< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > preamble</h1>
Haruki Kadokawa is a legendary figure in the Japanese publishing and film industry.
In 1975, at the age of 33, he became president of Kadokawa Shoten, becoming the youngest publisher in Japan at the time.
He continued to expand his cultural boundaries and began to dabble in filmmaking in 1976. Under his leadership, Kadokawa Shoten also developed into a large-scale company that integrates publishing, film, and bookstores.
A legend in the Japanese publishing and film industry - Haruki Kadokawa
Haruki Kadokawa's early film career was dominated by suspenseful mystery films and thrilling action films, while later themes were more extensive, all-encompassing, and even historical and science fiction works.
Among the films he personally directed, the more famous ones are "Love Story", "The Last Motorcycle Hero", "Heaven and Earth" and so on.
Released in 1990 and based on The novel of the same name by Shiogoro Kaiinji, "Heaven and Earth" presents a fascinating history of the Warring States, with grand scenes and shocking effects, becoming the highest-grossing film in Japan that year, with a box office revenue of 5.53 billion yen.
Cover of the DVD edition of "Heaven and Earth"
The film "Heaven and Earth", from its inception, has passed nearly 30 years, and it is still enjoyed by the majority of film fans and history lovers.
What's so fascinating about it? Let's talk about this movie.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > classic historical plot</h1>
"Heaven and Earth" tells the story of the war between two daimyo of Japan during the Sengoku period, Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen.
Battle of KawanakaJima
The Sengoku period (1467-1600) in Japan was a chaotic era of great heroes. With the popularity and innovation of peripheral novels, anime, and games, Japan's Sengoku culture has also had generations of fans.
In the Sengoku Shogen, Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen are a pair of life and death enemies.
Uesugi Kenshin (right) and the generals
Uesugi Kenshin is known as the "Dragon of Echigo" and the "Japanese Sengoku Warrior God".
Takeda Shin xuan-hyun-hyun
Takeda Shingen was known as the "Tiger of Kai" and "The First Warrior of the Sengoku Period of Japan".
They can be described as "chess opponents" and "water and fire are intolerable", there have been five large-scale wars, fighting each other for more than ten years, but in general, they are still not divided.
The feuds between them, the martial arts, and even the personal feelings are all hot topics discussed by fans.
By the way, my favorite Japanese Sengoku character is Maeda Keiji, and I will have a chance to talk about it later.
What was the purpose of the war between these two gestapos? To put it nicely, Takeda Shingen is for the ideal, to unify the world and end the chaotic world. Uesugi Kenshin, on the other hand, is for benevolence, for justice.
Essentially, they are all for their own benefit.
As Churchill said:
There are no eternal friends, no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.
In this film, Uesugi Kenshin is portrayed as a positive character, and Takeda Shingen is a negative character, one of whom is heaven and the other is earth.
At the beginning of the film, Uesugi Kenshin of the Echigo Kingdom rises up and seizes power from his brother who is not in charge of business, and receives the title of public family. In neighboring Kai, there was also a ruler, Takeda Shingen, who coveted the fertile land of Echigo.
The two sides have waged many wars to this end. Unlike Uesugi Kenshin's fierce fighting style, Takeda Shingen is more strategic.
In the struggle, Uesugi Kenshin psychologically experienced the process of confusion, confusion, and escape to resoluteness, and finally matured.
The two sides ushered in the final showdown...
This film has made some changes to the original novel, and in my opinion, the director's adaptation makes the plot of the film more compact, and in the limited space, it shows the protagonist's tortuous mental journey more vividly.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > two, complex characters</h1>
1. "Mercy does not control the soldiers"
Uesugi Kenshin's life experience can be described as a series of twists and turns.
He was very strong when he debuted, and it was "born calves are not afraid of tigers". Yet he had a merciful heart. After defeating the unrighteous brother, he also prayed before the Buddha to ask for forgiveness.
Takeda Shingen rebelled against Uesugi Kenshin's general, Akita Tokirosuke.
Uesugi went to attack Akita, and as the soldiers approached the castle, Akita brazenly brandished his sword and beheaded the messenger.
Uesugi also took Akita's wife and children hostage and demanded his surrender, but Akita refused. Uesugi's family will request that the hostages be beheaded, but Uesugi hesitates to say a word, and the family will take matters into their own hands and kill Akita's wife and children.
This incident strongly stimulated Uesugi Kenshin's soul, and in order to escape from reality, he went out to practice, planning to stay away from the dispute from now on.
The family will go after him. On the way, they encounter Takeda Shingen's team, Takeda's side room Yae horse is frightened, the two sides clash, and one of Uesugi's family members is killed. The flames of hatred burned in his heart, and he made up his mind to fight Takeda to the death.
In the next encounter, Uesugi kills Yae, who came to provoke him, with a musket.
In those years, during the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, our army encountered the situation of Vietnamese female soldiers disguised as civilians, approaching our soldiers, and then suddenly detonating bombs, which brought a lot of losses to our army.
Later, our army fully learned the lesson and killed all the enemies who came to attack.
Once on the battlefield, there is no distinction between men and women, only between the enemy and our army. In war, only by winning victory and destroying the enemy is the greatest mercy to the people.
The Augmentation of the Sages reads:
Mercy does not control the soldiers, and affection does not make things.
This sentence is also very appropriate here. Due to Uesugi Kenshin's early benevolence and evasion, the family was killed by Takeda's men. Only by breaking through the "shackles" of mercy can he become a true warrior.
Throughout his life, he believed in Buddhism and preached righteousness, and never had ambitions to seize the world, which can be described as a clear stream among the daimyo of the Japanese Warring States.
Historian Taro Sakamoto commented on him in the Compendium of Japanese History:
Among the warriors of various countries who are killing and fighting wildly, Uesugi Kenshin is known as a high-ranking man who respects the gods and Buddhas, values human morality, is still virtuous, and is good at learning, which makes people feel worthy of a fresh breath in the chaos.
2. The hero broke his wrist
Later, Uesugi Kenshin had a tricky problem - there were traitors in the team.
Usami Tseiyuki, an important general under him, was as kind to him as a mountain, and could be said to be like a righteous father. Moreover, Usami is also the father of Nomi of Uesugi Aome Takema.
Usami and daughter Nomi
The sinister Takeda Shingen rebelled against Usami, and although he did not raise a flag to rebel, he was unable to isolate the city during the previous war between Uesugi and Takeda, and did not send a single soldier to support him.
When the battle with Takeda came to an end, Uesugi went on a crusade against Usami. The two met on the battlefield and fought each other, and when Usami was defeated, Uesugi hesitated again, and finally put him to death.
This plot, somewhat like Zhuge Liang's taste of "tears and horse rumors", reflects the fierce contradictions and conflicts in his heart, and in the end, reason still triumphs over emotion.
When traitors appear within the organization, and the traitors are still the meritorious ministers of the year, human feelings and righteousness make people feel embarrassed. A qualified leader must put the overall situation first, abandon his personal feelings, and make a decisive decision.
3. Abandon private feelings
Uesugi Kenshin and Usami's daughter Nomi, although she is a green plum bamboo horse, there is no result between them.
In fact, they were in love with each other, and even Nomi secretly sent Qiu Bo to him, refusing to marry for a long time, just to wait for him.
Uesugi Kenshin and Nomi
Because of his faith, Uesugi Sanobu swore before the Buddha that he would renounce the private affair between men and women in order to become an invincible shogun. Later, Nomi finally married someone else.
After executing the betrayed Usami, Uesugi personally informed Nomi to show that he had broken up with their father and daughter and completely abandoned the relationship. Naimi was speechless, her feelings were mixed, and she blew the flute.
In the movie, Uesugi and Nomi have an emotional scene in which the cherry blossoms wither in the background. With the splendor of cherry blossoms, the solemn atmosphere before the war is set off, and the melodious flute sound gives people a sense of poignancy.
A beautiful view of the cherry blossoms withering
Third, the grand picture of the war
1. Exquisite line head
This film, which cost a lot of money, is breathtaking, and the costumes, props and makeup of the actors are breathtaking.
Kenshin Uesugi, Shingen Takeda, and some of the most important generals of both sides wear a number of costumes in the film, including kimonos, casual clothes, and armor.
The armor of Uesugi Kenshin
The soldiers on both sides are also full sets of heads, armor, flags, muskets, protective gear, etc., all of which are originally created in accordance with the style of the Warring States Era.
In particular, the armor and swords and guns of the warriors are brightly colored and beautiful. The several sets of armor worn by the two main generals on both sides are restored and built according to the historical image, which is even more ingenious.
Shingen Takeda's Koko
2. Grand scenes
The film went to Canada to shoot locations at the expense of more than 20,000 horses and more than 60,000 extras.
In the film, there are three large-scale war scenes, namely the crusade against the traitors, the first confrontation, and the Battle of Kawanakajima. The scenes of the confrontation between the two armies are all real people and real horses, real knives and real guns, and the shooting is very exciting.
The two armies are pitted against each other
In particular, the final decisive battle is even more magnificent, perfectly bringing the war scenes in the book to the screen. In an era without computer stunts, it was rare to reach such a high level.
The film reproduces the formations recorded in the history books - the array of crane wings and the array of car suspension.
The two armies of Uesugi and Takeda, one black and one red, produced a sharp contrast, one like a burning flame, the other like boiling seawater, fighting inextricably.
Spear against stab
The musketeers' confrontation, the spearman's stabbing, and the cavalry's hedging were all very exciting.
Musket shooting
In particular, the scene of the cavalry has a more shocking effect. Ten thousand horses galloped, flags fluttered, dust flew, knives and guns flashed. The pace of the war horses is consistent, Zhang Chi is orderly, I don't know how many times of training, its shooting difficulty can be imagined.
Uesugi Kenshin led a cavalry assault
After the duel between the two main generals, Uesugi led the rest of the retreat, and the Takeda army split like a tide, the scene was grand and visually impactful, which made the audience reminisce.
3. Excellent soundtrack
It is worth mentioning that the film invited Tetsuya Komuro, a popular musician in Japan at the time, to produce the soundtrack.
Father of Japanese Fashion Sound- Tetsuya Komuro
At the peak of Tetsuya Komuro's musical career, he was a representative of Japanese pop music, and he also devoted a lot of effort to completing this classical style of soundtrack.
The soundtrack in the film is rigid and soft, gripping, and perfectly combined with the film picture, which sets off a tragic atmosphere. In particular, the soundtrack of the decisive battle between the two armies made the audience feel the tense and fierce contest from the auditory sense.
Movie soundtrack album cover
The soundtrack of the whole film is excellent, which can be called a classic soundtrack in Japanese movies.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > fourth, extreme heroism</h1>
The film "Heaven and Earth", with a strong heroic color, perfectly shaped the glorious image of Uesugi Kennobu.
Fateful showdown
During the Japanese Sengoku period, one-on-one PK of the generals of the two sides like "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has long been unpopular.
For example, Tokugawa Ieyasu, although he fought countless battles in his lifetime, it is said that his sword skills were very good, but he never had a record of going head-to-head with enemy generals.
In the ancient history of Japan, there were two generals who loved to rush in front of each other in battle, one was Genyoshi Kei and the other was Uesugi Kenshin. They are all deified figures.
In this film, the description of the original book was changed, and a PK of equal strength was arranged for Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen.
In the later stages of the war, Takeda's reinforcements came, and as he saw victory in sight and was about to leave, Uesugi Kenshin's men rushed to kill him, and the two generals met.
Takeda Shingen, who had always commanded in the rear, also had to draw his sword to protect himself at this moment. After a horse-slashing battle, Uesugi slashed Takeda and fell under his horse, and when he was about to mend his sword, Takeda's personal guards rushed up, and several spears protected their master.
Ultimate PK
Even if he did not kill his old enemy, he was satisfied with it: first, he fought a battle with the enemy happily, and second, he slashed the enemy's main general and relieved the hatred in his heart.
When the Uesugi army retreated, the Takeda army made way for them as if the waves were cracking. Uesugi Kenshin did not seem to be a rout, but a triumph. The movie ends here.
The heroic epic theme in historical dramas has always been loved by audiences around the world.
We have "Legend of Chu Han", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Sui and Tang Dynasties", "Yue Fei", etc., and "King Arthur", "Song of nibelungen", "Joan of Arc", "BraveHeart" and so on.
Japan's Sengoku history is also a fertile land that has produced many heroic epics, providing endless material for film and television dramas. Of course, there are many historical figures who have been glorified or even deified in the novel story, and Uesugi Kenshin is one of them.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
The movie "Heaven and Earth", in order to achieve a strong dramatic conflict effect in the plot, modified some important plots in the original work, and also made some picky audiences complain.
For example, in the plot of Usami's betrayal, in the original book, he is a loyalist who has not betrayed until his death.
There is also the character of Takeda's side room Yae, which is not found in the original or history, and was created entirely for the needs of the film.
There was also the final showdown, which also deliberately glorified Uesugi Kenshin. In fact, in the later stages of this war, the Uesugi Army suffered heavy losses.
Although these changes are divorced from the original work, they are still flawed.
Kadokawa Haruki with his strong decisiveness, execution and financial resources, in that era, computer stunts were not so high level, using a lot of manpower, material resources, shooting such a grand scene of war history movies, can also be regarded as a great feat.
Not long after the film's great success, Haruki Kadokawa was imprisoned for an illegal incident, and it wasn't until years later that he reappeared.
A few years ago, he made another war history film, "The Wolf: Until the End of the World", which was originally written by Seiichi Morimura, who was originally a mystery writer, which is one of his rare historical novels and is also a very popular seller.
This time, Haruki Kadokawa still adhered to the principle of live-action shooting, continuing the style of "Heaven and Earth", but the use of people and horses is obviously much less, and it is difficult to reproduce the grand war picture of "Sky and Earth".
Today, this 30-year-old film, although it has some flaws, is still a good work. Only before Japan's bubble economy bursts can we invest so much money to make such a blockbuster like a big gamble.
Time has passed, and many years later, Japan's war history movies, although some have appeared, are difficult to match. "Heaven and Earth" can be called the masterpiece of Japanese Sengoku cinema.
If you're more interested in the stories of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, check out Jiro Nitta's novel Takeda Shingen and Veteran Writer Yasushi Inoue's Wind Forest Volcano.
Both of these are described from the perspective of Takeda Shingen, so you may wish to take the original work of "Heaven and Earth" and compare it to read and taste the fun in it.
Cover of the Chinese edition of the original novel
I am @ Brass Knight, a middle-aged literary youth.
He loves pure literature, speculative fiction and heavy metal music.
The books I have written book reviews, all of which I have read and liked, are here to share with you. Welcome friends to pay attention, exchange and point out!