Samurai Marathon - Digital Review

[Michael Scott]

Samurai Marathon

Movie:
Video: N/A
Audio: N/A
Extras: N/A
Final Score:


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Movie
I was rather excited about Samurai Marathon (also called Samurai Marathon 1855 in some locales) due to the fact that director Bernard Rose was making a hybrid Japanese/American production about the historical start of the famous Samurai Marathon that runs in Japan annually. Bernard is mostly known for directing the early 90s horror film Candyman, but he also is known among cinemaphiles as a rather unique and artistic soul who creates some fascinating works (I loved his take on Anna Karenina). After viewing I had to admit that it exceeded my expectations, but also was much different than I was actually expecting. It’s a period piece drama that was labeled as a blood-fest of an action movie, but in reality it’s a slice of Japanese history with hints of bloody violence woven into a tapestry of art history. It’s simultaneously beautiful, artistic, bloody, and slightly chaotic as well. Sometimes Bernard doesn’t finish some points, but the overall story is completely different, and utterly fascinating.

The story revolves around the origination of the famous Samurai Marathon that runs annually in Japan. Back in 1855 the United States and England were pushing hard for Japan to come into the modern era so that we could establish trade relations to them. The Japanese people were at a peaceful state, and coming to an end of the samurai era, but still resisting the westernization that was inevitable. The Shogun was considering signing a peace treaty with the U.S., but the rest of the Samurai warlords were terrified of the American weapons, as well as the idea that they might be conquered by the westerners. One warlord in particular decided that the threat from the “Black Ships” (as the U.S. fleet was called) was too much to ignore. Due to the fact that his samurai have gotten lazy from too much peace time, he decides to hold a 36 mile marathon race to toughen his men back up and get them into fighting shape. The prize for the winner would be any wish that person so desired him his lord, no questions asked.

However, the race is anything but an amiable jaunt like many of the participants feel it is. There are spies from the Shogun in the warlord’s camp meant to ferret out any betrayal to the Shogun. One of the hidden ninja named Jinnai Karasawa (Takeru Satoh) sends a letter to the Shogun telling him that his master is about to rebel, only to realize too late that the race is nothing more than an exercise to get the men ready in case of foreign invasion. However, it’s too late and the letter has been sent, which means assassins from the Shogun are on their way to kill the entire samurai fighting force and put down the potential “rebellion”. Simultaneously we have a sub plot about the lord’s daughter Yuki (Nana Komatsu) who wants to run the race as a “boy” in order to gain her freedom from the confines of an arranged marriage, a former guard who wants to train the new generation of samurai, as well as countless others who show no fear of betraying their fellow runners in order to get that coveted win from their lord.

Director Bernard Rose doesn’t make the film a true comedy, but he does have a very lighthearted and whimsical take on the race. Nothing is ever truly “funny”, so to speak, but there’s this feeling like every character is on the verge of telling a joke and just having fun. The story itself plays out as a slice of life tale, allowing us to see the machinations and the conniving act of all involved without bias or prejudice. There’s no real heroes, and no real villains, instead there are just people making decisions that we as observers are watching play out on screen.

While the film was labeled an action film, I’d say it’s much more of a historical drama with brief instances of bloody violence. The first 40 minutes don’t even have a single bit of action or violence, but once the race starts the tone shifts dramatically and the few fight sequences can be savagely brutal. I was completely fascinated by the raw and realistic portrayal of sword combat as well. Most of the time in these period piece films it’s like watching a Hong Kong action film. Perfectly choreographed fight scenes that look like everyone is a master of their weapon. Instead we see humans using their blades as a real human would. The fight between Jinnai and the other spy is amazing. It’s not overly flashy or wild, but shows two humans struggling to dominance with their weapons, and the realistic use of them as well (no fencing like, flashy blade work). There’s a few issues with budgetary constraints here and there (some of the impaling shots are obviously angled to LOOK like they’re impaling, but you can actually see the blades are off to one side), but Bernard did a fantastic job with choosing his fight choreographer. It adds the authenticity and historical nature of the film in ways I really appreciate.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video: N/A

Being that Well Go USA provided me with a screening link (not from a digital service such as Vudu, Movies Anywhere etc) I will refrain from giving a rating for the video, as it is in no way indicative of the official stream, or the physical product








Audio: N/A

Same as the video, I will abstain from giving an analysis of the video as it was taken from a "screener" stream rather than a retail source













Extras: N/A

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Final Score: ​

Samurai Marathon is a fascinating, if not slightly imperfect, film that takes a slice of life look at a piece of fairly unknown (outside of Japan) history. It's whimsical, bloody, very entertaining, if albeit not as historically accurate as one could have hoped for (according to my sources. I had a blast with the film and really enjoyed the raw and realistic approach to samurai culture. Sadly the Blu-ray was pushed back a few months due to the Covid 19 issues, but this digital review was able to be provided in the interim. Definitely worth checking out.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Takeru Satoh, Nana Komatsu, Mirai Moriyama, Shota Sometani, Munetaka Aoki, Ryu Kohata, Yuta Koseki
Directed by: Bernard Rose
Written by: Bernard Rose, Hiroshi Saito, Kikumi Yamagishi
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 106 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: May 12th, 2020

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

I believe you left "The Arrow" summary here instead. lol.

Looking back on the show it’s been a solid, but sometimes bumpy ride. Arrow started out as one of the best superhero shows in the last 15 years, and ended up somewhere in the middle as seasons progressed. However, the consistency and ability to keep a cohesive universe in the DC TV world was unheard of at that time, and The CW pulled it off amazingly well. I knew going in that the 8th season was going to be a shorty in order to wrap up the show, so I liked this little build up to the biggest crossover we’ve seen on DCTV, and was very satisfied (despite some small hiccups). You’ll be missed Arrow. Like usual with these digital reviews, their is next to no extras that are found on the discs, and the audio and video scores are left blank simply due to the fact that it's not as objective when your source is dependent on bandwidth.

 

[Michael Scott]

lol, oops. The final paragraph didn't make it in from my template. fixed.

 

[tripplej]

Looks good now and I will check it out.