Golden Kamuy (2024)

HQ cinematography impeccably conveys the core of the "Wild East" imagery and aesthetics

- Tarantino will definitely love this drama -
Both the movie and the drama are a refreshing adaptation of a manga created following apparently simple treasure hunt plotline. The drama is better than the movie: there's more time to depict a series of odd, cruel characters and all their weird side-stories. The time is essential to tell this entertaining and action-packed story because -as the title suggests - the "hunt" is more about men-hunt, the story is basically after 24 evaded prisoners whose collective body tattoos design a treasure map. In the first two episodes, we are still in winter-time on Hokaiddo covered with snow, so the actions last longer due to the slower body moves, but already in the beginning of ep 3 the snow disappears, the audience is introduced to an Ainu kotan (=village) and their costumes, and the pace of actions starts to accelerate.
The dangers come from everywhere and there's no character to be trifled with. The opening scene of ep 4, with two old swordsman dealing with a bunch of yakuza gangsters, is not only testifying how dangerous and skillful in fight the ex prisoners could be despite their age, but it also conveys a particular aesthetics of "Wild East", it's a western of the "Far East", a mix of epic Kurosawa's shots and the ice-cool vibe of Clint Eastwood's characters in Sergio Leone's movies. The audience is frequently reminded of the time-setting of the drama with costumes, environment, even with old (and/or artificially aged) photos and shots. The cinematography, the direction and the costume department deserve a full 10 mark (it's a pity we can't separately rate them on MDL), because the value provided is far beyond the genre and for these reasons, I recommend it even to persons who are not into this genre or are completely disinterested in manga-adaptations.

Lets' hope we won't wait long for S3.

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