Hakkenden

2024 [JAPANESE]

Action / Drama / Fantasy / History

2
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 80%
IMDb Rating 5.7/10 10 132 132

based on novel or book writer blindness jidaigeki edo period katsushika hokusai

Director

Fumihiko Sori Photo
Fumihiko Sori

Top cast

So Kaku Photo
So Kaku as Kobungo Inuta
Shidô Nakamura Photo
Shidô Nakamura as Danjuro Ichikawa VII
Hayato Isomura Photo
Hayato Isomura as Sohaku
Danshun Tatekawa Photo
Danshun Tatekawa as Nanboku Tsuruya
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
1.35 GB
1280*536
Japanese 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
2 hr 30 min
Seeds 10
2.77 GB
1920*804
Japanese 5.1
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
2 hr 30 min
Seeds 12

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by NanoFrog 5 / 10

Costuming very insulting and weird

This is in many ways such an interesting film. We go between an increasing interesting story of Samurai revenge in 1200 to the simple but affluent studio of a Japanese playwright in 1500. The photography and all else is good BUT the hair. The young people in this drama all have exceeding feminine and entirely incorrect hair styling. This feature is classic and so important to the identity of the Samurai class. The costumer and director who thought these young Samurai looked anything but offensive, well, one wonders why the costuming is so utterly bad. The costumes in the final scene are just appallingly bad. They all look like circus clowns. The plastic swords bend and flex as plastic does. This is really unusual, these bad costumes, in a serious japanese film about this period. That attention to detail was such an important part of the aesthetic of the story. That is entirely missing in this story, except by the writer and his artist. The old man author is a really fine actor, with enormous carisma. The young men are costumed anime style. Which is fine for comic books, for a serious drama not so much. The silly way in which the cast appears is a real let down and drags down what should be a quite interesting story. Worst Samurai fashion ever on display here.
Reviewed by P_MP_MP_M 7 / 10

This film presents an unexpectedly captivating blend of an author's biopic and the adaptation of his literary works, with both aspects receiving approximately equal screen time and alternating between scenes.The biographical portion is masterfully carried by Yakusho Koji, who plays Bakin, and stands out as the overall stronger part of the movie. Meanwhile, the "adaptation" segment, though engaging, occasionally takes itself too seriously for what is essentially pulp fantasy entertainment. The contrast in tone, color palette, and music between the "real" and "fantasy" worlds is particularly notable.One of the film's highlights is the portrayal of Bakin's relationships, including his interactions with Hokusai and his evolving connections with friends and family as they grow, live, and pass away. Conversely, as Hakkenden is one of the longest novels in Japanese literature, compressing it into roughly one hour (half the movie's duration) can make it challenging to follow without prior familiarity with the story and characters.Overall, the film is both entertaining and unique enough to merit a watch.
Reviewed by P_MP_MP_M 7 / 10

Interesting structure

This film presents an unexpectedly captivating blend of an author's biopic and the adaptation of his literary works, with both aspects receiving approximately equal screen time and alternating between scenes.The biographical portion is masterfully carried by Yakusho Koji, who plays Bakin, and stands out as the overall stronger part of the movie. Meanwhile, the "adaptation" segment, though engaging, occasionally takes itself too seriously for what is essentially pulp fantasy entertainment. The contrast in tone, color palette, and music between the "real" and "fantasy" worlds is particularly notable.One of the film's highlights is the portrayal of Bakin's relationships, including his interactions with Hokusai and his evolving connections with friends and family as they grow, live, and pass away. Conversely, as Hakkenden is one of the longest novels in Japanese literature, compressing it into roughly one hour (half the movie's duration) can make it challenging to follow without prior familiarity with the story and characters.Overall, the film is both entertaining and unique enough to merit a watch.
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