r/Samurai

Cinepals: Just luxuriated in an enthralling period drama and whodunnit murder mystery set in the sword and armor world of Japan circa 1579.

THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER (in theaters) comes courtesy of director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to Akira) who’s known stateside for horror flicks like CURE. Both title characters are stranded for different reasons in Arioka Castle, a fortress under siege from a bloodthirsty warlord. The samurai character Araki Murashige, is the stern but wily leader of Settsu province, who willfully skirts time-honored samurai rules regarding executing enemies and their unfortunate messengers He’s more pragmatic than caring, raising eyebrows by sparing the lives of those that might serve his interests.

Kanbei, the prisoner, is ensconced in a dirty dungeon and they develop a symbiotic relationship as Kanbei gets off advising Araki on strategies to keep enemies and backstabbing in-house betrayers at bay.

The tormented Araki is portrayed by Masahiro Motoki who starred in the 2008 Best Foreign Film Oscar Winner DEPARTURES. He has the gravity and wounded fire of Toshiro Mifune, somehow keeping his wits, and his subordinates respect, while cornered. Masaki Suda, an actor and singer, brings a mind-gaming theatricality and feline elan as the shackled prisoner who toys with his captor.

Kurosawa came up directing yakuza b-films and adapted the bestselling novel by Honobu Yonezawa, because the director prefers mysteries where authority figures, not hired gumshoes, must juggle punishing responsibilities while searching for clues. Visually, Kurosawa honors the pageantry of Japanese historical epics but the story has more on its mind than battles and red herrings delving into issues of Christianity vs. Buddhism and whether divine intervention is a delusion or an inevitable system of justice.

At two-and-a-half hours, THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER never flags and in one sitting it engaged me in its palace intrigues more than the bloody, action-packed but largely glum, humorless third season of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON (HBO) with its cliffhanger killings of key figures desultory vs. dramatic. Conversely, THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER pays off with an emotive and plot twisty bang – or shall we say clang?

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So I often hear that one of totoyotomi hideyoshi main reasons for invading Korea was to weaken the clans who took part in the campaign so they could not revolt against him. Why then did he not force Tokugawa Ieyasu to provide a large force for the war with Korea? Wasn’t Tokugawa Ieyasu by far the wealthiest and most powerful lord in Japan after hideyoshi?

time when samurai's lived what kind their job was lifestyle hard or easy

was peacekeepers work healthy or no

i like samurai work it's bad they are no more here japan police should be new samurai's why even police replaced samurai's law rules orders justice peace honor code

they was are same but police code is different than samurai who japan knows this answer