Samurai Headhunters

Actually, when i want to go outside France and stay away from America on TV, i just fall on Japan. This is good because the land is beautiful, full of traditions, ahead of its time and exceptionally neat and clean (the opposite of my country so...).

Thus, what stroke me first at this fictional documentary was that an half millennium back, Japan had already those traits. While Europe was in Dark Ages, with gloomy castles, Japan appears more colorful.

But, quickly, this sense of wonder changed into one of revulsion : the value of human, and especially those defeated, seems to be crushed under the pompous rules of the warrior (the Bushido) : bodies are used to test the cutting edge of swords ; head are cut off for trophies ; suicide is rated as honorable exit... I'm not idiot : wars have always been bloody but as i have written in my « World's Busiest Train Station » review, i have the feeling that this culture takes the individual for cheap and all that matters is the « clan ».

This documentary opens my eyes about this unknown past of cruelty: But unlike the actual trend to bomb as many images as possible, the documentary prefers a slow pace, trough a fictional story and it's good, all the more than the Japanese cast and the production are excellent. I really appreciate also the modern lesson in swords as the Master Tanaka explains exceptionally how to win a duel with the precise movements. Thus, for the first time in my life, i understand that sword fight is technical.

Decent production values (at least the armour is worn the right way around… not as rare as you might think in these programs…), but the show is completely undermined by the swathes of incorrect information, poorly researched "history", and the use of the totally unqualified but media hungry Antony Cummins (described as a "martial arts historian"… no, he's not) as an expert.

The program seems to take the (incorrect) view that the samurai can be defined by a single form… including making blanket statements, such as claiming that samurai have to be born to the station (that was only true in later history, after a decree from Toyotomi Hideyoshi). The demonstrations of combat are also not correct in any way (the methods, the weaponry forms, and more), and Antony Cummins over-the-top, almost hysterical delivery method add nothing to the show (witness his attacking a leather do with a knife in a completely pointless demonstration before explaining that the armour wouldn't stand up to a spear… which is what it would actually meet… for a complete waste of time).

The other experts are Stephen Turnbull, who also enjoys mixed reviews from practitioners and students of such areas, and Tanaka Fumon, a man with a range of claims in terms of his martial lineages, as well as some very questionable books addressing topics that he clearly doesn't know (a recent book on the supposed sword methods of Miyamoto Musashi is a standout in poor understanding of the subject matter).

Give it a complete miss.