SF: Episode One (1998)

Director:

Hiroyuki Nakano

Writers:

Hiroyuki Nakano (writer)
Hiroshi Saitô (writer)

Release Date:

1 August 1998 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

Plot:

Three centuries ago, a precious sword has been stolen by Kazamatsuri -- the sword, which historic and...

Plot Keywords:

Sword | Samurai | Shogun | Ninja | Revenge

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Morio Kazama	...	Hanbei Mizoguchi
Mitsuru Fukikoshi	...	Heishiro Inukai
Tomoyasu Hotei	...	Rannosuke Kazamatsuri
Tamaki Ogawa	...	Koharu Mizoguchi
Mari Natsuki	...	Okatsu
Taketoshi Naitô	...	Kanzen Inukai (as Taketoshi Naitoh)
Kei Tani	...	Kagemaru
Fumiya Fujii	...	Ryunosuke Kuzumi
Naoyuki Fujii	...	Shintarô Suzuki
Ken Osawa	...	Tadasuke Kurosawa
Hiroshi Kanbe	...	Gosuke
Ryoichi Yuki	...	Ninja Hayabusa
Akiko Monou	...	Ninja Akakage
Taro Maruse	...	Sakyounosuke Kajii
Yuji Nakamura	...	Samejima

Also Known As:

SF: Episode One - Samurai Fiction (closing credits title)
Samurai Fiction (USA)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Finland:S | Singapore:PG

Trivia:

The sword that is stolen in this film was borrowed from the estate of 'Toshiro Mifune'. It was one of his personal swords.

Quotes:

Okatsu: I'm a woman who's killed all manner of men. Even trumped up little samurai like you! No stray dog is going to give me any cheek!
Rannosuke Kazamatsuri: How did it come to this?
Okatsu: Aaaaaiiiiieeeeee!

Movie Connections:

References Pulp Fiction (1994)

Soundtrack:

Save Me

Unusual Rock'n'Roll Samurai movie

The Japanese b/w movie "Samurai Fiction" is neither a typical martial arts movie nor a classical "old school" samurai drama like the ones of Akira Kurosawa. It's rather a collage of different impressions about the life of a Japanese samurai some hundred years ago who becomes involved in a bloody revenge story.

In the beginning the spectators have to get used to the strange mixture of b/w action scenes, narrations, dances, wild editing and a rock and dance music sound track. After a certain time, director Hiroyuki Nakano seems to remember what a story is and tells an interesting plot about a proud samurai struggling between revenge, fight, death and love.

During movie there are always comedy situations such as the witty dialogue between the samurai and his servant or a really beautiful striptease dance Japanese-style by stunning actress Mari Natsuki to an Asian canton pop version of Peggy Lee's hit "Sway".

If you're into Asian hardcore action movies you may be bored by this unusual movie, but if you're open-minded enough for experiments, "Samurai Fiction" is a good and entertaining example for modern Japanese underground cinema.