Sword of the Beast (1965)

 Hideo Gosha's "Sword of the Beast"


Despite its underrated status, Hideo Gosha's "Sword of the Beast" deserves a bit of merit for its entertaining story. It follows a fugitive samurai in 1857 getting involved in a scheme to poach gold after just having killed his counselor. Each character the samurai interacts with displays the same animalistic and savage impulses, thus creating a brazen world of everyone being out for themselves. However, as he begins to interact with a select few, he slowly realizes the error of this savagery, which transforms both his relationships and himself.

All in all, "Sword of the Beast" was a great, fun ride. Perhaps the most impressive feat of the film is the kineticism of all its actions. Particularly, all the sword fighting is exhilarating. On top of the visual stimulus, our characters are each worthy of engaged viewing. The film really brings together the best aspects of Japanese filmmaking and touts it splendidly.



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