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Film Review: Crazy Samurai Musashi (2020) by Yuji Shimomura Screening at Fantasia International Film Fest

Crazy Samurai Musashi (2020) by Yuji Shimomura

” is the newest project of the duo of director/choreographer and action superstar after “Re:Born” and “Death Trance.” This time they are joined by Sion Sono who pens this creative retelling of Miyamoto Musashi's most famous fight where instead of 60 enemies he has to fight almost tenfold more.

Crazy Samurai Musashi is Screening at Fantasia International Film Fest

Miyamoto Musashi (Tak Sakaguchi) has to fight hordes and hundreds of enemy samurai and hired guns and a few bigger bosses. He fights in the plains, in the forest, and in a small town and with each and every enemy onslaught, he gets a little more tired. Are his enemies ever going to finish? 

Calling Yuji Shimomura's newest feature an action film is the understatement of the year. It is rather a single action sequence blown out of proportion and stretched into eternity, maybe a bit like a video game in the vein of “Sekiro” or “Ghosts of Tsushima.” This makes sense because Yuji Shimomura is no stranger to video game-inspired filmmaking. Just see the opening sequence of “Re:Born” which borrows heavily from stealth actions like “Metal Gear Solid”. However, in “Crazy Samurai Musashi” his game-inspired style of directing reaches new highs. Everything here, from the overall structure of the 77-minute fight sequence, the camerawork, and the way the clash feels just screams modern third-person action. 

Take for example the structure of the fight. Rather than a non-stop onslaught of enemies, it is more like a game where there are cut scenes that provide a moment of respite from all of the fight. And by cut scenes, I mean real cinematic cut scenes that are completely like a video game with the camera swooshing around the protagonist and introducing us to the new locale. The new environments themselves, from the plain to the abandoned city are textbook action game and the way Musashi moves from one to another after fighting a boss of a kind. Not only that but each level has a save point or two where Musashi rests, renews his energies, and upgrades his weapon.

What truly makes “Crazy Samurai Musashi” feel like a video game, though, are not the levels or the save points, but the enemies themselves. Attacking in hordes and dying with a single hit, they disappear immediately (read crawl out of camera), and just as generic NPCs, respawn soon after to attack Musashi again. Probably done out of necessity more than anything else (who can hire 500 extras), this is done in such a creative way that turns out to be one of the movie's big strengths. What's more, it seems that Musashi has a specific hit with which he kills each of these generic-looking samurais. 

Talking about the action, the choreography here is unsurprisingly incredible, and the way Tak Sakaguchi handles the film, simply marvelous. He starts off pretty brisk and energetic and slowly gets more and more tired until the point he can barely breathe and stay up, choosing to take some of his enemies while sitting down or standing on one knee. The sheer willpower needed to accomplish something as draining as a 77-minute single-take action scene is nothing short of inhuman. To be honest, even only watching him accomplish this herculean task feels exhausting, what to say about actually doing it, and as splendidly as Sakaguchi did at that. With this, he proves for the umpteenth time that he is one of the greatest contemporary action stars. 

Though non-stop action, Sion Sono's screenplay does not present Musashi as a walking killing machine. He is human and subtle details like letting a scared samurai run away or sparing an innocent woman, show his humanity, and the fact that he does not really revel in killing hundreds of people. Quite the opposite, the way Sono writes him and Tak portrays him, Musashi is simply resigned to his destiny of endless violence. He does it not because he wants to but simply because he has to. 

“Crazy Samurai Musashi” is visually stunning, too. The camera follows Musashi, sometimes close behind his shoulder, sometimes from far away, and others gliding in front and around him all the while not interrupting the almost ceaseless action. The sheer professionalism, attention to detail, and coordination needed for the accomplishment of such an uninterrupted take are frankly mind-boggling. Of course, there are some small glitches such as a crew member entering a shot briefly or some of the extras not knowing what to do, but that is to be expected from something as ambitious as this movie. What's more, it adds a sheen of authenticity to the movie in a way reminiscent of Denis Lavant's breathtaking dance in Leos Carax's “The Night is Young.”

Miyamoto Musashi is not a stranger to anyone even remotely interested in Japan-related media. From books to movies such as the Samurai trilogy, games, and everything in between, the legendary samurai has been the focus of tens if not hundreds of media products, many of which focus on his most legendary fight. Yet, with its breathtaking single-take fight sequence and Tak Sakaguchi's awe-inspiring performance, “Crazy Samurai Musashi” proves not only a breath of fresh air in the legendary samurai's lore, but also one of the best action films in recent years, and possibly one of the greatest video game-inspired movie ever made. 

About the author

Martin Lukanov

Language nerd with a soft spot for giant monsters, kungfu vampires, and abstract music. When not watching Asian movies, I write about giant monsters and release music on tapes.

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