X
  • 2006
  • R
  • Tartan
  • 2 h 12 m
  • 2006
  • R
  • Tartan
  • 2 h 12 m

Summary Munezo Katagiri (Nagase), an honest and low ranking samurai is trapped in a state of personal and professional imbalance. Secretly in love with his family’s maid, Kie (Tabata), Munezo begins an uneasy courtship with her, knowing that a relationship is impossible. Raised to respect traditions from the past and the demanding moral code of ...

Directed By: Yôji Yamada

Written By: Yoshitaka Asama, Shûhei Fujisawa, Yôji Yamada

  • 2006
  • R
  • Tartan
  • 2 h 12 m
  • 2006
  • R
  • Tartan
  • 2 h 12 m

The Hidden Blade

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 11 Critic Reviews
76
User Score Mixed or Average Based on 5 User Ratings
6.0
My Score
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Where to Watch

Summary Munezo Katagiri (Nagase), an honest and low ranking samurai is trapped in a state of personal and professional imbalance. Secretly in love with his family’s maid, Kie (Tabata), Munezo begins an uneasy courtship with her, knowing that a relationship is impossible. Raised to respect traditions from the past and the demanding moral code of ...

Directed By: Yôji Yamada

Written By: Yoshitaka Asama, Shûhei Fujisawa, Yôji Yamada

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 11 Critic Reviews
76
100% Positive
11 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 11 Critic Reviews
76
100% Positive
11 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
88
Enormously enjoyable.
By Wesley Morris FULL REVIEW
83
The restrained drama both punctures the mythic ideal of the samurai culture (trained as fighters, they mostly serve as clan bureaucrats) and spins a romantic portrait of one man who values principle over protocol despite the cost to his reputation.
By Sean Axmaker FULL REVIEW
83
The Hidden Blade is tranquil, touching, and, in its climactic sword fight, excitingly real.
By Owen Gleiberman FULL REVIEW
75
Deeply affecting, "Blade'' portrays an oddly elegant way of life that will soon be like the era in that other movie, "Gone With the Wind."
By Ruthe Stein FULL REVIEW
75
Builds slowly--maybe too slowly--to a mano-a-mano standoff, just like "The Twilight Samurai," and just like the earlier film, the new one presents its climactic swordfight matter-of-factly, with no superheroics and a lot of hesitation.
By Noel Murray FULL REVIEW
70
It's a sensitive, slow-moving 19th century samurai drama that will appeal to that tiny cadre of filmgoers who savor the classic Japanese films of Mizoguchi and Inagaki.
By Andrew O'Hehir FULL REVIEW
63
Bears more than a passing resemblance in story and form to "The Twilight Samurai," but stands on its own as a pleasant, if unremarkable, romance.
By V.A. Musetto FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 5 User Ratings
6.0
80% Positive
4 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
20% Negative
1 Rating

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 5 User Ratings
6.0
80% Positive
4 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
20% Negative
1 Rating

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company Eisei Gekijo, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Nippan) K.K., Nippon Television Network (NTV), Shochiku, Sumitomo Corporation
Release Date Jun 23, 2006
Duration 2 h 12 m
Rating R
Genres
View All Details

Awards

Awards of the Japanese Academy
• 1 Win & 12 Nominations
Hochi Film Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Mainichi Film Concours
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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