Samurai Marathon(サムライマラソン) Japanese Film Thoughts(2019)

 

  Samurai Marathon is a collaboration film between east and west as Bernard Rose(Candy Man) takes the director chair while Akihiro Dobashi re-wrote the film based on Hirsoshi Saito's novel. The film stars Takeru Satoh, Nana Komatsu,(The World of Kanako) Hiroki Hasegawa,(Attack on Titan) and Shota Sometani. 

   People from a village clan are ordered by their leader to participate in a marathon across the region of Japan. The one who wins get on wish from the kingdom. In the race the runaway princess and a spy raised from birth also have something to prove to themselves......

    In my honest opinion Samurai Marathon isn't an action packed film. I'm just stating this for the viewers who are expecting an sword fighting epic that will have blood flying through the air. You will get that somewhat but the film focuses more on a very fictional retelling of Tokyo Marathon's origins. So you get a film that focuses more on the story then the action expect from a film with "Samurai" in the title. Still, you get a rich plot that's pretty interesting because of the different character motivation during the race. You get exposed to a bit of Japanese customs that still hold true in modern society. Customs such as stepping in a person's home with your shoes on which is very disrespectful to the owner of the household. No Japanese people kill themselves on the stop anymore however, there's exist a public shame if you do something outside of the norm to offend. I wasn't looking out for the slight humor brought on by certain characters but it works in steady flow with the story's progression. Back to the action fans, you get one or two flying heads to look at then about two action scenes. There's not a lot here. The action feels meaty at least making for a full solid film to pass the time. You don't even realize this is a historical film until the end of the film. 

    Nana shines bright here has a sheltered princess who wants to be free. Her acting showcases a balance between the elegant princess who most show the people her grace and the girl who longs be be close to the action. She changes both personas at the drop of a hat and they seem like two different people even though she's playing the same character. Takeru probably had not trouble playing this role since he's played Samurai before. The talent from him is always second to none. I enjoy his stone cold stares so much. Ya'll just don't know. It's the same case for everyone else in the cast too. Nana was the only one who really had something to prove in this film. 

   I also enjoyed looking at the set on location. Clearly the villages are manmade sets. I'm referring to the natural scenes showing the grassy fields under the pink purple sky and the waterfall that goes downward for miles. Wherever they chose to shoot the film really brought 1855 Japan to live as eye candy. 

    While Samurai Marathon doesn't bring anything new to the Japanese Samurai genre, the film is still a good watch when you have nothing else better to do. I believe people who are fans of anyone from the cast will be happy with their performances. This film was made for this cast. I mean that whole heartedly.