A Samurai in Time

Its the Edo period in Tokyo, during a clan war. A failed ambush sees Shinzaemon Kosaka (Makiya Yamaguchi), a samurai from the Aizu clan about to fight to the death against Hikokuro Yamagata (Ken Syonozaki) from the opposing Choshu clan.

As they face off in pouring rain, lightning strikes – cosmically and comically Kosaka is planted in the middle of a film set where they are filming a jidaigeki (a period drama). Dressed in period costume for a while he’s bemused but comforted that he’s in familiar territory, until that is he come across the film crew and especially assistant director Yuko (Yuno Sakura).

And so the film has Kosaka as the fish out of water who slowly gets to grip with his new life and surroundings. One where he can use his very real skills in very contrived situations. But what of his bitter rival Yamagata? He too was transported forward in time only 30 years ahead of Kosaka and has established himself as a major star.

It’s at this point that the comedy and sentimentality drain away with old rivalries reawakening with only one way to resolve it.

There’s a sweetness to A Samurai in Time that writer and director Junichi Yasuda handles well with Kosaka’s early bumbling comedy, the ego of the leading actor and romantic leanings towards Yuko. He never allows it to become cloying, just bobbing along. He gently observes that the jidaigeki has had its day with viewing figures down, it dovetails with Kosaka’s realisation that days of the samurai have long gone too.

At over two hours it does feel a bit too long however Yasuda skilfully changes the mood of the film without too much of a jolt and provides the film the lift it needs for the final act.

A Samurai in Time received its European Premiere at London Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024, August 2024.