Sword of the Stranger Screening

Written by on 20 Oct 2008

Jonathan attended the Beez premier screening of Sword of the Stranger - he shares his thoughts here.

As you can guess by the name, Sword of the Stranger a Japanese swordsman story and I've figured out from some background reading that it was from the Sengoku-era aka. the Japanese warring-states period.
 
Without revealing too much of the plot. it revolves mainly around a 'Nameless Wandering Swordsman' and a foreign warrior with 'Golden Hair' and their paths which are brought together over a Mysterious Orphaned Boy and his dog.
 
As far as I know, this is the first movie production by Studio BONES which isn't tied in to another IP (eg: Fullmetal Alchemist, Rahxephon, etc) and as a new animation it does not dissapoint. There's no magic, science-fiction or fantasy to sell it but instead there is solid direction and brilliant action choreography. The pacing is great, intersecting action with subtle character development and a "Mystery Box" (ref. JJ Abrams) story-telling that reveals little pieces that all come together into a big climax.

The thing I liked best was how 'real' everything felt. I'm currently looking into the historical accuracy of it but whilst not based on any particular historical events it fits in place very well. I'm sure there's a bag full of references where they've clearly taken inspiration from a number of classic samurai movies (and tales).
and on top of that; everything made sense! Without needing anything to be spelt out to the audience, we were able to easily understand who is doing what and why. Because the characters were fleshed out (without the use of monolgues) you also got a clear understanding of the thought-processes and motivations.
 

This isn't a show for all the family though. Without being sensational in its violence, the hand-to-hand and sword fighting is shown in great detail. Blood will flow but it is all depicted in the best possible taste.
 
One thing that I do wonder about is how this will be localised. The film has dialog in both Chinese and Japanese (with the Chinese characters speaking in Japanese to each other when no one else is around). Apparently this was so the Japanese audience could understand the Chinese characters better (according to Andrew Partridge, the UK manager for Beez). How that turns out in dub + sub I can only wonder.
 
As a film, I highly rate it. Very entertaining and I can't flaw it either. Andrew was boasting that Beez had acquired a hot property and I think he might be right in this case. I definately reccommend this on dvd and if it comes to a cinema screen it is a must-see for fans.