Samurai II

Year: 1955

Grade: C+

Country: Japan

Director: Inagaki

Review

the series, so far, is good, but this film definitely had its weak spots. i really don’t like the pacing of the series. in the first film the pacing was frenetic at first and then slowed down later. in this film the pacing is very slow without much happening character-wise or plot-wise. then it will come about that three years are supposed to have passed and you’re kinda left wondering what happened to all that time. there’s a good story in these films, it just seems that the storytelling, particularly the pacing aspect thereof, is somewhat botched. i did enjoy the music and much of the acting. everything rests on the final installment. oh, and the criterion transfers are pretty bad by criterion standards. the colors shift, there is excessive grain, and the contrast is inconsistent.