Castle of Flames
Director: Tai Kato
Year: 1960
Rating: 7.0
Aka - Hono-o-no Shi
Because I am not the brightest bulb in the
box, it took me about ten minutes for my brain to click as to the source
of this Japanese film. A Prince returns to his homeland after a few years
away traveling. He discovers that his father the Lord of the castle has died
and that his mother has married the Lord's brother who now rules the castle
and the surrounding domain. Being suspicious but also concerned about his
safety, the Prince pretends to have gone mad and goes about looking for the
truth. Samurai Hamlet. Akira Kurosawa adapted Shakespeare a few times - Throne
of Blood in 1957 (MacBeth), Ran in 1985 (King Lear) and The Bad Sleep Well
(Hamlet). I have yet to see the latter film but a few articles say this is
the case. This isn't really surprising. Shakespeare was introduced into Japan
in the late 1800's and has been adapted for theater and Noh. I could not
get through Shakespeare any more with a gun to my head but I love the film
adaptations. This one has a slow build-up but boils up to a great tragic
ending.
The Prince, Lord Masato (Ôkawa Hashizô)
returns home to Japan after traveling abroad for years. He soon learns from
his friend Shoji (Kurokawa Yataro) that his father died, his uncle took over,
married his mother and that a few handlers loyal to him were killed - one
commanded to commit seppuku. How the father died is a mystery. The current
Lord, Morokage (Okochi Denjiro) had been hoping that Masato was dead but
now he wants to make sure that happens. But Masato turns up at court acting
like a lunatic so Morokage puts it off. The lovely Yukina (Mita Keiko
aka Yoshiko) has been yearning for Masato's return and is devastated by his
mental state. Though her role is one of simply loving Masato no matter what,
she is the heart of the film.
It basically follows Hamlet with a lot more
sword-play. His mother (Takamine Mieko minus any eye-brows - the practice
of Hikimayu) admits her crime to Masato which drives him to killing the wrong
man - the father of Yukina - by accident and he has to escape. The villagers
are planning to attack the castle and declare Masato the Lord (in Hamlet
it is the Norwegians attacking). Shot in saturated color and well-acted.
As I said earlier it takes a while to get going because like Hamlet, Masato
keeps dithering about what to do even after the ghost of his father shows
up. But once he does it gets bloody and involving. Directed by Tai Kato.
