Kakushi ken oni no tsume 2004

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: A tenacious survival tale in which passionate lovers are held apart by outmoded traditions. How they overcome obstacles to happiness is what makes the film so dramatically engaging. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: While Yamada essentially repeats himself structurally, he finds fresh ironies in the story of how a culture built on tradition gets corrupted by technology and years of inaction. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Yamada's enormously enjoyable The Hidden Blade is a movie that deftly balances the obligations of samurai history with love story. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The Hidden Blade is tranquil, touching, and, in its climactic sword fight, excitingly real. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Both epic and intimate, this impassioned samurai drama is for anyone who's ever watched a movie and muttered, 'They just don't make 'em like they used to.' Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Reminders of feudal Japan are mixed in with a prescient glimpse into the country's future. The samurai will not be part of it, and The Hidden Blade poignantly shows what is lost in the name of progress. Read more

Time Out: Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: From the beginning Yamada's movie, made in 2004, looks and feels more like a John Ford western than any other Asian film I've ever seen. Read more