Even if you know nothing about Jidaigeki, a genre of Japanese action films set during the Meiji period, A Samurai in Time will make you a fan! It’s twice as good as Rurouni Kenshin and as a modern day drama about what’s worth fighting for, that’s up to Shinzaemon Kosaka (Makiya Yamaguchi) to decide. After his warrior class got disbanded, he’s a soldier without a cause. After a lightning storm interrupted a duel he was going to have with Yamagata Hikokuro of the Choshu Clan (aka Kazami Kyoichiro), just where he lands is modern day Kyoto.
All those conflicts between the factions from his days are now the stuff of entertainment. And sometimes, we delve into the historical significance of who is in the right for the unification, but what matters more is what this warrior class does if any individual loses that stewardship. This theme gets a soft exposition as Kosaka finds a new career as a Yamaguchi, a type of stuntman who performs an absurd pose as he dies.
This is a trope that’s common in samurai epics made for television. If there’s a pop culture equivalent, I have to compare it to how often a Klingon says, “Today is a good day to die.”
But this film does more than honouring a lost tradition. Jun’ichi Yasuda has a lot to say in a film he wrote and directed, and it took a repeat viewing to see it. The moment that defines this movie is when it exposes why the age of the samurai cannot continue and why Japan should unite rather than being ruled by feuding states.
While there’s a plot hole concerning why nobody has done a missing person check on the hero, I feel this would steer this film in the wrong direction. Shinzaemon is an unknown stuntman, if I’m to borrow from the classic series, The Fall Guy. These people don’t get the respect the deserve, and as for whether dharma plays a factor on the overall film concept, I’d say yes.
iI also wondered how this movie would wrap up since the plot being set up got side-tracked big time. But thankfully, when he encounters his rival once again in the modern day, they will face each other once again, like the classically trained samurai that they are under the pale moonlight.
Ultimately, their feud was about their role in history and whether Japan must change. They know the tides are ebbing, and others superior to them decide the future upon. Even though they can uphold past ideals, that’s not the headspace they need to be. As for why samurai cinema is loved, the answers provided here say it better than anything on television! It’s a reminder of a more innocent time, regardless of how campy these serials look on television today.
4 Stars out of 5
A Samurai in Time Movie Trailer
