Lone+Wolf+And+Cub

Lone Wolf And Cub is a marvelous Samurai movie that deals with the relationship of a father and son. Throughout the film the director makes several choices to establish the theme, as well as tone. The theme I would say is vengeance, as Ogami Itta is trying to reclaim his honor by becoming an assassin to murder the Yagyu clan. The film deals with mature subjects and even begins on a graphic note of the main character killing a little boy. This gives this movie a grusome tone, but the director is trying to show you that wherever Ogami Itta goes, blood follows. It had a level of "badass" to it, sort of something out of Kill Bill.

The director does a great job with lighting. In several shots and scenes, the lighting is usually quite strong, with low key lighting to give a lot of the characters a menacing or powerful presence. The director uses lighting to focus the viewers attention on important aspects, like a characters reaction, and object, or action. For example, one could look at the shadow scene where the sun played a key role in the fight. Even though the sun is facing Ogami Itta, he uses the reflection off the blade to blind his opponent and win the fight.

The director and c inematographer work together to present the film appealing to the viewer. Some scenes are brutishly in your face, the gore and violence (suggestive themes) all over the screen. Others are sort of hidden, to give the viewer the benefit of not seeing what has happened, but knowing through sounds and details what has been going on. An example of this could be the murdering of Ogami Itta's wife. We hear her scream, and we see the shadows of the assassins, but we don't actually see her throat get cut open in front of us.

Editing was quite an interesting category as well. In one scene where there is a showdown between Ogami and a skilled Samurai, Retsudo's face can be seen blinking. The interesting part is we can't tell who this is, only that it is an old man as the message is quite subliminal. Later on we go back to the same shot but instead of it blinking, it is dragged out longer and more consistent so we can understand. It is then established shortly after who this villain is. There is similar transitions between scenes however, with fade in/out, as well as jump cuts. However, the beginning scene with the killing of the boy, it cuts to red to show that he has been killed. There is also the important scene with Ogami and his son walking the line between fire and water, clearly edited but symbolic.

The sound is something truly different. The director makes an interesting choice where whenever a sword fight occurs, all sound is silenced. The only sounds left are the sounds of metal clanging, and the sounds of screams. I believe the director chooses to do this to emphasize the experience of the fight, really keep the views attention on the action rather than the small details of them running or jumping.