror/Carl Th. Dreyer)

(5:15am) Häxan (1922/1h 46m/Silent/Benjamin Christensen)

(7:15am) Good News (1947/1h 35m/Musical/Charles Walters)

(9:00am) Over the Goal (1937/1h 3m/Drama/Noel M. Smith)

(10:15am) Hold 'Em Jail (1932/1h 13m/Comedy/Norman Taurog)

(11:30am) College Coach (1933/1h 15m/Comedy/William A. Wellman)

(1:00pm) Trouble Along the Way (1953/1h 50m/Comedy/Michael Curtiz)

(3:00pm) How to Watch Football (1938/9m/Short/Roy Rowland)

(3:15pm) The Iron Major (1943/1h 25m/Drama/Ray Enright)

(4:45pm) Cowboy Quarterback (1939/56m/Comedy/Noel Smith)

(6:00pm Jim Thorpe--All-American (1951/1h 47m/Drama/Michael Curtiza)

(8:00pm) Small Town Girl (1953/1h 33m/Musical/Leslie Kardos)

(10:00pm) Fame (1980/2h 14m/Musical/Alan Parker)

TUE 02

(12:30am) West Side Story (1961/2h 35m/Musical/Robert Wise)

(3:15am) That's Dancing! (1985/1h 45m/Documentary/Jack Haley, Jr.)

(5:15am) MGM Parade Show #21 (1955/25m/Documentary/?)

(6:00am) Reno (1940/1h 12m/Western/John Farrow)

(7:30am) Peach-O-Reno (1932/1h 3m/Comedy/William A. Seiter)

(9:00am) Merry Wives of Reno (1934/1h 4m/Comedy/H. Bruce Humberstone)

(10:15am) Vacation in Reno (1946/1h/Comedy/Leslie Goodwins)

(11:30am) Maisie Goes to Reno (1944/1h 30m/Comedy/Harry Beaumont)

(1:15pm) The Women (1939/2h 12m/Comedy/George Cukor)

(3:45pm) Romantic Nevada (1943/8m/Short/?)

(4:00pm) Born to Kill (1947/1h 32m/Crime/Robert Wise)

(5:45pm) The Misfits (1961/2h 4m/Drama/John Huston)

(8:00pm) Ashes and Diamonds (1958/1h 46m/War/Andrzej Wajda)

(10:00pm) Something Different (1963/1h 25m/Drama/Vera Chytilová(

(11:30pm) Loves of a Blonde (1966/1h 28m/Comedy/Milos Forman)

TUE 03

(1:15am) Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970/1h 13m/Adventure/Jaromil Jireš)

(2:45am) Young Törless (1966/1h 25m/Drama/Volker Schlöndorff)

(4:15am) Love Is Colder Than Death (1969/1h 28m/Comedy/Rainer Werner Fassbinder)

(6:00am) Alice in the Cities

I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.

Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.

More specifically, I am writing a PHD about atmosphere in 60s Japanese, and am scouring the depths of 60s Japanese cinema in search of some obscure titles. Most of the more famous 60s Japanese films are available on things such as Criterion Channel or on DVD at my university, but there's a few I wish to see which are not so easy to come by. If you know where I can see these films, via streaming or buying the DVD or Blu-ray, (or if I have to give in and go morally grey route) I would much appreciative (my Japanese is terrible so preferably with English subs). I also live in Australia by the way.

Also, I should add, that this list is not final, and so if you have any recommendations please tell me about them. If they were produced in Japan in the sixties then they fit my criteria. Also any writings or videos of these films and other Japanese 60s films I am after, so if you can think of anything, let me know. Thanks.

Anyway here's the list of films I'm hunting:

A Wife Confesses (1961) – Masumura Yasuzo

13 Assassins (1963) - Kudo Eiichi

The Great Duel (1964) - Kudo Eiichi

Seisaku’s Wife (1965) – Masumura Yasuzo

Samurai Assassin (1965) - Okamoto Kihachi

A Story Written With Water (1965) - Yoshida Yoshishige

The Betrayal (1966) - Tanaka Tokuzō

Black Tight Killers (1966) –Hasebe Yasuharu

Captive's Island (1966) - Shinoda Masahiro

The Embryo Hunts in Secret (1966) - Wakamatsu Kōji

Irezumi (1966) - Masumura Yasuzo

Patriotism (1966) – Mishima Yukio

Red Angel (1966) - Masumura Yasuzo

Silence Has No Wings (1966) - Kuroki Kazuo

Woman of the Lake (1966) - Yoshida Yoshishige

The Affair (1967) - Yoshida Yoshishige

Flame and Woman (1967) - Yoshida Yoshishige

Massacre Gun (1967) - Hasebe Yasuharu

Violated Angels (1967) - Wakamatsu Kōji

Farewell to the Summer Light (1968) - Yoshida Yoshishige

The Human Bullet (1968) - Okamoto Kihachi

The Man Without a Map (1968) - Teshigahara Hiroshi

Nanami: The Inferno of First Love (1968) - Hani Susumu

Shogun's Joy of Torture (1968) - Ishii Teruo

Snake Woman's Curse (1968) - Nakagawa Nobuo

The Desert Archipelago (1969) - Kanai Katsu

Goyokin (1969) - Gosha Hideo

Horrors of Malformed Men (1969) - Ishii Teruo

Red Lion (1969) - Okamoto Kihachi

The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots (1969) – Yabuki Kimio

Violence Without a Cause (1969) - Wakamatsu Kōji

Thanks again.

Do your worst!

I'm surprised it hasn't decade.

For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.

I said "hey look, an escaPEA"

No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!

Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂

It really does, I swear!

They’re on standbi

• Napoleon (1927)

• a Chicago three-film box set: Chicago (1927), Roxie Hart (1942), and Chicago (2002)

• Ken Russell films, particularly Tommy (1975) and Altered States (1980)

• Shinya Tsukamoto films, particularly Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) and Bullet Ballet (1998)

• Black Christmas (1974)

• Mirror (1975)

• A Woman After a Killer Butterfly (1978)

• Konstantin Lopushansky films, particularly Dead Man’s Letters (1986) and A Visitor to a Museum (1989)

• The Boxer’s Omen (1983)

• The Kingdom & The Kingdom ll (1994 & 1997)

• This is Not a Film (2011)

• Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen series (1924)

• The entire Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes series box set (1939 ~ 1946)

• Lucky Chan-sil (2019)

• Labyrinth of Cinema (2019)

• Green Snake (1993)

• Viy (1967)

• Peter Watkins’ films, particularly The War Game (1966) and Punishment Park (1971)

• Brian Donlevy’s Quatermass trilogy (1955~1967)

• Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

• Out 1 (1971)

• Personal Problems (1980)

• L’Ange (1982)

• Blindspotting (2018)

• Mommy (2014)

• Love Exposure (2008)

• Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)

• Stop Making Sense (1984)

• Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

• Edgar Wright’s Three-Colors Cornetto Trilogy (2004~2013)

• Broken Blossoms (1919)

• The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

• Don Hertzfeldt films, particularly the World of Tomorrow trilogy (2015~2020) and It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012)

• My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea (2016)

• The Pied Piper (Krysar, 1986)

• Tie Xe Qu: West of the Tracks (2002)

• I’m a Cyborg But That’s OK (2006)

• Aimless Bullet (1961)

• The Lighthouse (2019)

• Redline (2009)

• The Social Network (2010)

• Derek Jarman’s films, particularly Blue (1993) and The Last of England (1987)

What are your thoughts on this list? Also, what would you guys like get released by Criterion?

Pilot on me!!

Basically just the title, I just wanted to see what you guys thought about the old samurai movies, do you think they portray things badly, are they historically accurate etc.

Edit: people I forgot in the title: hideo gosha and kenji misumi.

Nothing, he was gladiator.

Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.

This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.

If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.

Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.

When I got home, they were still there.

What did 0 say to 8 ?

" Nice Belt "

So What did 3 say to 8 ?

" Hey, you two stop making out "

I won't be doing that today!

[Removed]

This morning, my 4 year old daughter.

Daughter: I'm hungry

Me: nerves building, smile widening

Me: Hi hungry, I'm dad.

She had no idea what was going on but I finally did it.

Thank you all for listening.

You take away their little brooms

There hasn't been a post all year!

Why

It’s pronounced “Noel.”

It was about a weak back.

After all his first name is No-vac