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Six-String Samurai is either one of the best movies ever made
or one of the worst. I tend to think it leans toward the former.
But it is strange, and definitely not to everyone’s taste.
The movie is the undergraduate thesis film of Lance Mungia,
who was studying at Loyola University at the time. For a student
film, this movie is very good. I’ve also had the good fortune
of seeing “Cannibal the Musical,” the student film of Matt
Stone and Trey Parker, famed creators of “South Park.”
“Six-String Samurai” is much better than those boys’ student
work. But again, the movie is strange, even stranger than
anything Stone and Parker have done. It is set in a post-apocalyptic
America.
In the movie, the Soviet Union launched a nuclear war against
the United States in 1957, and won. All of America is under
Soviet control, except for Las Vegas, of which Elvis is king.
But Elvis dies, and Vegas needs a new king.
Fifties style rock ‘n’ roll forms the basis of post-apocalypse
American culture. The movie’s soundtrack is full of it (actually
more like a wierded out rebirth of it). One Russian band contributing
to the soundtrack is also briefly in the film itself, a band
called The Red Elvises.
The main character in the film is a guy named Buddy, who happens
to bear a remarkable resemblance to Buddy Holly. He’s a samurai
who carries his sword inside his guitar. Apparently his reputation
with both the sword and the six-string is well known.
The story of the movie follows him as he journeys to Las Vegas
to claim the recently vacated throne.
Buddy makes the Fonz look like a lame-o. If the word cool
means anything, it refers to the six-string samurai.
The actor who plays Buddy is Jeffrey Falcon. His background
is in the Hong Kong film industry, which makes for some decent
martial arts scenes.
Two obstacles stand in Buddy’s way in his quest to reach Las
Vegas: Death, who also wants to be king, and a kid who keeps
tagging along with him and getting into trouble that he has
to get him out of.
The samurai and the kid travel across the strange landscape
and run into strange characters, before the final face off
with Death himself.
This movie combines 50s rock n’ roll and a sick version of
its culture with martial arts. Where have you seen that before?
Nowhere, as far as I know.
That’s what’s great about this movie. It’s so insane it has
to be considered creative. And as crazy as it is, it comes
together in the end to make a pretty good story.
You
can also check out the official Six-String Samurai website
at www.sixstringsamurai.com.
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