Samurai Marathon 1855 (2019)

[Drunk Monk]

Samurai flicks means sword fights. It's been a while since I've watched a good chanbara and this was very satisfying. Directed by Bernard Rose, this is as authentic of a jidaigeki as they come - rich characters with solid motivations, complex intrigue, historical nods, gorgeous scenery, and best of all, some fine sword fights. Set when Perry arrived in Japan, the introduction of firearms gives a local lord nightmares, so he arranges a marathon to test all his samurai. But there's ninjas, rivalries, loyalties...all that samurai baggage. It's an engaging story. But then there's those sword fights... gritty, sanguineous, brutal. Some fine beheading, realistic blood splatter, and some excellent archery scenes. Good stuff. 

DOOM recommended. hoopla streamed.

[cranefly]

Watched it.  Wow, so much treachery within the ranks.  The samurai hardly needed Perry's black ships to self-destruct.

An unusual take on the samurai genre.  Based on real events.  Though I'm thinking ninjas were a bit of fabrication.

[Drunk Monk]

I really liked the second decapitation. Or maybe it was the third. The one where the head landed upside down and the eyes rolled. I also really liked the archery work. Too many movies default to digital arrows. This one actually shot arrows convincingly. 

The intertwining stories were engaging too.

[cranefly]

Yes, the arrows were well-done.

There was one character, played by Munetaka Aoki I believe (who is 6'1"), who, big and bulky and with a bad back, seemed the last person who'd be able to run a marathon.  He's very convincing of his windedness and unfitness.  But when he drops his guise, I was amazed at how limber and fast he was.  And when the protagonist faces off against him in a samurai duel, Munetaka looked superior, with better movement and stances, let alone swordsmanship.  I couldn't find much about his background on the web, but he stood out for me.

Then there was that weird fencing scene where one of them flips a quarter into the intervening space and snarls, "Call it!" and just before it lands the other says, "Heads," which is unfortunate, because the opponent has lunged forward to the quarter and promptly cuts off his head.  And then there sits the disembodied head, upside down, frowning a bit, mumbling, "Should've said Tails; then I'd only have a stab in the butt."

[Drunk Monk]

Yes, I liked that fight - good tension suspense and it felt more realistic than balletic.  Actually, frame for frame, there weren't too many fights, but such can be the jideigeki genre and the fights that were shown were quality.
 
And that reveal (spoiler alert! too late now) - It reminded me a bit of that reveal in Ishi the Killer when we discover the janitor is really the handler and is majorly yoked. 

I liked the cross-dressing princess (who can resist a cross-dressing princess?). When she gets surprised by that weapon scavenger peasant, the ensuing fight there was also a good reveal. He got his.

I didn't know any of the cast. Nice researching there on your part. There's not much on this film in English, which is surprising given the director.

[Drunk Monk]

I forgot to mention that the soundtrack is based on variations of Philip Glass' soundtrack for Mishima. That remains my fav work by Glass and one of my top 10 soundtrack albums.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Saw it. Liked it. Beautifully filmed. Story stayed coherent, good acting.