Killing

The first 45 minutes or so of this film were straight 5 stars and I would've given this at least 90/100 but after that, the film started lagging and dragging for me. This was a beautifully made and directed movie but ultimately I didn't like where it went or how it got there.

In this samurai movie Shin'ya Tsukamoto deconstructs the samurai-code and examines what it actually means to kill and get caught up in a cycle of violence. Tsukamoto directing is very strong; he mixes shaky-handheld cameras for the more nervous younger samurai and young farmer with a steady shots when dealing with the calm older samurai. The biggest downside of this movie is that if you blink you will miss all the actions.

Short but thorough, Killing is an anti-samurai film that questions the 'justified' violence of the samurai. Brilliant use of hand-held photography and amazing performance by the three main characters. Blink and you miss the best of the action.