Heishiro, a noble Samurai, sets out in search of the renegade who stole his clan’s treasure and killed his best friend. Heishiro should be able to hold his own against the villain Rannosuke, who has only killed hundreds of men and fought entire armies while simultaneously defending himself against dozens of deadly ninja assassins. This is Samurai Fiction. Don’t believe everything you see in Chambara movies!

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I bought this film sight-unseen, which is pretty rare. Like most people, I like to have some idea of what I'm plunking down my money for. For some reason, though, this movie sort of snuck off the shelf, took the twenty-five bucks out of my pocket, and came home with me before I'd even realized it. Maybe it was the cool, minimalist cover, or maybe I was still coming down off my "Kill Bill vol. 1" kick and wanted a Samurai film, I don't know. Either way, I found myself watching it last night, and I was floored by what I was seeing.

You know those happy coincidences, where you realize you wound up with a lot more than you thought you were going to get? Like when you go to a new sushi place and realize they've got the best stuff around for less money than that other place you've been going to for years, plus you get more maki roll for your money? This movie brings a similar feeling to mind; "This is great! I'm glad I took a chance here."

The story revolves around a young Samurai named Heishiro Inukai, who is on a quest to retrieve a clan treasure stolen by a wandering, steely-eyed Ronin by the name of Rannosuke. It's classic Samurai fare through and through, and for a Japanese film is remarkably straightforward, though it's never dull. Quite the opposite, actually.

Director Hiroyuki Nakano uses the relative simplicity of the story as a blank canvas, and paints in a masterfully blended portrait of a classic Akira Kurosawa Samurai epic lovingly clothed in a hip, MTV Asia-style update. The effect sounds overwrought on paper, but Nakano pulls it off without seeming to bastardize the source material. In fact, it's one of the more respectful homage films to date, cinematography wise.

Kurosawa film buffs (and I'll just get this out of the way right now, I am a MASSIVE Kurosawa fan) will instantly pick out the lifted scenes, from the busy, always-moving village shots of Seven Samurai to the dark, packed-earth barren landscapes of Throne of Blood. There's even some subtle references to Kurosawa's editing style, with extremely longs shots arranged horizontally, reverse-field cuts, and even a single (and therefore very obvious, and also very funny if you get it) horizontal wipe. Of course, it goes without saying that the movie is almost completely shot in black and white.

Because really, why would one make a color Samurai Film?

The best part about the movie, however, are the characters in it. Every cast member turns in a fantastic performance, and the people they portray are as memorable as you could want in a film. We've got your headstrong young Samurai on a quest for honor and glory with his two friends (one of whom is actually named Kurosawa, go figure) and along the way they come up against a conniving brothel mistress, a retired master fencer, his ridiculously attractive daughter, and the super-powerful, taciturn, skilled, very tall, and possibly gay antagonist. We also get an old master ninja who steals every scene he's in, and his two bumbling ninja students who manage to seem like they know what they're doing...Most of the time.

It all blends in a great way because the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. It's not goofy or silly, and the fighting is quite realistic, but it's also a very funny movie. Heishiro's aptitude to spring nosebleeds at inopportune moments (and his love interest's apparent ignorance as to what that means) made me chuckle, and the movie's playfulness over the sexual orientation of Rannosuke is hysterical -- but you have to be quick or you miss some of it. The old ninja master is my personal favorite; you can't beat a guy who makes his first appearance by basically falling out of a hole in the ceiling.

I don't want to ruin any more of the movie than I already have, but suffice to say that nearly everyone can enjoy Samurai Fiction on whichever level they like. It's simple and funny enough that even young kids can watch it (provided they don't mind subtitles - there is no dub, thankfully) but there's plenty of depth here to satisfy veterans of the genre.

On a final, technical note, the DVD transfer is very good, though there is no surround sound, only Stereo Japanese. No matter, however, since the stereo mix is perfectly clear. One of the best things about the disc is actually the subtitles; they absolutely nailed it. My Japanese is admittedly quite poor, but it's good enough that I can pick out poorly-translated subtitles from a mile away. Thankfully, no such problems exist here. The titles flow well and keep the pace of the movie to right where it should be.

There are a few extras that come with the film, one of which is inexplicably on Disc 1 while the rest are regulated to Disc 2. The main draw here, called "Samurai Non-Fiction", appears to be a spot shown on Japanese television regarding the making of the film. It's worth watching, and rounds out a nice package that is of much higher quality than a film like this would normally get with a U.S. release.

Grab a copy of this film as soon as you can. This is one of those rare movies that has blanket appeal without diluting it's core concept, and looks great in any collection.

25 of 26 found the following review helpful:

One Amazing MovieMay 08, 2004
By K. A D. Veer
The plot is as follows. A samurai clan entrusts a talented but unknown ronin to guard their ceremonial sword. He ends up stealing the lovely weapon for his own use. Upon hearing this, a young swordsman and his two best friends go on a journey to retrieve the sword. Their first confrontation causes each of the three warriors to take a path separate from the other.

The plot is fairly basic (the stealing of the sword reminds me of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), but the way director Hiroyuki Nakano sees it is very original. Shot mostly in black and white, it's an obvious way to get the audience to appreciate his artistic vision.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of "Samurai Fiction" is the musical score, composed by Tomoyasu Hotei, who you may know as "...the guy that made that song from Kill Bill" (Battle Without Honor or Humanity, the part where O-Ren is entering the house of blue leaves). Every fight scene and many simply well directed scenes are pulled from 1696 to modern day with hard rock or techno anthems.

This is a must have DVD for any martial arts fans, particularly those looking to see where Quentin Tarintino got "Kill Bill" from.

21 of 23 found the following review helpful:

HOTEI-SAN RULES, OKSep 28, 2004
By Brent A. Anthonisen "Johnny Sideburns"
I saw this DVD in the shelves several months ago and was intrigued. Later I saw both installments of the "Kill Bill" saga and was particularly taken with a jam from the first volume's soundtrack called "Battle Without Honor Or Humanity" (which can now be heard in Jaguar ads, by the way).

Eventually I had heard that not only were some of Tarantino's scenes from "Kill Bill Vol. 1" taken directly from "Samurai Fiction", but the composer of "Battle Without Honor..." also scored the film and had a major starring role in it. I decided I had to give it a look.

And it was worth it. The movie is a different take on Akira Kurosawa's old skool samurai epics from the '50's and '60's. In some ways it's a bit of a send-up, but this is no lampoon in the vein of "Airplane" nor is it a knock-off/homage similar to...well, pretty much every movie Quentin Tarantino has ever made. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but the plot twist that brings the movie to its conclusion is hardly that of traditional martial arts movies (there seems to be more of "kinder and gentler" school of martial arts flicks being produced today...Jet Li's "Hero" is not dissimilar to "Samurai Fiction" in this regard).

There are enough old-skool elements that tie this film to its predecessors, but the film is marketed as "an MTV generation samuari movie", and I don't really see the connection (other than having prominent Japanese musicians playing roles and the score being more contemporarily pop-oriented rather than Japanese classical music), but the attitute is decidedly lighter. This is a good thing; Jackie Chan has longsince proved that comedy has a place in an otherwise serious action movie, and the humor in "Samurai Fiction" is nowhere nearly as obvious or Chaplin-esque as in Chan's work.

For me the real revelation was Tomoyasu Hotei, Japan's pop/rock superstar guitarist. He plays a master swordsman (Kazamatsuri) without alliance or direction who sets the events of the movie in motion by stealing a ceremonial samurai sword from the clan who enlisted him to be its guardian. No reason is ever given for his doing this; his motive seems to be simply "because I can".

He is not a typical martial arts antagonist; there are aspects of his character that make him seem to be far more honorable (and at times even more likeable) than Heishiro, the film's protagonist sworn to kill Kazamatsuri and return the sword to his clan. Complicating matters is the baggage taken on by Heishiro in the form of his two childhood friends and a pair of quasi-competent ninja sent by Heishiro's father to keep an eye on him. But I found Heishiro, though obviously intended to be cast as the "hero", to be rather an annoying personality. Chihuahua-like in both his manner and effectiveness, he was an annoyance whose physical (and especially mental) shortcomings were obvious to any other character in the film save himself.

The plot development (and the angle that makes this a "peaceful samurai" movie as described in the DVD's bonus materials) takes a unique twist when a mysterious stranger intervenes on Kazamatsuri's inevitable defeat of Heishiro and his companions and, with the help of his daughter, nurses the injured man back to health. Heishiro of course wants his revenge, but his saviors are pacifists who encourage the renunication of violence...even though Kazamatsuri is suspicious of the stranger's identity and begins to obsess over the idea of challenging him to a duel...

But Hotei is just amazing. It's difficult to tell what (if any) acting ability he has due to the minimal dialogue written for his character, but he definitely has presence. You can't take your eyes off him whenever he is onscreen. He is literally head and shoulders taller than anyone else onscreen, and he moves as effortlessly as the wind. And his eyes...he could cut diamonds with that stare. Terrific performance.

Watching this was a pleasing experience. The action is decent and the fight scenes are passable; none of the actors are professional martial artists and the production values aren't those of a Hong Kong action flick wherein a great number of special effects are used to enhance the action. But it is a well-shot film, mostly black-&-white with enough color scenes thrown in at intense moments to delight the arthouse crowd. The DVD extras are multiple (the documentary footage seems a bit redundant; an extra feature on scoring the movie would have been more appreciated by this reviewer); a nice "extra touch" are two scenes shown in color just to give an idea as to how the movie would look if shot naturally.

In short, this is a very interesting movie. It's artsy enough for the hipster sect, and it's got enough action to appeal to martial arts buffs. And it's not excessively violent despite the swordplay, nor is it sexually explicit despite a fair amount of the story taking place in a brothel (failed to mention that part, did I? You'll just have to see it in order to find out how that angle plays into the story). It's worth a viewing to anyone who's a fan of or at all curious about the genre.

10 of 10 found the following review helpful:

Cowboy Samurai?!Jul 13, 2006
By Mabuse
I love this move because it is unique. Somehow, this sentence says it all. This is a unique movie and very original, even it is somehow a parody but also a serious one about Samurai movies. The whole movie is B&W and the actors are sometimes playing like in a 'silent movie' with strong, overdone expressions esp. Tamaki Ogawa. However this is not overdone and the movie itself is IMO far away from being too serious. In fact it is hilarious and fun to watch. I have to admit that for people who do not know very much about Japanese culture, this movie might be boring and senseless. This is not a martial arts movie even there are some fighting scenes in this movie. They story is told using a valuable sword stolen by the incredible Tomoyasu Hotei, who acts in this movie as the villan and wrote most of the music for this movie too. He also wrote the IMO unforgettable music for the big battle in 'Kill Bill 1'.

If you can lower your expectations and let yourself dive into the story, watched some Kurosawa Samurai movies before and share a general addiction to Asian culture, you should give this movie a try and I believe, you will be positively surprised. For the real lover of Japanese movies this DVD comes in the only way, it is suitable for the fan: Original Japanese language with English subtitles. If this annoys you, put it back on the shelf.

For all others, highly recommended. It features a wonderful love story, some criminal story and how the underdog Samurai can beat the master Samurai in the best sense of a drama.

For me, this is an absolute gem and stands for it's own. As I wrote at the beginning: Unique.

I am writing this here, because you can't buy this movie in Germany but I can order it in the US and I highly appreciate that I can do this and Amazon is just a very reliable company. I am not paid to write this, it reflects my true opinion :-)

9 of 9 found the following review helpful:

Modern ClassicAug 03, 2006
By Blue Asper "Blue Asper"
Do you like anime? You'll love Samurai Fiction. This movie is a wonderful movie inspired by anime creativity, classic themes, but with modern humor and action.

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