Set in the year 1614, this sumptuous martial arts/tragic romance comes across like a ninja version of Romeo and Juliet. The Shinobi are a mountain dwelling people, divided in two tribes, renowned throughout Japan for their extraordinary powers. When Oboro (Yukie Nakama) of the Tsubakakure tribe locks eyes with Gennosuke (Jo Odagiri) of the Manjidani (confusingly the tribes are also known as Iga and Koga), it’s love at first sight. But while the lovers dally by moonlight, their fellow tribesmen are displaying their supernatural fighting skills before the imperial court. Impressed, the emperor orders both tribes to battle for the honour of becoming the next shogun. As the most exceptional warriors in their tribes, Oboro and Gennosuke are called upon to lead their ninjas in battle. Horrified, the lovers try to resist, but as friends fall on either side, they are pulled towards a tragic destiny. Meanwhile, government troops advance upon both villages.
Though packed full of fast-paced, fantasy action, Shinobi wisely lets its leads set the tone - stately, meditative and thoughtful; its fatalistic streak tempered by a romanticism borrowed from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Improving on his last major effort, the videogame-themed horror movie St. John’s Wort (2001), filmmaker Ten Shimoyama favours brevity. Oboro and Gennosuke fall in love before the opening credits roll. Minutes later, they’re on a collision course with destiny. Fortunately, strong acting from Jo Odagiri and especially Yukie Nakama ensure the romance plucks at our heartstrings, right till the melancholy final note. Indeed, the entire film is structured around heartbreak and betrayal. When tribal elders O-gen (Riri) and Danjo (Minoru Terada) fight to death early on, it’s hinted they once shared a romance that ended in tragedy, doomed to reoccur with the next generation. The government orchestrates the war, clearly because they fear the Shinbobis skill, something jaded warrior Tenzen (Kippei Shiina) knows well from the start, but prefers to go out “in a blaze of glory”. Hotarubi (Erika Sawajiri), a sweet, gentle girl who controls insects and ponders why they must fight, is sent along because O-gen knew she’d willingly sacrifice her life for Oboro.
The scenery is often breathtaking (lush forests, misty mountains, grand caverns) as are the visual effects. Shinobi’s heavily stylized fight scenes (people plunge into ravines, scuttle up trees and leap about like human yo-yos) borrow more from anime than the chanbara (“samurai movies”) of old, and are none the worse for that. Fantasy fans should relish Yashamaru (Tak Sakaguchi) firing inky, black threads, Hotarubi controlling hordes of deadly, yellow butterflies, or Gennosuke’s ability either to slow down time or move so fast he transcends it altogether. The one to watch though, is Oboro whose stare alone makes internal organs explode. Swords clash and blood flows freely, as supporting characters drop like flies. The downside is Optimum’s DVD extras reveal more of their back-story then the film chooses to explore. Amongst an almost ridiculously gorgeous cast, Tomoko Kurotani stands out as poison-spewing Kagero. Hopelessly infatuated with Gennosuke, Kagero’s lethal touch means she has never known love, a subplot that reaches a fitting conclusion when she meets Tenzen, an immortal desperate to die.
Those not clued up on Japanese history - or at least chanbara movie history - may feel a little lost. As per genre convention, names appear onscreen to announce famous historical figures like Hattori Hanzo and Jubei Yagyu, but fact (The Shinobi are a real tribe, whose origins date back to the 8th century) intermingles with fantasy. Putting a fantastical spin on historical events was source novelist Futaru Yamada’s trademark and his work inspired genre classics like Darkside Reborn (1981) with Sonny Chiba - remade as the anime Ninja Resurrection (1987) and the live-action Samurai Armageddon (1997) - and Ninja Wars (1983) with Chiba alongside Hiroyuki Sanada.
While Yamada’s clever reworking of history probably plays more effectively to a Japanese audience, casual viewers can cling to the tragic love story. Events progress to a stunning desert finale, after which the lone survivor performs an act of self-mutilation trying to convince the emperor to spare the Shinobi, before a poetic coda relying, ironically, upon Nakama’s extraordinarily expressive eyes. As a mark of how transient Japanese popular cinema has become - a remake of Shinobi is set to hit their screens in 2009.
