Anomaly Film Festival Coverage
A Samurai in Time review
A bolt of lightning sends a samurai into the future…and the set of a samurai film. Admit it…you’re already sold.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
A Samurai in Time
Directed by Jun’ichi Yasuda
Written by Jun’ichi Yasuda
Starring Makiya Yamaguchi, Yuno Sakura, Hajime Inoue, Norimasa Fuke, Yoshiharu Fukuda, Ichiko Kurenai and Rantaro Mine
A Samurai in Time Review
Our final film in coverage of 2024’s Anomaly Film Festival is A Samurai in Time. It wasn’t the final film of the festival…that honor went to Universal Language. I was on the thruway for the final time after four days of back-and-forth travel…so I missed that one. A Samurai in Time was a great way to wrap up my personal festival, however. It was preceded, as all features were, by a short film. In this case the short in question was VHX…a very brief animated story about old VHS tapes longing for attention…but not the kind they end up receiving. It was a solid use of five minutes.
A Samurai in Time is a Japanese time travel comedy that transplants a Samurai 140 years into the future…and onto the set of a samurai film. Though it is very funny in parts…it rarely, if ever, goes for the easy laugh. Instead, it chooses to uphold the honor of a samurai in its own ways. It doesn’t punch down with fish out of water gags often…providing a surprisingly complete character study of its protagonist instead.
Kosaka Shinzaemon (Makiya Yamaguchi) is a 19th century samurai of the Aizu clan. One rainy night he does battle with Hikokuro Yamagata (Ken Shônozaki). Before their duel can be decided…a bolt of lightning strikes. Kosaka awakes to find himself on the set of a samurai film…in modern times. The good news is that he has the skill to become a credible screen samurai. The bad news is that his past is about to catch up to him.
The easiest thing for A Samurai in Time to do would have been to present itself as a farce. The ancient samurai unable to understand modern customs…or that he is on a film set of make-believe. The version of this story most films would deliver would involve over-the-top misunderstandings and a lot of pratfalls. A Samurai in Time, fittingly, takes a much more honorable path.
Kosaka catches onto the modern world remarkably quickly. Sure, there are a few jokes made about the quality of the food and some long stares attempting to decipher an unfamiliar situation…but the movie has other, better things in mind for Kosaka. He’s aided on his journey by a few friendly faces. When he returns to the place where he did battle with Hikokuro over a century earlier…he finds that the temple has become a frequent set of films like the one he stumbled into upon his arrival. The couple who cares for it take him in immediately…though they don’t fully understand his situation. Assistant director Yuko (Yuno Sakura) takes a liking to him. She helps him get work in a field he is natural at. Fighting, and dying, on film.
A Samurai in Time takes its time in revealing what its true plot is. Without the usual comedic beats…we’re left to wonder what the endgame for Kosaka is. The film seems noncommittal to a path forward for its out of place samurai. Learning to make his way through a new time is find for a character arc…but it is met with little conflict in the first half of the story. There’s a reason for that. It gives us time to connect to Kosaka and his newfound family…and then it drops the hammer on us all.
Just as it seems Kosaka has eased into his new life…he receives an unexpected career opportunity. He’s offered a lead role in a big samurai film…no small feat for a new actor. The film is meant to mark the return of a star who left the genre behind. Hikokuro Yamagata (Norimasa Fuke) …the man he battled 140 years ago. A man who arrived in the future many years before Kosaka.
A Samurai in Time becomes the story of a man from the past…beholden to a code of honor that no longer exists. The Aizu clan is long gone. Yet, his enemy remains. Rest assured; an incredible showdown is on the horizon.
A Samurai in Time takes its unique concept and plays it in unexpected ways. It’s funny. It’s moving. There’s a romantic angle. There’s great action. Most importantly, it all comes together in a way that feels like magic. Makiya Yamaguchi is flat out perfect in the role of Kosaka. From his bewildered look to his comic timing to his ability with a sword…to the anguish of the call towards duty that he feels when Hikokuro reemerges. He simply couldn’t be better. He’s supported by a cast that is equal to his work.
A Samurai in Time is a rare movie. It chooses earnestness and character work over low hanging fruit at every turn. It holds its samurai in high esteem…never making him or his situation the butt of the joke. The characters are easy to care for…the story gives you plenty to smile and cheer for. And then it culminates with an edge of your seat climax. Run to this one when you get the chance.
Scare Value
A Samurai in Time doesn’t go for the low hanging fruit. It would have been easy to play this fish out of water story for over-the-top comedy. Though it hits on some of those moments…but has a deeper story in mind. It takes the story a while to tell you what the conflict will be. It’s entertaining the whole way there. A standout lead performance. A great looking picture. One of the best movies of this festival cycle.
