It seems unnecessary in every way possible. A clan of samurai questioningly gaze upon their leader as he tells them how the order of samurai have lost their way. How they’ve gone soft. He speaks of an attempt at peace between the Shogun and the dreaded Black Ships. The dread has washed up on the shores of Japan and they’ve brought new customs with them, including a revolver: a weapon which will give one clan a distinct advantage over your clan and others like yours. They are shadows that are evolving with the world rather than sticking to the traditions which have transcended generations. You are ignorant of this knowledge. You know merely that the Black Ships have come to your country; not of what they carry.

In an effort to regain focus on the ways of the samurai, the man in front of you has announced a marathon with a limitless prize. The marathon will equally strengthen your body and mind. This is no ordinary race, however, it is challenging to say the least. It will last 36 miles and will thread up and down a collection of steep hills and rough terrain. You don’t know it yet but this is a tradition in the making. This very conversation, taking place in 1855, will push you to your limits. Even more than that, it will prompt a tradition of the race and its legacy. You are in the origin story of the Japanese Marathon.

Though, full disclosure, I couldn’t actually find anything about this ending statement the movie gives. So, if you are reading this right now, and you have more information – please I would honestly love to hear more. For this article, we are talking about the movie, Samurai Marathon - which as the previous paragraphs have depicted, and the title of the movie references, depicts a samurai clan returning to their glory of yesterday. Though it does have a fairly significant twist – I won’t give away here. What I appreciated most about this film is the course correction of our societal approach towards samurai. Somehow in the samurai genre of film, we’ve come to expect so much action and intensity – that every samurai or martial artist actor has to be the next Jet Li, Jackie Chan, or Bruce Lee. That’s the refreshing part of Samurai: it demonstrates the lifestyle in its prime before western culture perverted the code of the Samurai.

But it’s within that exploration that some of the film’s bigger issues lie. The entire introduction to the Black Ships, featuring a very memorable cameo by Danny Huston, and the attempt at peace between cultures is a prime example of how Samurai manages to overextend its sequences. What could have been three to five minutes extends for nearly double, if not triple, that length. There are a few sequences within the film that give it a weighted viewing. As it approaches its final act, the narrative gets tighter and the movie itself richer. While the third act is tight, the first two are a bit more free. They are a series of loosely strung together arcs that don’t really give off character development, merely purpose, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it just makes the characters a bit shallow in places. Princess Yuki is really the only one who feels like she has any sort of development throughout.

Overall, Samurai Marathon brings down cultural conceptions of the genre, telling an engaging story, even when it is sloppy. The film’s pacing is a tad strange at times. It creates sequences that exist for longer than needed while other scenes are quick-paced. It boasts a fantastic cast, even when it feels a bit bigger than needed sometimes. Samurai Marathon boasts an impressive narrative, solid cast, and excellent fight choreography – even if it’s kind of weirdly paced at some parts.

RORSCHACH RATING:

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