MOVIE REVIEW : 2 WOMEN--PURE VS. EVIL--VIE IN ‘DEATH SHADOWS’

“Death Shadows” (at Little Tokyo Cinema) is the latest samurai movie from Hideo Gosha, the best director working regularly in the classic genre. “Death Shadows” has it all: outrageous plotting, dazzling swordplay, a gorgeous heroine and an equally spectacular woman villain, plus a dash of dark humor to keep us from taking everything too seriously. And there’s such a keen sense of the visual in “Death Shadows,” especially in its lighting, that it has a sculptured look. It’s a solid entertainment that looks like a work of art.

Mariko Ishihara’s Ocho, the Flower Storm, has the delicacy of a carved ivory figurine but is a master at swordplay. Like her father before her, she becomes a member of the Shadows, a secret group within the Shogunate police charged with taking the law into its own hands. It is Ocho’s challenging mission to get the goods on a highly placed nobleman suspected of smuggling that brings her into conflict with the wanton, sadistic Oren (Mari Natsuki), an ambitious, ruthless denizen of the underworld. Ocho declares, “I live in the mud, but I believe I am as pure as lotus,” while Oren revels in her evil like a silent-screen vamp. Gosha and writer Motomu Furuta marshal the most elaborate of plot machinations to elicit an overriding sense of fatalism, leaving us with the feeling that even superwoman Ocho, and the hapless shipping agent (Masanori Sera) whom she comes to love, are but pawns in the hands of the high and mighty.

“Death Shadows” has some of the richest, Oscar-worthy color cinematography of the year. Cameraman Fujiro Morita creates purple moonlit evenings, captures the beauty of exquisite banners fluttering in the air and juxtaposes silvery grays, earth browns and bright reds with the most dazzling results. None of this bold use of color, however, upstages the story but rather stylizes it, bringing out the timeless ritual quality of its samurai saga. “Death Shadows” (Times-rated Mature for considerable sex and nudity as well as standard samurai violence) leaves us suspecting we haven’t seen the last of Ishihara’s dauntless Ocho, whose skill with her silken (but deadly) whip is more Loie Fuller than Lash La Rue.

The Samurai Festival continues in Little Tokyo Cinema 2 with “Shadow Hunter 1” and “Sword of Justice, Snare 2.” Information: (213) 687-7077.

‘DEATH SHADOWS’ (‘JITTEMAI’)

A Shochiku presentation. Executive producers Kinen Masumoto, Takeshi Endo, Yoshinobu Nishioka, Hideshi Miyajima. Director Hideo Gosha. Screenplay Motomu Furuta; based on a story by Gosha & Kotaro Mori. Camera Fujiro Morita. Art director Nishioka. Music Masaru Sato. Associate producer Yoshio Tokuda. With Mariko Ishihara, Masanori Sera, Mari Natsuki, Takuzo Kawatani, Takeo Chii, Naoto Takenaka, Tsunehiko Watase, Eitaro Ozawa. In Japanese, with English subtitles.

Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes.

Times-rated: Mature.