When feudal lord Itakura Katsuakira decides to prepare his samurai troops for the onslaught of modernization by having them compete in a marathon, his independent-minded daughter Yuki secretly joins the race.

Yu Haifeng Keiji Kameyama Takaya Kano Masaaki Kimura Kazuo Nakanishi Zhou Yanqin Tatsuro Hatanaka Nobuo Miyazaki Hiroyuki Yamada Koichi Watanabe Keiichi Yoshizaki Marie-Gabrielle Stewart Tatsumi Yoda Minoru Toizumi

The one place where more attention could have been placed was the hand-to-hand combat. The fight choreography was confusing at times. Two warriors would line up with swords in what would be expected to be an impressive spectacle of blood and athletic prowess, but instead, almost all the action was set in a more realistic, kind of messy approach. The style did not seem to mesh very well with the expectations that the setting provided. It was shocking to see what seemed like children having a sword fight with the sticks in the back yard, closing their eyes just running at each other waving the sword in hopes that they would be the victor. By the conclusion of the film, the style they chose did work with the story, but the expectation that comes with a samurai film could leave some wanting more. Never fear, all the Samurai blood and violence are still on display in carnal and sometimes beautiful ways.

As I mentioned, the film is dense at the start, as it sets up a lot of framing and context and multiple characters before settling into the narrative. In fact the opening segment (featuring Danny Huston as US Commodore Matthew Perry) is only indirectly tied to the plot, mostly serving as a preface placing the story in historical context: a time when western influence has introduced firearms to Japan, creating a sudden technological disparity and hailing the end of the samurai age with the innovation of instantaneous, convenient, long-range death.

After doing quite a bit of research, the basis for this film was the Japanese Marathon, which is still run annually today. It was started as a footrace put in place by the Annaka feudal lord to train the mind and bodies of his warriors. Everything else in the story seems to be heavily fictionalized for our entertainment.

Samurai Marathon desires to be placed among the ranks of impressive historical Japanese films that have come before it. The filmmakers were inspired by history and took a small moment of Japanese history and wrapped a samurai movie around it.

The characters all service the story quite well, even though we have all seen these arcs before time and time again. From the princess who wants to be free and explore the world to the bad guy who wants to marry for power, it has all been seen before. Samurai Marathon does complete these arcs in meaningful ways, and brings satisfying conclusions to the characters, but because some of these characters have been seen so many times before it creates a situation where the viewer might be reluctant to get aboard for their journey.

Taking the race as a jumping-off point, Director Bernard Rose of Candyman fame sculps a story that has as many peaks and valleys as the route he put his actors through. The twists and turns come often and make you wonder how many were needed to achieve a coherent story. Some minor character tropes and weird tonal shifts aside, Samurai Marathon is still worthwhile.

This all-Japanese Jidaigeki samurai film is notable for a number of reasons - it is directed by an English filmmaker, Bernard Rose (who made 1994's Immortal Beloved with Gary Oldman & 1997's Anna Karenina with Bond girl Sophie Marceau), has a classical music score by legendary composer Phillip Glass (Truman Show, Kundun, The Illusionist) & Hollywood actor Danny Huston opening & bookending the film.

Bernard Rose goes to Japan to make a formally accomplished very oddball samurai fllm. Some fine swordplay plenty of good touches, commentary on incoming westernization, solid cast. Thefilm exist in a suspended tradition and makes that a strength.

A producer asked Director Bernard Rose (CANDYMAN) if he wanted to make a Japanese film and Rose was like "Sure! Why not?" The end result is a SAMURAI MARATHON. It's finely made but plays like there are big chunks missing. By the time the marathon starts, it's pretty much already over because there are double-crosses and cheaters galore. Things are not helped by a typical Philip Glass score, who I assumed just picked a random CD of his work and said "Whatever. One's as good as the other. No one will now the difference."