Ken (The Sword). 1964. Japan. Directed by Kenji Misumi. Screenplay by Kazuo Funahashi, based on the novel by Yukio Mishima. With Raizo Ichikawa, Yukiko Fuji, Yusuke Kawazu. 4K restoration courtesy of Kadokawa Corporation and Janus Films. In Japanese; English subtitles. 95 min.
Kenji Misumi’s so-called Sword Trilogy is a revelation. Made in rapid succession between 1962 and 1965—and recently restored in 4K by the Kadokawa Corportation—Kiru (1962), Ken (1964), and Kenki (1965) brought a thrilling vitality to a familiar Japanese genre, and helped launch the career of Raizo Ichikawa, Japan’s answer to James Dean, a tough, soulful actor who, like his American counterpart, died tragically young. Misumi, a prolific filmmaker who brought an idiosyncratic style to popular Japanese genres like the chanbara (sword fighting film) and jidai-geki (period piece), was a former Soviet prisoner of war in Siberia and an assistant to Teinosuke Kinugasa on Gate of Hell (1953) who later became internationally famous for his movie adaptations of the wildly violent and successful Lone Wolf and Cub manga.
Ken is an adaptation of Yukio Mishima’s sadomasochistic short story of the same name, shot in stunningly precise widescreen black and white. A contemporary drama infused with ancient samurai traditions of martial discipline and spiritual self-abnegation, the film is set in a kendo dojo (martial arts school) where Raizo Ichikawa and a fellow apprentice swordsman engage in a vicious contest of wills.