The Samurai and the Prisoner @AMC Westminster

Well, here it is the latest Kiyoshi Kurosawa, highly reviewed film from a a respected director, getting a very limited release in what we claim to be a major metropolitan city? Ay yi yi, what is up with distribution. At any rate, this is likely to be an amazing if near 3 hour film if you include the 20-30 minutes of crap/trailers. Thus far it is a very limited release and this is the only showing I can make, but if this does not work I encourage you to catch at a more convenient time.

“The Samurai and the Prisoner” has been seen by some as a deviation from the norm in the career of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, but this is a truly limited way to look at a filmmaker’s legacy. Yes, Kurosawa may be best known for horror with landmark J-Horror films like “Cure” and “Pulse,” and recent excellence like “Cloud” and “Chime,” but he’s made non-genre films before. And what elevates those works is not just Kurosawa’s ability to scare people but his confidence behind the camera, a skill that remains evident no matter the type of film that he’s making.
It also ignores that this masterful drama is about some pretty existentially horrifying things, including divine punishment, beheadings, multiple murders, and the belief that an honorable death in this life leads to salvation in the next. It’s the stuff of horror the same way the witches in Macbeth informed the genre to come.
Adapting Honobu Yonezawa’s award-winning 2021 novel, 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. It’s a dense chamber piece with big ideas and riveting performances, but it’s nothing without the genre-boundless acumen of its creator. (Brian Tallerico/Rogerebert.com/4 of 4 stars)

Free parking available in the lot behind the theater.

No after event planned but happy to meet up in lobbt after for debrief.