I personally never thought that I’d see the day where Ishii would test the tried and true waters of jidai geki, but here we are.
Ishii’s goal seems to be to take a well worn folk tale and give it a fresh coat of paint. In this case, Ishii really does go out of his way emphasize the more cosmic and philosophical elements of the story and transforms a duel between two men into a clash of elemental forces.
The story is set in 12th century Japan during the rather violent transition in power between the declining nobility and the rapidly rising Samurai class. We find ourselves viewing the aftermath of a brutal feud between the Heike and Genji clans. The Heike have emerged victorious, but the conflict has taken a toll on its military might.
To make matters worse, the remaining Heike have found themselves the target of a bloodthirsty demon known as Shanao that haunts Gojoe Bridge which lies on the outskirts of Kyoto. Night after night, Heike soldiers are found beheaded and the heavens are rife with ill omens.
Mechanically, Gojoe is a rather ambitious piece of work but ends up being a slightly muddled hydra of a project. Fans and scholars of jidai geki can tell you that modern samurai period pieces are far more violent than their predecessors but plot wise, they are not nearly as philosophically progressive as the highly critical and taboo smashing samurai films of the Sixties.
Gojoe attempts to reach the lofty heights of angry and socially confrontational works such as Sword of Doom (1966) and Harakiri (1962), while still retaining the fountains of blood from films such as Beat Takeshi’s Zatôichi (2003) or Sonny Chiba violence parties like Shogun’s Ninja (1980) that latter day viewers have come to expect.
Sadly, Gojoe tries to juggle too much for two long of a period of time (runtime is a whopping two and a half hours) and ultimately suffers for it.
In Gojoe, Ishii merely presents the events as they are and doesn’t lead you by the nose by telling you whom you should consider to be good or evil.
Both Benkei and Minamoto are equal parts saint and sinner, and the genius of this movie is watching while contradictory yet balancing forces from within and without coalesce from seemingly chaotic fury into one perfect and brutal snapshot in time.
The duel at Gojoe Bridge.
If it were me, I’d start with the cornerstones of each period in time (Takeshi’s Zatôichi and perhaps something from Kurosawa’s extensive catalogue) before delving headlong into this particular film.
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