Japanese cinema has a rich history, with the jidaigeki period films of Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi considered all-time greats of the Japanese Golden Age of the 1950s. Though the Japanese New Wave directors of the 60s and 70s were less interested in period films, leaning towards yakuza flicks and ghost stories, filmmakers like Masaki Kobayashi did carry on the tradition. But today’s great Japanese directors, like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Sion Sono, seem to firmly prefer films set in the present day. So do Takashi Miike and Shinya Tsukamoto – though each has made a jidaigeki at some point.
We can now at Kiyoshi Kurosawa to that list, as The Samurai and the Prisoner is a true jidaigeki in the style of his namesake (no relation though, if you were wondering). Kurosawa is on a recent productive streak, with Chime, Cloud, and Serpent’s Path all released in the last two years. His trademark is unsettling slow-burn horror, though he has shown a willingness to dabble in other genres from time to time. And though a jidaigeki could certainly turn ominous and bloody (see one of my very favorite Japanese films, Toshio Matsumoto’s Demons) Kurosawa forgoes his usual trademarks and makes a faithful genre adaptation.
That’s not to say that there isn’t any unique spin on the jidaigeki here, though. The film functions as a bit of a puzzle box or mystery film, with a series of mysteries for our two leads to solve. The Samurai, Araki Murashige (Masahiro Motoke), is in the classic Watson role of observing all the going-on, while the Prisoner, Kuroda Kanbei (Masaki Suda), is kept in the dungeon but becomes Murashige’s confidant because of his uncanny ability to solve the riddles.
At the outset of the film, Murashige imprisons Kanbei, who has decided to side with Oda Nobunaga, who is laying siege to Murashige’s castle. Murashige has to combat enemies outside and inside the castle walls, with the threat of Oda always looming and strange events occurring within the castle gates that threaten to turn his people against him. As it becomes clear that one of Murashige’s allies is plotting against him in secret, Kanbei becomes one of the few people he can trust.
A Knives Out film this is not – the riddles have mostly satisfying conclusions but there would hardly be a way to guess them before the revelations. Instead, the emphasis is on the palace intrigue elements and the character traits of Murashige. It becomes clear that his public perception means everything for his ability to rule and lead, while his disposition against capital punishment goes against samurai tradition and always threatens to make him look weak in the eyes of his subjects.
The Samurai and the Prisoner is not very expansive: we see a few small battle scenes, but most of the action takes place inside the palace walls. Kurosawa does a great job of creating visual interest through slight dolly movement with the camera to make the shots more dynamic. And everything is a joy to look at, from the beautiful costuming to the set design to a great use of period-appropriate props throughout.
Masaki Suda, who played the lead in Kurosawa’s Cloud, returns again in a support role here and gives a wonderfully spiteful performance. Masahiro Motoke, who I had not seen before, is also strong as a samurai with convictions but not a lot of options. Beyond those two leads, there is a noticeable lack of other notable characters – but that isn’t uncommon for the jidaigeki formula. And with two excellent leads and the natural ebb and flow of tension that the sequential mystery structure provides, the 2.5 hour runtime flies by.
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