SAMURAI, THE AND THE PRISONER

(director/writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa; screenwriter: based on the novel “Kokurojo” by Honobu Yonezawa ; cinematographer: Yasuyuki Sasaki; editor: Koichi Takahashi; music: Yoshihiro Hanno; cast: Masahiro Motoki (Lord Murashige Araki), Masaki Suda (Kanbei Kuroda), Yuriko Yoshitaka (Chiyoho), Munetaka Aoki (Araki Kyuzaemon), Ryota Miyadate (Inui Sukesaburo), Tasuku Emoto (Saika Sagehari), Joe Odagiri (Koori Juemon), Yusuke Santamaria (Akioka Shironosuke), Mitsuo Yoshihara (Kawarabayashi Notonyudo), Ryota Bando (Kitagawara Yosaku), Yoshiyoshi Arakawa (Muhen), Kiyohiko Shibukawa (Saika Magoroku), Ikkei Watanabe (Takayama Dario), Yoshimasa Kondo (Nakanishi Shinpachiro), Toshihiro Yashiba (Ikeda Izumi), Masatoshi Kihara (Nomura Tango), Kochi Yamato (Itami Ichirozaemon), Mutsuo Yoshioka (Mori Kahei), Shusaku Kamikawa (Teraotoko), Oshiro Maeda (Kuriyama Zensuke), Bando Shingo (Nobunaga Oda); Runtime: 147; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Satoko Ishida; Janus Films; 2026-Japan-in Japanese)

“A provocative mystery/thriller.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
Acclaimed 71-year-old Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (“Chime”/”Cloud”), a former Tokyo University professor, known for his excellent psychological horror films, brilliantly adapts for the first time an historical drama to the screen. It’s based on the 2021 novel “Kokurojo” by Honobu Yonezawa. The samurai pic plays out as a provocative mystery/thriller, a high-class whodunnit period drama that’s set in Japan’s war-torn 16th century feudal period.


lord Murashige Araki (Masahiro Motoki) is attacked in his mountain castle fortress by the ruthless warlord Nobunaga Oda (Shingo Bando). Araki has betrayed the warlord by taking as a captive Kanbei (Masaki Suda), an envoy sent to him by Oda. He wants the warlord to think that the envoy now works for him. This doesn’t sit too well with Oda.

Instead of a war film, it turns into a mystery tale, as Murashige is faced with such things as a series of unsolved murders in his castle-the deaths of a priest, a swordsman and the public execution of a spy.

Accused of these and other crimes, Murashige forms a reluctant alliance with a former adversary, Kanbei Kuroda (Masaki Suda), so he can clear his name.

There’s more talk than action, but it offers an intriguing story, a well-thought out plot, an artistic production, first-class acting, and its sleuthing is fun to follow.
 
It played at the Cannes Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 8/5/2026  GRADE: A-
dennisschwartzreviews.com