a review of

this looked like it was filmed in a week with a five dollar budget. can't really expect a lavish production in 1945 Japan, though. loved the dude who played Benkei. BSing your way through a moralizing speech while pretending to read off a blank scroll is some king shit. could've done without the porter's outrageous mugging. i know grotesquely exaggerated facial expressions are just part of the Japanese dramatic tradition but that doesn't mean i have to like it. even at just under an hour this one felt a little padded. it's basically two scenes (three if you count the coda where everyone proceeds to get blackout drunk.)