Critic Reviews

• Trevor Johnston, Time Out

  It's a satisfying story, played out in decorous period surroundings of the classic warrior tale but Yamada's 79th film lacks any hint of surprise or excitement.

• Jason Anderson, Globe and Mail

  A very satisfying tale that emphasizes one of the genre's key themes: The deepest wound a samurai may suffer does not come from any blade.

• Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

  An impeccably made classic Japanese period picture in which a nobility of spirit is tested amid the most beautiful of settings, revealing the harshness and hypocrisy of a feudal society of the utmost formality and rigidity.

• Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times

  It's an exquisitely crafted melodrama, moving with stately grace toward an understated yet forceful quest for revenge.

• Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com

  the movie has only one sword fight, and it consists of only three or four swings of the blade, but don't let that dissuade you. You won't be bored.

• David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

  Feudal honour is challenged by love with overwhelming consequences. Even die hard Zatoichi-ites will admire the deftness of Yamada's masterly direction.

• James Mottram, Film4

  Intricate, artfully constructed and utterly assured, Love And Honour is essential viewing for anyone who has seen Yamada's earlier samurai films. If you haven't, don't miss the chance to see what is a finely tuned example of the genre.

• Wendy Ide, Times [UK]

  The storytelling is all rather flat, as is the lighting. And the duel, when it finally comes, is something of an anticlimax.

• Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

  A fervent, sweet-natured tragic romance.

• Tim Evans, Sky Movies

  Gently paced and delicately played, give this long enough and it becomes a compelling watch that eventually rewards any moral aspirations with a splendid Zatoichi-style scrap that manages to stay its welcome.

• Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

  The third in director Yoji Yamada's Samurai Trilogy is an enjoyable, well acted drama, with a superb climactic swordfight and a plot that seems to have been lifted straight out of Hollywood melodrama.

• Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

  Veteran director Yamada continues to examine issues of duty and loyalty, sharply using matter-of-fact period detail and deep characterisations.

• Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses

  dyskoleyetai na kratisei ypo elegho toys melodramatismoys tis, kai sto deytero miso tis se krataei men me sfigmena ta heria ap' tin agonia, katorthoma, omos, poy den eimai sigoyros oti einai kai toso dyskolo, otan s' ehei paei os ekei me ta sagonia tentom

• Louis Proyect, rec.arts.movies.reviews

  Final installment in samurai trilogy that features a blind swordsman in an utterly distinct fashion from the Zatoichi movies--a far more vulnerable and far more believable hero.

• Simon Abrams, New York Press

  Thanks to its focus on internal struggle and domestically confined drama, Love and Honor is the wilting lily of Yamada's trilogy, albeit an exceptionally satisfying romance.

• Marc Mohan, Oregonian

  Gracefully directed, deliberately paced and intentionally free of the action you'd expect from a samurai film, all of which makes its climactic confrontation that much more effective.

• Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  The film is void of action until a final duel that is staged with a believability that makes the supernatural skill displayed in most blind swordsman films seem preposterous.

• Wade Major, Boxoffice Magazine

  Love and Honor is a welcome affirmation of Yamada's determination to maintain his historic workload, even while in his 70s.

• Matt Pais, Metromix.com

  Might work as a short story but as a full-length makes for a long, slow round of watch-checking.

Read all 19 critic reviews