Fantasia Film Festival 2024: ‘A Samurai in Time’ Review – A Perfect Time-Traveling Comedy
Kosaka Shinzaemon (Makiya Yamaguchi) is a samurai of the Aizu Clan at the end of the Edo period in Kyoto. One fateful night, he prepares for a duel against a ronin to defend his clan, but it takes place during a wild and fateful thunderstorm. Lightning strikes and Kosaka wakes up in an entirely different period.
Kosaka stumbles 140 years into the future and onto a movie set. Confused initially, he eventually befriends an assistant director named Yuko Yamamoto (Yuno Sakura). Yuko has a career working on jidaigeki, a samurai TV drama (the literal translation is a period drama set before the Meiji Restoration of 1868). Unfortunately, in the present day, there isn’t the same demand or audience for it.
Yuko dreams of becoming a legitimate film director. Kosaka’s success in the film industry inspires her to continue writing. He utilizes his skills as an actual samurai to become a stuntman (also known as a kirareyaku – a swordsman who dies spectacularly on film) despite being a part of the industry that is nearly dead. However, Kosaka begins to make a name for himself as a competent stuntman and a talented actor.
A Samurai in Time is the time-traveling baby of Junichi Yasuda. Yasuda writes, directs, produces, edits, and does the cinematography and visual effects for the film. Yasuda specializes in low-budget filmmaking. He owns filmmaking equipment including six professional video cameras, five cine cameras, dozens of lenses, lighting equipment, dollies, cranes, switches, and intercoms.
The comedy film is surprisingly heartfelt. Everyone that Kosaka comes in contact with is either incredibly nice or respectful. In the present day, he stays at Saikyoji Temple. The Chief Priest (Yoshiharu Fukuda) and his wife Setsuko (Ichiko Kurenai) not only provide room and board but also feed Kosaka every day. They support him every step of his stuntman career and are generally concerned or excited for him with every setback or achievement.
Even the ronin that Kosaka was facing in the past, Hikokuro Yamagata (Norimasa Fuke), shows respect to Kosaka despite them dueling to the death previously. There’s an incredible plot device involving Hikokuro, his relationship to the jidaigeki genre, and how the time-traveling journey affected him.
Kosaka and Hikokuro have a rival relationship. They’re constantly competing with Hikokuro, wanting to adopt the modern way of moving on from the past and starting fresh. Meanwhile, Kosaka can’t let go of the past and still has an unquenchable desire to be a shining example of the Aizu clan.
Much of the action is purposely overdramatic. Jidaigeki is essentially the Japanese equivalent of an old western where the few drops of blood are an unrealistic bright red while the way kirareyaku die on screen is more like a well-executed dance than authentic or realistic. Kosaka learns so much about fake death and fake swordplay that he realizes he has to do it again for real.
Kosaka’s stuntman journey leads to the final duel, which is ridiculously well done for a low-budget film. Every relationship he has made throughout the film, every emotion he’s felt or experienced in the modern day, and his career in the film industry are all riding on this duel – and it delivers.
Kazuto Seike is credited as the sword-fighting choreographer and its sentimental impact bleeds through every blow during that enticing finale.
A Samurai in Time is one of the most heartwarming time-traveling films you will ever see. The characters are well-written and you become fully invested in the story. For a guy who did the majority of the behind-the-scenes work himself, director Junichi Yasuda has crafted a genuine film of kindness, integrity, and purely delightful entertainment.
A Samurai in Time (2024), Third Window Films
PROS
- Great concept
- Fantastic performances
- Its wholesome nature
- Funny and entertaining throughout
CONS
- None
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