As a big fan of the golden age of chanbara I've been enjoying the recent revival of Samurai movies that possibly started as far back as Samurai Fiction and the Castle of Owls remake and then got its big push with Kitano's Zatoichi adaptation. However despite their creative new take on the genre even the best recent chanbara like shinobi no kuni, sanada ten braves, sekigahara or Tsukamoto's Killing usually suffer from many internal inconsistencies in tone and quality which prevents them from truly ushering in an era of new classics if you will.

Samurai Marathon is among the first to feel like a complete movie. Great acting and production value, lots of drama, sprinkles of humour and warmth, meaningful action scenes and a memorable score by freaking Philip Glass(!?!). I didn't expect much but I was pleasantly surprised.

The movie starts off deliberately slow, introducing all the characters and their little rural castle town one by one, you'd think this will just be a fairly light-hearted feel-good movie set to the backdrop of the waning years of the Samurai rule in feudal Japan. Each character has their own motivations why they would want to win the marathon. The price: they can ask whatever they wish from their lord. Some are in it for selfish reasons, others just want a better life for their families. The stakes are already high enough here when the movie starts to shift gears dramatically once the marathon starts, introducing a deadly threat to the entire town that is bigger than each characters' troubles combined. I'm not going to give the plot away but the last third is legitimately tense without ever feeling forced.

Part of what brings all the elements together so well is veteran Bernard Rose's expert direction. He has a real sensibility for the genre and for japanese culture. It never feels like you're watching a movie by a foreign director. The pacing comes off like a throwback to older chanbara movies leaving lots of space inbetween action scenes, where you can just soak in the atmosphere and the beauty of the landscapes. The DP here was Takuro Ishizaka who also lent his hand to the underrated Sakuran and the live action Rurouni Kenshin films. There is other miscellaneous personnel overlap most notably in main actor Takeru Sato, but the whole cast is on point, the biggest standout for me being relative newcomer Nana Komatsu.

This is one movie to check out. Enjoyable from beginning to end, sometimes funny, sometimes violent, sometimes dramatic. A full package.

Partially based upon historical events, Bernard Rose's Samurai Marathon portrays how a Japanese lord sends his men on an exhausting run to get them prepared for a potential attack by Western forces after centuries of isolation. The movie follows different characters involved in the marathon such as a boy attempting to honour his father, a conflicted spy whose loyalty gets tested and a rebellious princess longing for freedom. The main plot revolves around a misunderstanding as the military dictator misunderstands the marathon as a rebellion and sends his assassins to murder the feudal lord.

The movie convinces on quite a few levels. The settings are chosen with care and bring feudal Japan to life in an authentic way that will please historians despite a few minor inaccuracies. The different characters have depth and make the story diversified. The plot includes a few interesting twists and turns. The final thirty minutes are intense and feature some realistic fighting scenes. The vibrant score is epic and enhances the movie's menacing atmosphere.

However, the film isn't without its flaws. The introduction to the different characters and settings takes half an hour which makes for a somewhat plodding start. There are no noteworthy action scenes until the sixty-sixth minute. Those who are expecting a gripping sword fighting movie might be disappointed. This movie is a surprisingly slow paced drama with some action elements in the final third. Especially the ending should have been more intense as the film rather fades out than ends with a bang.

In the end, Samurai Marathon is recommended to those interested in Japanese culture, history and traditions. The diversified characters and dynamic story make for a convincing drama. The movie however also has its lengths and fails to leave a deeper impression. It certainly disappoints if you have been expecting an action film from the misleading trailers. The movie recalls samurai movies from the fifties and sixties by Kurosawa Akira, Misumi Kenji and Uchida Tomu.

When the credits roll and the show is over, one feels like they have actually run through the beautiful landscapes of the Yamagata Prefecture, thanks to remarkable lights and a superb cinematography. With a balanced mix of humor, action and tragic moments, Bernard Rose has managed to release something personal, beyond the parody and tribute to the genre. The ensemble cast is superb, the young actors and the more experienced ones are all popular stars in Japan.