Post By: Kaili Mossman
Samurai films tend to fall in one of four
sub-genres: the nostalgic samurai drama,
the anti-feudal drama, Zen fighters, and the sword film. Of these four, the action-packed Rurouni
Kenshin best fits the sword film or chambara genre. However, because of its setting, character portrayal,
and use of technology, the film updates the sword film genre and thus makes Rurouni
Kenshin a neo-chambara samurai film for modern audiences.
Rurouni Kenshin follows the titular
Kenshin, a wandering swordsman who abandons his past as an assassin and vows to
never kill again. To accomplish this, he
carries a sakabatō (reverse-blade sword) instead of a normal katana, which
makes it almost impossible for him to kill.
In the film, Kenshin befriends Kamiya Kaoru, a young woman who runs a
local kendo dojo. Unfortunately, because
a recent killer under the name Hitokiri Battōsai (Kenshin’s former name) uese her
dojo’s style of swordsmanship, the dojo’s reputation is ruined. An enraged and vengeful Kaoru attacked
Kenshin when she first meets him, believing him to be the Battōsai that smeared
her dojo’s name.
After being proven
wrong however, the two become friends.
She even lets Kenshin stay at her dojo when he saves her from Hitokiri
Battōsai, who is actually named Udo Jin-e.
Jin-e is a mercenary hired by cruel businessman and opium-dealer Takeda
Kanryū. Throughout the film, Kenshin
also befriends Takani Megumi and Sagara Sanosuke. Megumi was forced to make opium by Kanryū,
but managed to escape. Sanosuke is a
local brawler who picks a fight with Kenshin, but the two are on good
terms. When Megumi goes missing and is
believed to be at Kanryū’s mansion, Sanosuke accompanies Kenshin to rescue
her. The two defeat every single one of
Kanryū’s men without killing them (at least on Kenshin’s part). They rescue Megumi, but then discover that
Kaoru has been captured by Jin-e. Kenshin
goes after Jin-e and the two have one last final battle with Kenshin coming out
on top and Jin-e committing suicide. The
films ends on a happy note with Kenshin choosing to stay with Kaoru at her
dojo. A budding romance is implied.
The opening
scene of the film fits the chambara sub-genre amazingly well. Chambara or sword films usually take place in
the Tokugawa period, using it as a backdrop against which spectacular duels
take place. There is often a “gun for
hire” (usually the ronin protagonist) and strong, interesting antagonists. These films are filled with action-packed
fight scenes and several pointless deaths, portraying a sense of nihilism. Rurouni Kenshin’s opening scene takes place
in at the end of the Tokugawa period, where the Battle of Toba-Fushimi is
coming to a close. People are dying left
and right in a display of gratuitous violence.
Kenshin, then known as Hitokiri Battōsai, is shown cutting down several
assailants single-handedly. It is clear
that he is good at what he does: killing.
In these ways, Rurouni Kenshin is without a doubt a sword film. However, this was only the opening
scene. Everything afterwards is a little
bit different
Before the
title card appears on the screen, the last thing Kenshin says is “A new era
begins… finally.” This sets the tone for
the rest of the film, which still fits the category of the sword film
sub-genre, but updates it for a new era.
A majority of the film Rurouni
Kenshin takes place in 1878, ten years into the Meiji era. Kenshin no longer kills, which undermines the
typical chambara qualifications of violence and pointless deaths. However, that does not mean the film has no
fighting. On the contrary, there is an
excessive amount of battles that take place and many of them result in
massacre. The battles that Kenshin takes
part in (with the exception of the opening scene and the suicide of Jin-e) are
the ones that result in absolutely zero deaths.
Since the opening scene, Kenshin has grown as a character and though he
was once a skilled assassin, refuses to kill anyone ever again. Also, classic chambara films portray an
underlying philosophy of nihilism.
Rurouni Kenshin does not. Instead
of disregarding life, it celebrates it.
Because the hero becomes an ideal for the modern audience by
demonstrating the fast-paced action of the sword film without actually killing
anyone and because the film puts a great value on human life, Rurouni Kenshin
could be classified as a neo-chambara.
It is an evolved form of the classic chambara that displays contemporary
values and appeals to modern viewers.
Evidence of Rurouni Kenshin being a
neo-chambara or an updated sword film can be seen in the formalistic aspects of
the film as well. There are few extreme
angles throughout Rurouni Kenshin. Those
extreme angles are reserved for action scenes so as to the spectacle of the
fight, which is essential for a chambara.
But, for the most part, the film is made up of middle shots and close-up
shots, making it easy to see the characters’ emotions. This choice of focusing on expression (when
not fighting) shows that these characters lives are valuable and that it is
important that they live. Also, because
the director used a very wide screen, the audience can see more characters from
these close angles without crowding the space.
Again, this places a high importance on these characters and their
lives.
Interestingly, Kenshin’s hair is
another sign that indicates the value of life.
Kenshin has very long hair and subsequently, long bangs. In the opening scene and during the final
battle against Jin-e, his bangs completely cover his face, most notably his
eyes. However, for the rest of the film,
his bangs are out of the way and the audience can see his face clearly. When he has killed or is about to kill, he is
nothing but a monster. His face is not
worthy of being seen. But, when he
maintains his vow of protecting people instead of killing them, his face is
visible and he becomes human. Though
subtle and perhaps even a little silly, Kenshin’s hair is important in that it
shows protecting life as a noble deed.
Not only
does Rurouni Kenshin show the value of life through the protagonist and other
“good guys”, but it shows the value of the lives of antagonists as well. Two of Kanryū’s henchmen, besides Jin-e, are
speaking roles. And, their few lines
round out their characters, making them morally gray rather than completely
evil. One of the men, while fighting
Sanosuke, agrees to take a break from the fighting to have a bit to eat. Sanosuke offers the man some chicken, but the
man politely declines, saying he is a vegetarian. This humanizes the man who, though is a
killer by trade, implies that he values life.
It would not be odd or out of place to hear this character say that he
does not enjoy killing. As for the other
henchman, he is shown to have known where Megumi was hiding (Kaoru’s dojo)
after she escaped. However, he did not
capture her or expose her location. Rather,
he gave her a warning. In addition, this
henchman’s face, which had been covered by a mask throughout the film, is
revealed to be covered in scars and burns.
This implies that something tragic happened to this character,
humanizing him and thus making it easier for audiences to sympathize with him. Neither of these two henchmen die. Where classic chambara films may have left
Kanryū’s henchmen as flat characters and killed them off, the neo-chambara
Rurouni Kenshin humanizes them and keeps them alive, once again showing that
life is valuable.
Another way Rurouni Kenshin updates
the sword film is through color. The
film seems to pay homage to the classic chambara by making the main battles
almost monochrome, particularly the opening scene and the final battle (the two
scenes that involve Kenshin and killing).
This perhaps reflects the black and white samurai films of the
past. The rest of the film has more
color, mostly browns and whites, because it is a modern movie filmed in
technicolor. However, even these colors are
muted. The exception would be the
splashes of red in Kenshin’s robe and signature scar as well as the blood of
Kanryū and Jin-e’s victims. The title
card, which is black with white text and a red graphic of Kenshin’s
cross-shaped scar, is a visual representation of the coloring style of the
film: dull and muted with red accents.
It is as if the classic black and white sword film is still in the
process of attaining full color, only truly succeeding in the color red which,
not coincidentally, is the color of blood.
Yet another
way the film updates the chambara sub-genre is through the fight scenes
themselves. Rurouni Kenshin has several
fight scenes that are practically made entirely of spectacle. This is fits the chambara category perfectly. However, with modern technology, these scenes
can now be filmed with cranes, making for extremely high angles and moving
shots. Audiences can even see
slow-motion shots of a character dodging a blade.
In addition, actors were sometimes
strapped to wires, allowing them to perform incredible feats that would not
happen in reality. These all add to the
technical spectacle of the battles, something the classic sword films of the
past could not do. To make up for it,
classic sword films would rely on gratuitous violence with large, dramatic
swings or blood spraying unrealistically from a wound. Because Rurouni Kenshin had technology, the
creators did not need to show the spectacle of battle the way a classic
chambara would have.
With its
violent action scenes and swordfights, Rurouni Kenshin clearly fits the samurai
sub-genre of the sword film or chambara.
However, because of it is set after the typical sword film in the Meiji
period, places a high importance on the lives of the characters, and uses
modern technology to its advantage, it has been updated to fit contemporary
tastes, making it a neo-sword film.
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