A SAMURAI IN TIME and CUBE [Fantasia International Film Festival]

A still from A SAMURAI IN TIME

A SAMURAI IN TIME, directed by Jun'ichi Yasuda [Japanese language]

The release of the Hulu series SHOGUN has fans of that show clamoring for more samurai stories. In a serendipitous move, director and screenwriter Jun'ichi Yasuda releases A SAMURAI IN TIME into the zeitgeist at just the right moment. This feel-good fish out of water story blends comedy, choreography, and life lessons about learning to be content with all circumstances.

At the end of the Edo period, warring factions of samurai vye for power in Kyoto. The Satsuma and Choshu clans work to take down the reigning shogunate, while the Aizu clan and the Shinsengumi special police force help to maintain power. Aizu clansman Kosaka Shinzaemon (Makiya Yamaguchi) waits outside the Saikyoji Temple with his colleague, Sanosuke. The two have been assigned to duel Yamagata Hikokuro of the Choshu clan (Ken Shonozaki). Sanosuke meets a quick death, but as Kosaka clashes swords with Hikokuro, the fates collide. He is transported through time to the set of a contemporary jidaigeki period drama about a heroic samurai named Worry-No-Reformer.

[L-R] Makiya Yamaguchi as SHINZAEMON KOSAKA; Yuno Sakura as YUKO YAMAMOTO
in A SAMURAI IN TIME

 
Kosaka fits right in, due to his clothing and formal manner of speaking. In time, he gains a reputation as a hard-working kirareyaku, a stuntman who gets slashed and dies honorably during a swordfight. But just as Kosaka finds his groove, a famous celebrity shows up, demanding that Kosaka play a speaking role in his new film. Kosaka isn't sure how he feels about the new demands of the director and this new role.

There is a quiet simplicity to the humor of this story. Instead of packing the tale with clever wisecracks or slapstick humor, A SAMURAI IN TIME finds delight in seeing Kosaka explore his new surroundings with an old-fashioned curiosity. Kosaka is a man trained to display restraint and discipline at all times, and a slice of cake is enough to make him weep with guilt for the indulgence he's enjoying. Watching jidaigeki becomes an Olympic sport for Kosaka, who acts out each scene with aplomb. And he speaks with such dignity that his new friends just believe he's the most dedicated method actor they've ever seen.

But in addition to the calm and good-natured humor, the film also includes enough action to keep things interesting. Each sword battle is choreographed to perfection, with rich details that ground the narrative in historical accuracy. Before the initial battle in the past, Yamagata ties back his sleeves with a special cord called a tasuki with careful, deft movements. And choreographer Mr. Seimoto adjusts how Kosaka holds his sword during fight choreography to align with the best practices. These tiny details let viewers know that director Yasuda knows the history of both the Edo period and the jidaigeki genre.

Makiya Yamaguchi as SHINZAEMON KOSAKA in A SAMURAI IN TIME

 
Underneath the dressing of samurai practices, those who live by the codes find their happiness through duty and loyalty to whomever they call master. Kosaka desperately needs to find worth in a live of servitude and he finds a place to thrive in doing so.

In a time of cultural division, I found it comforting that Kosaka manages to be comfortable in his own skin, even when he's at odds with the time and people around him.

Screening in its International Premiere during the Fantasia Film Fest 2024 in the Cheval Noir section. See film details page for more information.

Release info: The film will be distributed by Third Window Films

Final score: 3.5 out of 5

Julian Richings as ALDERSON in CUBE

CUBE, directed by Vincenzo Natali, written by Natali, Andre Bijelic and Graeme Manson

The movie opens on an eyeball, blinking awake and struggling to find focus. No, we aren't watching the opening shot of ABC's LOST. We're watching the 1997 feature, CUBE, arguably the origin of the mystery box story and the debut feature of this year's Canadian Trailblazer Award winner, Vincenzo Natali. Back when Natali released CUBE, there was no LOST, no MAZE RUNNER, no 1899, and no PLATFORM. His thought experiment was just a bold concept that had never been seen before.

A man wakes up in a mysterious room shaped like a cube. He finds other survivors, all of them strangers. They spend the next 90 minutes trying to solve two mysteries: how did we get here and how do we get out? Now an honored trope of genre filmmaking, Natali's vision became an international sensation after a disappointing theatrical run.

David Hewlett as WORTH, Nicole de Boer as LEAVEN in CUBE

 
While the script leaves much to be desired, the central concept of strangers thrown together is a creative exercise dream come true. Who they were before they wake up in the cube proves unimportant. Only who they are matters now – how they contribute to the group and interact with one another. They begin to form theories and use their combined skills to test if those theories help them stay out of harm's way.

Natali does all of this with a set made of a cube and a half they could dress and light to appear as if the group was traveling across 26 cubes in each dimension. Of course, as the group travels through these cubes, they interact with one another, vying for power and trying to prove their own value. Their efforts to find logic in the cube opens doors for power struggles and existential crises, where each person's true nature is revealed, flaws and all. While not a perfect film, CUBE deserves kudos for starting a subgenre that still challenges directors and storytellers to this day.

A still from the movie CUBE

Not all of us can make sense of the math that eventually becomes the group's compass, but all of us can understand the desire to step on those that appear weaker when stress begins to mount. It's what you do in that moment that defines who you are, not the trappings that the material world values.

Screening as a 4K restoration at the Fantasia Retro section during Fantasia Film Fest 2024. See film details page for more information. 

Release info: The film is playing on Prime Video currently.

Final score: 3.5 out of 5