Kept a few brief diary style entries after each film in this trilogy. Watched over the course of 4 days:
Part 1: Very long but also very, very good. Acting is fantastic, it's shot beautifully, and there are a few hard-hitting, surprisingly tense sequences. Gives the viewer a lot to think about and feel, but it is quite slow-moving, and I feel like I had to be in a particular mood to enjoy it. Thankfully my patience wasn't too tested, and I look forward to finishing the trilogy off within the next week or so.
Part 2: Not quite as good as the first part, but close. The cinematography and acting (especially by lead Tatsuya Nakadai) are fantastic, and it ends really well, with a battle sequence that ranks among the cruellest I've ever seen in a movie. There are parts that are truly patience-testing though, and with fewer compelling characters than the first part, a more repetitive storyline, and similar moral dilemmas (again, until the strong final half hour or so), I will say that this was a very minor disappointment, only insofar as it not quite matching up to the excellent first part for me. Very much looking forward to watching Part 3 tomorrow night though.
Part 3: I'm sure my appreciation for this trilogy will only grow in time, and despite the grim subject matter, slow pace, and long length, I can see myself rewatching the whole thing eventually- that's a definite testament to its quality. So why 8/10? It hit me hard, but as a finale, maybe I somehow wanted it to hit harder. And slow films are a challenge for me sometimes. All three films in this trilogy were slow, but in an obviously purposeful way. And slow didn't necessarily equal boring here either. Challenging to sit through? Maybe a little. Dull? Not really. It's also one of the best looking black and white films I've ever seen, and Tatsuya Nakadai's lead performance might be one of the best in film history (the fact that he gets 9.5 hours to go through a huge character arc certainly helps, mind you).
Overall ranking: Part 1 > Part 3 > Part 2, imo, which is coincidentally the same way I'd rank the Lord of the Rings trilogy haha
Part 1: Very long but also very, very good. Acting is fantastic, it's shot beautifully, and there are a few hard-hitting, surprisingly tense sequences. Gives the viewer a lot to think about and feel, but it is quite slow-moving, and I feel like I had to be in a particular mood to enjoy it. Thankfully my patience wasn't too tested, and I look forward to finishing the trilogy off within the next week or so.
Part 2: Not quite as good as the first part, but close. The cinematography and acting (especially by lead Tatsuya Nakadai) are fantastic, and it ends really well, with a battle sequence that ranks among the cruellest I've ever seen in a movie. There are parts that are truly patience-testing though, and with fewer compelling characters than the first part, a more repetitive storyline, and similar moral dilemmas (again, until the strong final half hour or so), I will say that this was a very minor disappointment, only insofar as it not quite matching up to the excellent first part for me. Very much looking forward to watching Part 3 tomorrow night though.
Part 3: I'm sure my appreciation for this trilogy will only grow in time, and despite the grim subject matter, slow pace, and long length, I can see myself rewatching the whole thing eventually- that's a definite testament to its quality. So why 8/10? It hit me hard, but as a finale, maybe I somehow wanted it to hit harder. And slow films are a challenge for me sometimes. All three films in this trilogy were slow, but in an obviously purposeful way. And slow didn't necessarily equal boring here either. Challenging to sit through? Maybe a little. Dull? Not really. It's also one of the best looking black and white films I've ever seen, and Tatsuya Nakadai's lead performance might be one of the best in film history (the fact that he gets 9.5 hours to go through a huge character arc certainly helps, mind you).
Overall ranking: Part 1 > Part 3 > Part 2, imo, which is coincidentally the same way I'd rank the Lord of the Rings trilogy haha