dir. Tomu Uchidawrit. Shintaro Mimura, Fuji Yahiro, Kintaro Inoue (idea)
feat. a lot of people
This lackadaisical tale of a samurai and his servants doesn't quite settle on a tone. It's lighthearted with tinges of intense drama surrounding a thief among the people and finally, a near accidental samurai battle. Still, it's charming to follow the samurai's spearman as he befriends a young orphan boy on the road and incidentally harms him by giving the hungry boy too much money, all spent on quickly devoured persimmons, making the boy sick. The illness stalls the discovery of the thief's identity and sets up a farcical scene where lords of the land stop all traffic to enjoy the view of Mt. Fuji and a snack on the road while the boy cleans out his system in a nearby ditch, bringing the lords to sniff each other out, seeking out the source of the stench.
The thief is finally caught, again almost incidentally, and the samurai is given the undeserved credit. He sees this error, leading him to question the ways of society and to show his appreciation, he shares a drink with one of his trusted servants. A group of rowdy samurai happen upon master drinking with his lowly servant and a fight breaks out. In the exciting battle in the courtyard of spewing punctured sake barrels, the spearman emerges a hero, but a lonely one, finally casting off his friendships (and a potential romance), walking off down the road by himself. It's a strange turn, one that skews the purpose of the story, making it more serious than its tone indicated throughout, though not quite enough to resonate.
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