Tzuzuki is a Ronin, a masterless samurai living at the very end of the long period of peace through to the mid 19th Century which made such swordsmen surplus to Japanese society. He seems happy wandering, helping farmers in exchange for food, but trouble is stirring in Edo and he realises he must go there - it is unclear whether out of duty or hope for his own future. He seems to get lucky when a wandering master swordsman asks him to join him on a mission to help the Shogun against his enemies. This seems to set us up for a traditional clash between desire and duty, modernity and tradition, but the film takes a surprising turn when a few tough guy wanderers arrive in the village and Tzuzuki is hit with a fever, meaning he has to stay longer.

The film takes a strange turn when we realise that Tzuzuki is not just reluctant to leave his farmer friends, but is almost pathologically unable to translate his sword skills into the real job of killing men - even deserving men. The fever itself seems to encompass his whole world. Suddenly everything is not what it seems - not the master swordsman, not the sweet village girl who seems to love Tzuzuki, not the tough but seemingly good hearted wanderers.

This is a very modern take on the traditional Samurai genre. Plenty of previous Samurai movies examine the twisted ethos of the warrior class, but few examine so much how killing itself destroys the humanity of the swordsman. It is strikingly filmed and directed - normally I hate shaky-cam films, but its used effectively here to create a hallucinogenic atmosphere of confusion and chaos. The settings are very beautiful and effectively caught by the cinematography and the short running time of the film means that there is no flab at all - its a gripping, tight film, with its only flaw really that we never really get to understand the characters real motivations. Nevertheless, this is definitely one of the best modern samurai films I've seen in some time.

...absolutely correct running time to make the point on this film. Is about ambivalence. Is all in our minds; life is easier than what most of us think; however, depending on the role that we are playing, for any reason, most finishing thinking in Black and White forgetting the Grays. Plenty of times we are in the middle of a situation that is not what we wanted but we are obliged to play. Sometimes the good guys are not so good and the bad ones are just a product of the events. In the case here, all the trouble start due to a hot headed teenager; too green to understand situations; but is like when you move a piece on the Chess board.

-The camcorder takes are too shaky but contributes to the overall chaos of those shots. Very good music and scenery.

One samurai says to another, "Tell me, Mr Sawamura, I don't get how you kill so easily. How can you? I want to... I want to be able to kill."

And that's what this film comes down to: one character is young, inexperienced, and grappling with that daunting prospect of a first kill, whereas the other is a lightning-quick master swordsman, blade fused with the mind, not needing to think in the moment of decisions. Their paths will cross, destinies tied, fates already sealed...

Overall, 'Killing' is just a great samurai film, providing us with a small portion of a much larger picture. It's intimate in scope and thematically engaging - an entertaining diversion in a bygone landscape. The handheld camera work is initially off-putting, especially if you're used to the likes of Kurosawa's filmmaking style within the genre, but otherwise there's few complaints to list in this Japanese historical drama.

8/10.