Samurai films have been a staple of action cinema pretty much since the birth of the art form.
Akira Kurosawa made a career and a cinematic movement with the genre when he made The Seven Samurai in 1954.
The samurai were the basis for the Jedi and had a huge hand in creating the American Western.
It’s interesting, then, that the Japanese government basically outlawed the samurai on this day in 1867. That was the day that the Tokugawa shogunate after a bloody revolution, handed the reigns of the country back to the emperor, effectively ending the Edo Period and beginning the Meiji Period. This period only lasted a short time (until 1912), but it started Japan on the road towards modernization. They allowed Western culture to invade their shores and it’s been a wild ride ever since.
One of the big things that the emperor wanted to get rid of were the samurai. These men had protected the government and the people for centuries and now they were being told that they were no longer important. By 1873, the 1.9 million Samurai were told that they could no longer carry their swords in town.
This basically ended the Samurai Class, Japan’s version of the Wild West Hero.
We all know about Hiroshi Inagaki’s Samurai Trilogy and all of Kurosawa’s films. But the samurai has had a bit of a resurgence in the last decade or so.
Here are some of the best of the modern samurai films.
THE BLIND SWORDSMAN: ZATOICHI (2003)
Written and Directed by “Beat” Takeshi Kitano
Based on novels by Kan Shimosawa
Zatoichi has been a screen legend since the early 60s when Shimosawa’s character was brought to life by director Kenji Misumi and actor Shintaro Katsu in a very successful series of films. The character has shown up off and on ever since in varying incarnations, even once as a woman in a film called Ichi.
None of them have been quite as successful as Kitano’s kinetic vision of the legendary swordsman. In his version, Ichi is a traveling masseur who gets caught up in a plot to control a small town and get revenge. Of course, he doesn’t want anything to do with any of this. He just wants to give some peaceful massages. Eventually, though, he has to show everyone what a great swordsman truly is, cutting bad guys down left and right.
The action is non-stop and the comedy is never obtrusive. This is the kind of movie that you just sit back, relax and enjoy the weird ride. It’s an incredibly strange film, but amazing in that strangeness. Make sure you don’t give up on it before the end when it suddenly turns into a completely different movie.
13 ASSASSINS (2010)
Directed by Takashi Miike
Written by Daisuke Tengan
Based on screenplay by Kaneo Ikegami
Miike is one of those filmmakers that many filmgoers think is completely insane.
And, being a fan, I would agree with them. IMDb credits him with eight films in 2001. Every year shows at least 2 or 3 films. Yeah. He’s a bit crazy. But it’s not just the sheer number of films that makes him slightly insane. It’s the fact that he’s tackled every genre known to man, giving it his own nearly impossible twist.
Then, in 2010, he made a film that even his detractors decided was great. 13 Assassins is a remake of a classic Samurai film from the 60s. Yes, there is at least one scene where the old Miike pokes his ugly head out from the womb of celluloid, but this is truly his first “mature” film that I know of.
The film is about 13 Samurai warriors who band together to kill the lord of a town who is planning on killing the shogun. They know that they probably won’t make it out alive, but they also know that Japan will fall if they don’t follow through. It’s battle after battle and Miike shows that he can reign it in when he needs to. This film didn’t need to be overly weird to be great.
It’s an amazing feat for a filmmaker known for being great but inaccessible to the majority.
AZUMI (2003)
Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura
Written by Rikiya Mizushima/Isao Kiriyama
Based on manga by Yu Koyama
Many folks didn’t like this female-centric samurai film, but I’ve never been completely sure why. It’s basically a link between live-action, anime and video games and, as far as I’m concerned, works really well.
It’s the story of a crew of samurai who are charged with the task of protecting the Tokugawa shogun from rebels who want to plunge the country into civil war. After the final test of strength, courage and loyalty, Azumi is one of five survivors who must go on this mission. She’s given everything to her leader and now she has to find more to give.
These filmmakers also made the more popular Versus, a movie that I have never quite seen the appeal of. Somehow, they managed to make a zombie samurai film boring. Azumi, on the other hand, is a kinetic and fun modern samurai flick. It’s not as serious as the classics, but doesn’t play for laughs like Zatoichi. It does, however, have one of the most heartbreaking opening scenes of any samurai movie and a lot of great action sequences. (Watch for the fight on the bridge. I haven’t actually seen this movie in years and I’m still a little bit dizzy.)
RUROUNI KENSHIN (SAMURAI X): TRUST & BETRAYAL (1999)
Directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi
Written by Masashi Sogo
Based on manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki
This is a bit of a cheat because it was a video prequel to an anime series. But, seeing as how it’s feature length and it’s been compared to Kurosawa, I think it’s a safe cheat.
Himura Kenshin was an assassin for the Meiji forces during the revolution. He was a killing machine who cut down anyone in his way and was given the nickname Hitokiri (Man Slayer) Battousai (Batto=sword drawing, Sai=suffix added to a pen name). So he was pretty feared by the Tokugawa forces.
He was also right around 16 when the revolution was happening.
The series is about his years after the revolution, as a wandering swordsman who only wanted peace and justice. He no longer kills, carrying a Sakabato (reverse blade sword). But this prequel is all about the revolution. Here we see the lovable Kenshin slaughtering men and women, cutting through them like butter. As violent as the series could get, Trust & Betrayal ups the ante tenfold.
None of that would make a difference if the movie didn’t have a story. Luckily, this is the story of Kenshin becoming human. He falls in love against his better judgement. He fights for that love. He makes his vow to become a warrior for peace. It’s a beautiful and bloody story that cracks the heart right down the middle.
Even if you’re not an anime fan, this movie could be for you. Miyazaki may be one of the best animation directors of all time, but I would put this one above just about any of his films. Especially if you have watched the series at all, this one will hit you where you live and never let go.
THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI (2002)
Directed by Yoji Yamada
Written by Yoji Yamada/Yoshitaka Asama
Based on novels by Shuhei Fujisawa
Seibei (Hiroyuki Sanada) is a poor samurai who is raising his two daughters on his own. The Meiji Era has just begun and there is no more work for samurai like him. When he finds out that the woman he loved as a young man has left her abusive husband…nothing much really changes. She helps him with his daughters, but he has no hopes of remarrying.
Then he is hired to kill an unruly samurai. Can he lift his head up enough to do it and gain some dignity? Or will he hung his head longer and allow time to pass him by?
Rurouni Kenshin has been compared to Kurosawa for its epic scope and violent heart. Yamada’s Twilight Samurai has been compared to Kurosawa for what is left unsaid in the film. It’s a very quiet film that allows the viewers to take away from it what they will. Like the epics of old, Seibei’s story is slow, methodical and eventually, heartrending.
Don’t watch this for a rollicking good time. See it for the work of an aged director who is doing some of his best work. See it for the story of a man who will do anything to provide for his family, but can’t quite seem to provide for himself. Like the best Kurosawa films, it shows us that the samurai life was not just about killing and honor. It was also just about living.
