Samurai Fiction (1998)

A noble young samurai searches for a thief who has stolen a precious treasure and killed one of his clansmen and meets an older samurai who tries to deter him from the violence of revenge.

Director:

Hiroyuki Nakano

Writers:

Hiroyuki Nakano, Hiroshi Saitô

Stars:

Morio Kazama, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Tomoyasu Hotei

4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Ohsawa	...	Tadasuke Kurosawa (as Ken Osawa)
Hiroshi Kanbe	...	Gosuke
Ryôichi Yuki	...	Ninja Hayabusa
Akiko Monô	...	Ninja Akakage
Taro Maruse	...	Sakyounosuke Kajii
Ramo Nakajima	...	Denbei Kimura

Storyline

Three centuries ago, a precious sword has been stolen by Kazamatsuri -- the sword, which historic and symbolic value is priceless for the clan (Shogun Tokugawa donated it to clan 80 years before that, at the same time that he established them as the local rulers). Lord's counselor's young son Heishiro goes to retrieve the sword himself to protect the clan from the shame or possible demise. He is accompanied with two friends, Shintaro and Tadasuke, and followed by the ninjas of the clan. After Kazamatsuri wounds Heishiro and kills one of his friends, the young aristocrat still wants revenge more than sword itself, but meanwhile have to recover from his wounds, in the small forest house of a lonely samurai and his daughter. At the same time, Kamazatsuri stays in nearby town in the entertainment center run by Okatsu and falls into her. The older samurai tries to dissuade Heishiro from fighting with Kamazatsuri, but is himself gradually drawn into the conflict.

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | sword | revenge | thief | ninja | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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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!

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Connections

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

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Soundtracks

Save Me
Music and Lyrics by Tomoyasu Hotei

User Reviews

Old Style Samurai Action With A New-Fangled Soundtrack!

SAMURAI FICTION (4 outta 5 stars) What a terrific movie! It's described as a comedy but, while it does have a lot of humour in it, I think it holds up pretty well with any of the classic samurai stories. The movie is in black and white (with select use of colored images throughout) and I found the visual style very reminiscent of early Kurosawa. In fact, if I had been told that this was an early Kurosawa movie I would have believed it completely. Except for the soundtrack, that is! As old fashioned as the look of the movie is, it has a very modern rock soundtrack by the great Tomayasu Hotei (you know his music from "Kill Bill"). Tomayasu even co-stars in the movie.. playing Kazamatsuri, the badass samurai who steals a clan's revered ceremonial sword and triggers some strong (violent) emotions. After nearly killing a trio of young men bent on recovering the sword, Kazamatsuri becomes obsessed with fighting a peace-loving samurai master who has given up the idea of violence and killing. But maybe he will change his tune if his daughter is threatened...? Great plot, great performances... the actual swordplay may seem a little less flashy than most modern epics but its still exciting stuff, especially when backed by Tomayasu's stirring rock score! The soundtrack might be the one thing that puts people off this movie... personally I didn't find it distracting or "wrong" at all. The old-style movie directing and the "MTV Music" style melded perfectly.

Details

Official Sites:

Peacedelic Studio, Inc.

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

1 August 1998 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Samurai Fiction

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1