Spoiler warning - the last paragraph of this review more or less tells you the denouement of the movie. I do not think that so surprising but you may not wish to read it. I have seen this movie two or three times with no loss of satisfaction for knowing its end, and I give no detail at all.
Note that some of the character names I use are different from those of other reviewers, a function of different sub-titling or my own ignorance of the original language.
Spending much of its time as a spare, bleak story about struggles for survival this movie turns out to be marvellously rewarding. The basic warrior-emerging story is set in a poor, dry stone town in a desert dominated by by the killer "One-blow", so known because he kills at the first strike and is deemed invincible. One-blow and his followers exploit the local town for food, drink and apparently for women while acting mercilessly toward those who cross them.
Into this scenario comes the young slightly built Haige, wearing two swords by his side and a great reluctance to use them. This reluctance does not seem to arise out of noble sentiments (although he is certainly a good if naive man) but rather that he lacks self-knowledge or a sound ability to judge other people. Evidently, he has never used his swords in anger. Early, he encounters the reputation of One-blow and in person another apparently strong swordsman, Sandman.
Only gradually does the character and background of Haige emerge, it becoming clear that his father was a great swordsman but a gambler. It is soon apparent that Haige may have the better character than his father but how good was his teacher and how well has he learned?
The views of his intended woman and her father gradually change. After first treating him like dirt they see glimpses of his potential. There are also passages of youthful freedom and delight in the desert scenes with horses.
Even the brutal One-blow is given a touch of human frailty when he wonders about the potential of the unknown swordsman. It is the gradual change in people's views, sometimes based on sharp events, that help to give the movie its interest.
While the tension and resolution of the necessary confrontation are classically good, if somewhat brutal in the build-up, it is the way in which Haige finally handles Sandman that shows his new maturity, his coming-of-age as a man as well as a swordsman.
Note that some of the character names I use are different from those of other reviewers, a function of different sub-titling or my own ignorance of the original language.
Spending much of its time as a spare, bleak story about struggles for survival this movie turns out to be marvellously rewarding. The basic warrior-emerging story is set in a poor, dry stone town in a desert dominated by by the killer "One-blow", so known because he kills at the first strike and is deemed invincible. One-blow and his followers exploit the local town for food, drink and apparently for women while acting mercilessly toward those who cross them.
Into this scenario comes the young slightly built Haige, wearing two swords by his side and a great reluctance to use them. This reluctance does not seem to arise out of noble sentiments (although he is certainly a good if naive man) but rather that he lacks self-knowledge or a sound ability to judge other people. Evidently, he has never used his swords in anger. Early, he encounters the reputation of One-blow and in person another apparently strong swordsman, Sandman.
Only gradually does the character and background of Haige emerge, it becoming clear that his father was a great swordsman but a gambler. It is soon apparent that Haige may have the better character than his father but how good was his teacher and how well has he learned?
The views of his intended woman and her father gradually change. After first treating him like dirt they see glimpses of his potential. There are also passages of youthful freedom and delight in the desert scenes with horses.
Even the brutal One-blow is given a touch of human frailty when he wonders about the potential of the unknown swordsman. It is the gradual change in people's views, sometimes based on sharp events, that help to give the movie its interest.
While the tension and resolution of the necessary confrontation are classically good, if somewhat brutal in the build-up, it is the way in which Haige finally handles Sandman that shows his new maturity, his coming-of-age as a man as well as a swordsman.