“The Samurai and the Prisoner” has one of the more captivating setups in recent memory: a mystery set in feudal Japan, with a peace-seeking lord trying desperately to solve a murder to keep his followers loyal in the face of a siege from a bloodthirsty conqueror.
Yet this short summary undersells the thematic ambition of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s latest film, filled as it is with moral and philosophical explorations of death and virtue in a time of constant killing. Kurosawa has delivered a singular film with stunning cinematography and police procedural thrills that expertly binds a variety of genres to satisfy a wide range of viewers.
The film opens with the brutal warlord Oda Nobunaga on a bloody trail of conquest through Japan, only to be betrayed by one of his most loyal followers, the comparatively gentle, thoughtful Araki Murashige (Masahiro Motoki), who gathers all of his own supporters and establishes defensive fortifications in Arioka Castle. Oda sends a clever envoy, Kuroda Kanbei (Masaki Suda), who fails to convince Lord Murashige to surrender and is wrongfully imprisoned despite his pleas to be executed, as is the proper way to deal with a samurai honorably.
When another prisoner is murdered within the castle walls, Lord Murashige finds himself going to the one person he knows to be innocent – the chained-up Kanbei – to help him solve the crime and keep his fragile coalition of allies intact, proving to them he is a leader worth following.
The film is broken into four chapters, one for each season of the year 1579 that Arioka Castle is under siege. Each season presents a new mystery, a new challenge to Lord Murashige’s delicate equilibrium, that requires collaboration with his prisoner. In the tradition of whodunits, the main character is flipped into being a feudal samurai version of Dr. Watson, going down constantly into the dungeons to consult with his imprisoned Sherlock Holmes.
While the individual mysteries are fun, they are sometimes not as well developed as would be desired for maximum payoff. There are scenes in which Kanbei hints vaguely at a solution, only to cut immediately to Murashige confronting the suspect, allowing precious little in the way of finding clues and letting a solution come organically to the viewer and characters. This choice may result in slightly less satisfying mysteries, but it is an intentional decision to shrink the mystery in favor of the grander thematic ideals, as Kurosawa focuses deeply on questions of faith and morality in times of war.
Throughout each season, characters deal with their own decisions, to kill or spare life, as well as the more ambitious questions of Buddhism, or Christianity, and how valuable either belief system is in the face of Oda’s relentless cruelty. “Advance to paradise, retreat to hell” is a proclamation repeated throughout the film, sometimes as a call to action and sometimes as a question as to who decides life and death in times of conflict.
Rarely has a mystery looked as good as “The Samurai and the Prisoner,” with such textured photography, each frame rich in detail, from the characters’ movements and the world they inhabit to the way the light, from the sun or a candle, plays across the screen. Without the need for words, the idyllic beauty of the imagery highlights the tragedy of war in its capacity to destroy the innocent.
While “The Samurai and the Prisoner” achieves its best moments in the first act, the entire film is an ambitious and rewarding experience that will haunt audiences not just with its mysteries, but with its perceptive questions of right and wrong in the face of death.
A version of this review was posted at Curt On The Movies.
“The Samurai and the Prisoner” Rated: NR. Running Time: 2 hours and 27 minutes. Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Starring Masahiro Motoki, Masaki Suda, Yuriko Yoshitaka and Munetaka Aoki. Genres: Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller, War.
About The Author
