He's directed over 70 films, but Yoji Yamada was virtually unknown outside Japan until 2002's Oscar-nominated Twilight Samurai. His new Love and Honor closely follows that film's jidaigeki warrior path. Food tester Takuya Kimura loses his sight — and eventually his wife — after eating the poisoned meal intended for his master. The "blind swordsman out for justice" plot is old hat for fans of samurai cinema, but Love and Honor is more Kurosawa than Zatôichi, having earned 12 Academy Award nominations last year. It's taken a while, but Yamada has earned his place as one of Japan's finest working filmmakers.