An Epic with Casual Elegance

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 1999)

The scenes look like they were just casually captured (unlike some MTV-like movies they make these days) and yet they turn out being so strikingly influential and permanently memorable: the blinded, ghostlike Lord Tsurumaru (Takashi Nomura) in the shack, the beheaded body of the noble Lady Sue (Yoshiko Miyazaki) on the grass, the setting sun silhouetting the cliff in the concluding scene, etc. etc. etc. The plot is borrowed (from Shakespeare's King Lear) and yet so original . and sad; everyone died, good or bad. I especially like the character of Lady Kaede (Mieko Harada), who's well developed and truly stands out as being so tragically evil.