Yoji Yamada's Love and Honor?
 

Yoji Yamada's 'Love And Honor'...

3 questions...

a: this is the final film in the trilogy right?...

b: will this get a US release, any news at all?...

c: if you've seen it, any reviews?... (no review on DVDTalk that i could find)

Krikey, ya got me workin on Versus and now Love and Honor!!! egads!

Just kidding. I own it, have yet to see it. Will get back in due time ....

I own the R2 LE set of it, but like Twilight Samurai and The Hidden Blade, I can't imagine the final of Yoji's sam trilogy won't have a region 1 DVD release. It appears Funimation bought the rights for distribution - http://funimation.com/loveandhonor/

The film itself is supposed to be coming to our shores in April - http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/5503/53/ Though I imagine it will be limited to NY and Cali ... maybe Boston!!!

This thread might have to be moved to the International DVD Talk.

Nevertheless:

1) "Love & Honor" is the last of the Yamada's samurai trilogy (Twilight Samurai being first and The Hidden Blade being the sequel.

2) I heard somewhere that Funimation has the US rights to this film so it's likely they will release it on dvd

3) I have the R2J special edition and highly recommend it. Kimura's portrayal of the blind samurai is incredible that he actually won the Japan Academy for best actor (of which he declined).

My personal favorite is The Hidden Blade, but Twilight Samurai and Love & Honor are also very good films that are well worth seeking out. They can be watched in any order; the stories and characters of each film are different. However, they do share some of the same themes.

I do have one gripe, though: I really hate the menus on the Japanese releases of all three. The person who decided to play the ending of the movie on the main menu needs to fall on his sword.

Just completed this about 15 minutes ago, so it's probably not the best time to review it. Actually, I'm going to have to watch it again this week just to be more objective.

First, the cinematography is gorgeous. Every shot is well composed and aesthetically pleasing. Most could be framed into a portrait. This is one aspect I find common in certain Japanese films.

Yes, this is a Samurai film, yet it also isn't as the themes are universal. This is jidaigeki not chambara. It is a drama/romance story focused around a lower class Samurai family (similar to Twilight Samurai); more specifically, the test of love and honor as a consequence to a string of signifcant events.

Without getting into any substantative detail, I'll just say this .. if you enjoyed Twilight Samurai this film should not let you down. Both have a very similar approach. The story felt forced at times especially with some of the stronger elements of melo-drama, but it's not overly done. Parts of the film are darker than what I was expecting, but this is due to the subject matter. But the film is a fairly compelling one, filled with subtle and sometimes unexpected (intelligent) humor - but most importantly, hope. The obnoxious aunt for example is hilarious and the casting was spot on.

Overall the story is a touching human drama story that I fell right into. By the end of it I looked like Tokuhei in every other shot :lol:

I highly recommend the film.