The Ghost of Tsushima starts with an all-out battle between the Japanese Samurai and the Mongols. The battle begins with a dual where a Mongol throws alcohol on a samurai and then lights a match on him. This is the first demonstration of how dishonourable the opponent is. We follow a samurai named Jin Sakai who rushes into battle alongside his comrades. After a while, it’s clear that the Samurai are outnumbered, and failure is inevitable. Several arrows hit Jin and he falls unconscious as a result. We wake up later and discover that we were healed by a thief named Yuna. We learned that she saved us to use us to help free her brother who was captured by the Mongols. Jin offers to help Yuna and repay his debt, but they will need his uncle’s help. His Uncle, Lord Shimura, was also captured by the Mongols. Jin’s main desire is to free his uncle so that they can fight back the invaders of their island. Jin and Yuna infiltrate the compound that Lord Shimura is held in and Jin duals the grandson of Genghis Khan. Jin proves no match for his opponent. He luckily survives the encounter and realizes that he will need more help if he wishes to free his uncle. 

Jin is able to quickly get the help of Sensei Ishikawa and Lady Masako. They both of course have their own problems that require Jin’s help in exchange. Jin begins to help Yuna save her brother but has to resort to actions contrary to what he was taught as a Samurai. He had been always taught to kill with honour. However, the only way that he can have a fighting chance against the Mongols is to resort to dishonourable methods. With Yuna’s influence, Jin assassinates his enemies. Jin justifies this to himself by saying that he does what needs to be done to save the people of Tsushima. With flashbacks of Jin learning the way of the Samurai, we can see glimpses in Jin’s character of him reacting out of emotion. 

The subplot stories of Sensei Ishikawa and Lady Masako are variations of Jin’s journey. In order to defeat the Mongols Jin has to participate in actions that are contrary to what he was taught. He goes against his tradition, the code that the Samurai live by. In Sensei Ishikawa’s story, a student of Ishikawa has betrayed him and is using what he taught her to teach the Mongols. Lady Masako is out for revenge against the people who slaughtered her entire family. Whoever did it seem to be close to the family in some way? Both stories centre around betrayal, much like Jin’s own betrayal of tradition. 

Jin eventually meets up with an old friend, Ryuzo. Ryuzo now leads a group of Straw Hats and Jin offers to help them find food in exchange for their help in freeing Lord Shimura. The Straw Hats are a group of Ronins who are classless Samurai. After a dual that took place when the two were younger, Ryuzo was forced to live a life of a Ronin instead of being a Samurai like he always wanted. Ryuzo has held some contempt towards Jin for how vicious he was during their dual. When the time came to free Lord Shimura from the Mongols Ryuzo was nowhere to be found. Not only did he not show up to help but he appeared later with the intent of killing Jin to reap the rewards of the bounty placed on his head. This is another act of betrayal, one between once close friends. 

With Lord Shimura now being saved the legend of The Ghost was now spreading around the Island of Tsushima. Jin is now known as a ruthless and unique fighter who is Tsushima’s saviour. His methods of dealing with the enemy are heavily contested by Lord Shimura who believes that what he’s doing is unforgivable and blasphemous to the way of the samurai. Jin has no choice but to walk separate himself from his uncle and look to deal with the invading threat on his own. A threat that he can now handle since he is The Ghost of Tsushima. 

The post Ghost Of Tsushima (2020) first appeared on Burkeview.

A prince living away from his kingdom is called back due to the king’s bad health. King Henry IV (Ben Mendelsohn) informs Hal (Timothée Chalamet)  that he will not take the crown and that it will be given to his younger brother Clarence (Dean-Charles Chapman). This is good news for Hal since he never desired to take on the crown because of his hate for his father. From the beginning, Hal is shown as someone different than everyone else in the court, he has his own way of doing things. However, after his younger brother is killed in battle he is forced to be the next king of England. Upon accepting this new responsibility King Henry V vows to bring peace to England. 

After a taunting gift and an assassination attempt, King Henry V has no choice but to declare war on France. Hal was trying to avoid this war decision, but it would seem the King of France left him no choice. The several advisors around Hal guided him to the best way to reach the peace he wanted. Because of this war, the King brought an old friend of his. A man named Falstaff (Joel Edgerton), that both respects and has a mind for the art of war. The King summoned his entire army to go up against the French army led by The Dauphin (Robert Pattinson). 

Interpretation 

The king was a well-done period piece with beautiful cinematography and amazing scenes. Everything came together for this film.  Timothée Chalamet’s acting is at an all-time high and is accompanied by both Joel Edgerton and Robert Pattinson. The story of King Henry V becoming a king is greatly told in this movie. Falstaff tells Hal, “A king doesn’t have friends, only followers and foe.” Because of this, King Henry finds it so hard to trust anyone in the court. Like his sister told him, they all have their own kingdoms hidden behind their eyes. This is challenging for King Henry since this distrust he has for everyone means he has to rely on only himself, which is hard to do considering he’s never been a King before. Giving the presence of Falstaff even more weight because he is the only man the King trusts. 

The battle scenes are brutal and do a great job of capturing the crowded nature of a battlefield. On top of that I enjoyed the display of the different dynamics that occur in the court. The King in particular’s adamant hatred and need to be different from his father made the end even more satisfying. 

The post The King (2019) first appeared on Burkeview.