The Princess Blade (2001)
Director: Sato Shinsuke
Released by: ADV Films
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

The Samurai film reborn for a new age...

The Princess Blade is a beautiful movie. I don’t think I could summarize my overall opinion of it any better than that. It really is an artistic achievement of storytelling and visual concept realization. It has that same uniqueness in style that made films like Amelie or Moulin Rouge personal favorites of mine.

The Story

"The film, which combines elements of classic Japanese Samurai drama with a futuristic setting, tells the story of Princess Yuki (Japanese superstar actress Yumiko Shaku), of the House of Takemikazuchi-once a force of noble guards for the Mikado elite, but now an exiled and disgraced band of assassins, willing to take on any task for the right price.

Yuki is a ruthlessly efficient member of the clan, paid by the authoritarian government to eliminate members of a rebellious insurrectionist group. But when a mysterious stranger tells Yuki the truth about her mother’s death-that she was killed by a member of the House of Takemikazuchi-Yuki confronts the killer and, after a fierce battle, is forced to flee. A troubled young man named Takashi (Hideaki Ito, one of Japan’s most popular film actors) comes to her aid. But Takashi is wary, for he works with the rebels whom the Takemikazuchi have targeted for elimination.

Gradually, Yuki and Takashi come to terms with one another. But the threat of the Takemikazuchi looms-they will not tolerate the departure of one of their own, and they are closing in…" ADV's Princess Blade Page

Review

The movie gets started on a very high note as a mysterious group of assassins besiege a small convoy of cars, skillfully taking out all of its members in a series of stylish and highly kinetic attacks. At the forefront of this confrontation lies Princess Yuki, who has spent her entire life with the House of Takemikazuchi working as a ruthless assassin.

Shortly after this initial attack is carried out and through a series of violent events she discovers that those she most trusted are the same ones responsible for her mother’s death, which leads her to attack her own and escape as they hunt her down for striking at their leader

After a tense pursuit scene and having successfully eluded her attackers Yuki finds herself in unfamiliar territory as she gets shelter in a small home inhabited by a young man and his sister. Soon she finds herself exploring a new world that she has never experienced or known before, learning what life outside of the shadowy world of assassination is like.

I’ll be honest this movie was not at all what I was expecting. I was anticipating more of a non-stop martial arts and weapon combat film with some loose “story” segments gluing everything else together, but this was not the case; the story and characters are truly the focus of the Princess Blade, more so than I could have imagined, helping to propel this film beyond its peers.

As the heart of the movie are its two protagonists, Yuki and Takashi. Initially they could not appear to be more different on the surface, one being a hardened assassin and the other a social idealist and loving caregiver to his sibling. However as twe watch them spend time together it becomes apparent that they in fact share many similarities and desires that tie them together and which will eventually help lead each other into a new level of existance and realization of what life can be..

The beauty of how their relationship’s evolution is presented and told to us as an audience is that it doesn’t rely on your typical movie narrative or exposition, it just slowly unravels over several simple scenes with very little dialogue. Images are truly worth a thousand words in this film.

Speaking of which, the imagery in this movie is a remarkable achievement. Every background seems to have been meticulously assembled together, with the right balance of light and color, forming a diverse palette of movie scenes that range from deep forest greens to more industrial-like landscapes devoid of any primary colors. Other details that are less noticeable, such as the futuristic cityscapes that adorn many of the scenes in this movie also add much to the film's richness. These are all further enhanced by the action on-screen, which during some of the more realized action scenes fill the settings with large levels of energy that make for some very anime-like compositions on the screen.

This visual artistry is rounded off by a carefully orchestrated soundtrack, which makes it presence known with pounding beats during the actions scenes and then retreats to the background with more subtle melodies during the character moments to help build a variety of atmospheres. Overall it had a great range of sounds and moods.

Conclusion

All in all the Princess Blade is a tremendous movie that recreates the classic Samurai drama film with a more contemporary form for today's audiences. I highly recommend it to fans of the Samurai film genre and those who enjoy a movie rich in story and visuals.

Hope a sequel is on the drawing board ^__^

Jeffrey Couto