Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Cinematography
Ryuichi Sakamoto's score drips through every frame like honey and poison.
Acting
Ryuhei Matsuda's debut — 17 years old and already devastating.
Direction
Ōshima's final film, still refusing to behave at 67.
Director
Nagisa Ōshima
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ōshima made this after a 14-year hiatus, returning specifically to explode the jidai-geki genre's heteronormative conventions.
The real Shinsengumi's rules explicitly forbade 'private relationships' — Ōshima asks what they were so afraid of. The answer is the whole movie.
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