• 死闘の伝説 (A Legend or Was It?)

8/13/23 (Sun)

Kinoshita Keisuke tries his best to be cynical in this 1963 film about a small village in Hokkaido in the closing weeks of WWII, but his sentimental streak inevitably intrudes. The unfortunate English title is sometimes rendered more literally as Legend of a Duel to the Death.

After an (overly) extended intro in an idyllic postwar setting in rural Hokkaido, filmed in color, the movie shifts to black-and-white to a less peaceful time in the same spot 20 years earlier. A family has relocated from wartime Tokyo for their safety to a tight-knit community in faraway Hokkaido, where they are tolerated but viewed with suspicion. When the son (Kato Go) returns from the war, he is upset to learn that his sister (Iwashita Shima) is being pressured to marry the powerful mayor’s son (Bunta Sugawara), who he recognizes as a war criminal from their days in China. He politely but firmly turns down the marriage proposal against the advice of the village elders, only to discover that the proud Bunta takes the refusal very personally.

Soon the family finds its field mysteriously vandalized but is unable to rouse the interest of the police. That is followed by similar anonymous acts in other fields alongside growing rumors, fueled by Bunta, that the outsiders are responsible. The situation explodes into mob hysteria, forcing the family to take on the entire town. The family does not go down without a fight, as the duel in the Japanese title suggests. The movie returns at the end to the quiet life in the same spot two decades later, again switching to color.

The idea of the village as a microcosm of a Japan whipped up in its own unthinking war fever against outsiders is intriguing, and the “legend” in the title suggests our tendency to look upon such tragedies as nothing but a distant memory rather than an ever-present shame. The characterizations were nicely drawn, like Bunta’s complex about his disabled hands (another bitter injured veteran after Kinoshita’s Immortal Love two years earlier) and Shima’s fearless facedown of the attacking crowds. The interesting score by the director’s brother Chuji features the distinctive sound of the mukkuri, an instrument like a mouth harp used by the indigenous Ainu.

Nevertheless, the contents are overdone. The lecturing tone and overdone emotions can be tiresome, and the mob scenes were out of a silent movie. Also, Kinoshita yet again relies lazily on narration throughout the film rather than let the dialogue do the work. The film does offer great scenic shots of Hokkaido, and the thrilling final confrontation between the hordes and the family was exceptionally well directed and shot. (The cinematography was as always by Kinoshita’s brother-in-law Kusuda Hiroshi.)

Shima stood out as the intrepid daughter, and Kato and Bunta did fine work. Tanaka Kinuyo and Kaga Mariko did well enough within their limited roles, though they couldn’t escape the sentimental nature of their characters. The acting among others was variable, but the roles were well cast at least in terms of looking the part.

A worthwhile film once the action gets going in the second half, but Kinoshita, as both screenwriter and director, would have benefited from a dramaturge who could trim the excess fat.