Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai

Tadashi Imai's 1963 epic begins with a young man rushing to a hospital after learning that his fiancée has attempted to commit suicide, and wondering whether his actions may have been the cause. Strangely, he then begins to narrate the histories of his family's previous six generations, all of whom put the samurai code known as Bushido above all tenets of family considerations (let alone common sense). Bushido unfolds in a series of short stories that detail the grisly results of 350 years of Bushido-fueled behavior, much of which will be all too familiar to anyone who follows samurai dramas, involving noble warriors whose unquestioning fidelity to less-than-worthy lords inevitably leads to an excess of swordplay and bloodshed (here, aside from gruesome shots of rabbits being killed by arrows, most of the violence takes place out of camera range). Two stories break from the mold, however: a jolting tale of a young man who is unhappily forced into a homosexual relationship with his master, and a riveting World War II–era vignette in which the Bushido mentality extends to kamikaze flights. Unfortunately, Kinnosuke Nakamura, who plays the central protagonist in all seven episodes, is a bland presence, seriously lessening the film's emotional impact. DVD extras include program notes, bios, an image gallery, and an essay on the Bushido code by film historian Randy Schadel. Not a necessary purchase. (P. Hall)