Samurai saga explores war's human cost

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 'Kokurojo' (The Samurai and the Prisoner) is the award-winning Japanese filmmaker’s first go at a period drama.

But true to Kurosawa’s reputation as a horror and thriller maestro with an avid fan base at home and abroad, it is also a mystery robed in a serious tone that plumbs the human psyche.

The film is based on a novel of the same name by Honobu Yonezawa. 

Set in the Warring States period (late 15th to late 16th centuries), the story centres around Araki Murashige (played by Masahiro Motoki), a warlord who rebels against his master Oda Nobunaga and holes up in Arioka Castle.

But Araki faces four puzzling incidents occurring around him.

Araki enlists the help of Kuroda Kanbei (Masaki Suda), an enemy military strategist who has been held prisoner in a dungeon under the castle, to close in on the mysteries.

As a character struggling with his retainers losing morale while having to wait for reinforcements, Motoki said, “He was a warlord who felt the limits of the Warring States world where people killed each other and wanted to do something about the system itself in which war continued to rage.”

In playing the lead, Motoki decided to entrust himself to the director.

“Kurosawa is a type of person who tries to scoop up the distortions, twists and ridiculousness hidden within the human mind,” the actor said. “I thought I should be (as the proverb says) ‘a carp on the cutting board’ and let him do however he sees fit.”

While novels can lean on expository descriptions, this is not the case with movies. This led to Kurosawa writing in dialogue unique to the screenplay.

“I had no choice but to express them in words. The director said he wanted me to respect their sounds and words,” Motoki recalled.

‘Kokurojo’ premiered globally at the Cannes International Film Festival.

'Kokurojo' is currently showing in Japan.

-The Asahi Shimbun