Aiming Blind

For me, love isn't all long-stemmed roses and dinner by candlelight. It isn't overblown gestures and overly loud arias by moonlight. It's hot chicken soup when you're sick and a call when you're lonely.

And these days, seems like it's also simmered taro potato.

Spurred on by Jaunty Jared's enthusiastic previews - and oddly enough by Yasmin Ahmad's unequivocal online support, I made my way this surprisingly relaxed afternoon to the international screens for the acclaimed Love and Honour (Bushi no Ichibun ) otherwise known as 武士の一分(いちぶん).

Alone. Yes. You'd be surprised to know that I actually watch quite a number of movies alone. Timing was just perfect as I strolled in just as the movie was being shown. Though I half expected the hall to be swamped with obsessive Japan-philes, it was surprisingly empty despite the hype surrounding the latest Japanese Film Festival.

I know the trepidation people feel for foreign films. Honestly when the first words in kanji appeared across the screen, I was half afraid that I'd have to struggle through two interminable hours of cultural confusion without the expected subtitles. :) My fears were unfounded however and I found myself reluctantly drawn ( with the other four dedicated fans in the cinema ) into this sombre retelling of the perennial tale of the blind swordsman. Renowned director Yamada Yoji brings his acclaimed samurai trilogy to a beautiful close with this evocative glimpse into the lives of the samurai in the Edo period based on the works of Shuhei Fujisawa.


Take my hand...
Search and you'll find little of the feudal Japan dreamt up by orientalist Hollywood producers. For action flick fans, you'll be sorely disappointed if you enter the hall expecting gravity-defying sword-wielding samurai fights with gratuitous bloodshed elegantly spattered onto ancient wooden screens. And you can dismiss any thoughts you have of exquisitely-dressed geishas back-stabbing each other as they catfight venomously across their muddied courtyards as well.

What unfolds naturally across the screen is the simple tale of a lowly Japanese samurai who finds himself yearning for more, even as he struggles with his singularly unexciting duties as a court food taster. It's a simple prosaic life for our samurai with his devoted wife and elderly retainer. Unfortunately his cherished dreams of opening his own kendo dojo are unceremoniously dashed when he's blinded by poison during one of the food tasting sessions. All is not lost however since his inimitable wife rises to the occasion, proving her faith and love by making the ultimate sacrifice to preserve her husband's honour - though he might be too blind to see.


And she knows how to make one mean simmered taro potato. If you know me well enough, you'd be able to guess the ending easily enough!

Not that I'm planning a dreamtrip to feudal Japan anytime soon. Heartthrob Takuya Kimura might be able to pull off that shaved hairstyle but I doubt I could - although I might be swayed by the idea of strutting around with a vengeful samurai sword in hand. :)

Scorpion Samurai : That's a freaking stupid hairstyle you've just given me! Traditional, you call it! I'll give you samurai tradition. Die, ya namby-pamby hairdresser!

Evil ronin for sure.