A Samurai in Time

A samurai adjusts shockingly well to a life in the film industry, in Yasuda Junichi’s time travel comedy-drama.

“Do your best and someone somewhere will see.”

Kosaka Shinzaemon (Makiya Yamaguchi) is a samurai in the pro-shogun Aizu clan, who  during a thunderstorm, finds himself clashing with the anti-shogun clan Choshu. During the fight, he is struck by lightning, and when he wakes up finds himself in the present day in the middle of a film set. He meets assistant director Yuko (Yuno Sakura) who believes him to have lost his memory.

As he adjusts to modern life, he takes a job as an extra in period pieces and resigns himself to his new fate. That is until a renowned samurai film actor (Fuke Norimasa) takes an interest in him.

By now, I think we’ve all seen enough “man from the past wakes up in the present” stories to take a stab at guessing the sort of shenanigans that will be taking place in A Samurai in Time. Yet, more than once, I was surprised at the direction the film took. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of tropes scattered around, especially near the start, but the speed at which Shinzaemon adjusts to his new life is impressive, and allows the film to take bolder steps with where it wants to go.

This isn’t always clear, at least not for the first hour. There’s a lot of time spent on him getting to grips with the concept of TV, and acting, and meeting Yuko that by the time we get to the film’s MVP – acting legend Kazami – it’s taken us a bit longer than desired. But even leading up to the film’s second half, the movie has plenty of fun character interactions and scenes.

Yamaguchi plays his stoic, unbreakably serious character with a subtle charm that you can’t help but like. His moments of vulnerability do a lot to endear him to us, and his earnest love for acting in samurai films is the sort of energy the story needs to push itself forward. Yuko, and the temple keepers he stays with make for great supporting roles and round things out nicely, giving just enough upbeat moments for the film to call itself a comedy.

Because it is a comedy, even if it doesn’t really feel like one. It’s not really funny, more just sort of fun. I think I laughed out loud once, which is odd for the sort of fish out of water scenario. But, hey, it’s still damn funnier than Iceman, so there’s that. Ultimately, A Samurai In Time is a sweet film that tries to differentiate itself from its peers by giving us a few decent changes to the narrative, never explaining its magical lightning, and giving us a plot-saving twist midway through. As it’s only there that the film really becomes worthy of my time – it’s just a shame it took so long to get there. It could have easily happened within 45 minutes, with a bit of time taken out. For a film that’s about a guy cutting out 140 years of history, it sure does take its time sometimes.

Verdict: Bolstered by charismatic leads and some trop subversions, A Samurai in Time never tries to do overdo it, and is more enjoyable for it.

A Samurai in Time airs as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme. Check it out here.

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Overall entertainment: 7/10
Violence: 4/10, all stunts – don’t worry!
Sex: 0/10
Tropeiness: 3/10
Swordplay: 9/10
Explanations: None! As it should be.

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A Samurai In Time (2023)
Also known as: Samurai Time Slipper, 侍タイムスリッパー
Japanese

Director: Yasuda Junichi
Writer: Yasuda Junichi

CAST

Yamaguchi Makiya – Kosaka Shinzaemon
Fuke Norimasa – Kazami Kyoichiro
Yuno Sakura – Yuko
Shounozaki Ken – Yamagata Hikokuro
Mine Rantaro – Sekimoto
Inoue Hajime – Inoue