MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, sociological* The Japanese book on which this film is based translates to "Reincarnation from Hell" in English, so I assume someone threw in the word "samurai" for marketing purposes. Yet the original title is just as fitting, since at base REINCARNATION is a horror film, in which the "monster" is the main character.
The film begins with the aftermath of the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637, following the slaughter of thousands of Japanese Christians by the reigning Tokugawa Shogunate. Dying, the Christians' leader Amakusa Shiro (Kenji Sawara) bemoans the failure of his god to succor the believers, and he swears allegiance to the powers of hell to gain vengeance. There's one subtitled line that suggests he may have sold his soul to some Christian devil, though it's more likely that Amakusa simply incarnates the native Japanese belief that ghosts, when they cannot move on from the regrets of their lives, will manifest as malignant spirits. To gain vengeance upon the Shogun Ietsuna and all those who served him, Amakusa recruits a veritable "Avengers" made up of Japanese historical figures who became legends. This group of evil spirits includes the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi-- probably the figure best known to non-Japanese audiences-- and the warrior-monk Hozoin Inshun, whose Buddhist outlook was challenged by his sadistic feelings toward women. Arguably the recruit who gets the most dramatic attention is Hosokowa Gracia, one of the Christian believers killed during Shimabara. Her own lord deserted Gracia for a mistress because her Christian beliefs interfered with her duties as a wife, so in her "angry ghost" persona, Gracia becomes a seductress who inserts herself into the bedroom of the Shogun.
As in many horror films where the monster methodically stalks several victims, much of the plot of REINCARNATION revolves around Amakusa and his minions setting up the lords of Tokugawa for annihilation. The ghosts aren't shy about involving the peasants either, for at one point they curse the farmers' crops, so that once more the lords are forced to cope with rebellion. The demons' main opposition stems from the Yagyu family. Patriarch Tajima Yagyu (Tomisaburo Wakayama of LONE WOLF AND CUB fame) uses an enchanted sword to destroy the monk Inshun. But then Tajima dies, and Amakusa beguiles him into reincarnating as an angry ghost despite Tajima's attempts to die without regrets. Amakusa's main foe is Tajima's son Yagyu Jubei (Sonny Chiba), another historical figure who has taken on legend-status via fictional elaborations. A swordsmith forges for Jubei a sword capable of "killing even God," and after a prolonged struggle Jubei brings Amakusa's reincarnation to a halt if not a permanent end.
Though REINCARNATION sports some bloody sword-work, the story emphasizes the dramatic conflicts more than the physical ones. I found the drama good though not great, perhaps somewhat hampered by reiterating the way the ghosts seek to hold on to negative aspects of their former lives just as an excuse not to die completely. Tajima, as mentioned, tries to expire with a clear mind, but he's tempted to reincarnate by wondering if he could beat his son Jubei in a sword-match. Even after Gracia has seduced the Shogun, she angers him by muttering in her sleep the name of the lord she once loved in life. Jubei manages to defeat Musashi, Tajima and Amakusa one after the other, and the reign of the angry ghosts is ended. As I am not an expert on Japanese history and legendry, I don't know how much real history appears in the interaction in these characters, but given the involvement of the supernatural here, I would tend to think the fiction predominates, as much as it would in a western where Jesse James teams up with Wild Bill Hickock and Billy the Kid.
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