The Samurai and the Prisoner

Co-presented by the Japan Society of Northern California

“Kurosawa has made one of his best films, a work that feels a bit like Agatha Christie, a bit like Shakespeare, and even a bit like Samurai Columbo.” —RogerEbert.com

Celebrated Japanese horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Serpent’s Path) explores a new path in this lush treatment of Honobu Yonezawa’s prizewinning historical novel, detailing palace intrigue in the court of a samurai nobleman during the Azuchi era at the end of the 16th century. Turning against Oda Nobunaga, the ruthless, power-hungry warlord he previously served, Araki Murashige (Masahiro Motoki, of Departures) is besieged by Oda’s forces and bedevilled by a series of inexplicable crimes in his household. As tension rises and loyalties fray, Murashige is forced to strategize with Kuroda Kanbei (Masaki Suda, of Kurosawa’s 2024 thriller Cloud), a samurai envoy sent by Oda and imprisoned by Murashige, while his wife Chiyoho (Yuriko Yoshitaka) and loyalists fight to preserve order.