This year Third Window Films has made Eyes of the Spider and Serpent's Path available for the first time on DVD outside of Japan. Whether you're a fan of Kurosawa's mysteries, thrillers, and horror, or just interested in low-budget, creative filmmaking, I think you will find these films fascinating.
Sho Aikawa stars in both movies, and his characters, both named Nijima, provide each story with a moral and emotional center. In Eyes of the Spider, Nijima is a man whose young daughter has been brutally murdered. He seeks revenge but it provides no peace of mind. When he runs into an old classmate, he is lured deeper into a life of crime as the most intelligent member of an eccentric hit squad.
In Serpent's Path, Nijima is a teacher who helps a friend, Miyashita, in a relentless search for the man who killed Miyashita's daughter. Together they trap a guy who formerly served as a low-level yakuza member, and begin to exact revenge. Soon enough the guy implicates another man, and Nijima and Miyashita continue their mission, wherever it leads.
Ordinarily I'm not a big fan of films about yakuza or mafia or any other business-oriented criminal society. Eyes of the Spider and Serpent's Path surprised me. The storytelling is riveting. The technical quality is superb. Best of all, both films are character-driven. Every step of the way, the action is grounded in recognizable psychology and believable emotions. Nothing happens purely for effect.
The greatest delight was the way in which Kurosawa edited his stories. Instead of long, drawn-out exposition or unlikely commentary, he juxtaposes striking images to achieve moving (or humorous) and often startling effects. The result is fresh, timeless, with an emphasis on the humanity of the characters and a real sense of lives playing out to unpredictable yet plausible conclusions. Highly recommended.
