The film of the week this time is SWORD OF DOOM.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060277/

I love a good Samurai film. Out of the many I have seen, I think Sword of doom is easily the best. It is about a sociopathic samurai who is scheduled for a exhibition match at his fencing school. The wife of an opponent begs him throw the match. I won't spoil what happens for there, but I will say that if you like samurai films, you have to see this. What makes the film interesting is the main character. He is determined to be in a path of self destruction. He only knows the way of the sword. It's all he has ever needed to live, which is why he never shows compassion to anybody. He always wants something to fight for, but because he inevitably destroys anything in his path, there is a sense of tragedy to his character.

We want to hate him because of his destructive nature, but he can't be entirely to blame since that is how he has lived. I like this more than any of Akira Kurosawa's samurai films because I find the story more involving. It's a dark and brutal film, but one I find fascinating because there really isn't another one like it. I highly recommend this film. It was one of the first films that got me into foreign cinema.