Director Nakamura Noburo - not to be confused with Nakagawa Nobuo, another director, OR Nakamura Nobuo, an actor - directed 60 films between 1941 and 1979, this being his final one. The film is a biography of 13th century Buddhist monk Nichiren (Nakamura Kinnosuke). Being an important historical figure for the Japanese, Nichiren's life had been filmed several times before this, most notably in 1958 by director Watanabe Kunio. His grand-scale film depicted how Nichiren stopped the two attempts by Mongols to conquer Japan, by using his magical powers. The film is pretty fun, and matinee idol Hasegawa Kazuo starred as the main character.
In comparison, Nakamura's 1979 film is an attempt at telling a more biographical account of Nichiren's life. This however does not stop the film from using a little magic here and there. Since it had already been filmed, Nakamura does not really focus on the Mongol thing, but instead keeps the film close to its main character. The film attempts to be easy to follow and informative, which is why I was let the down by the fact that there was even a little magic in it. It makes the film feel less trustworthy and more a tale than a historical account. Of course reliable historical sources from that period are hard to come by.
Nakamura's lead performance is good. All in all this is a competently made, old-fashioned film biography, that doesn't even try to challenge the norms of genre. If you're interested in the subject and want something less-silly than the Hasegawa adventure romp, this should get the job done.
