MWFF 2016: Tatara Samurai

TATARA SAMURAI

WORLD COMPETITION

DIRECTOR: Yoshinari Nishikori

SCRIPT: Yoshinari Nishikori

LEAD ACTOR: Sho Aoyagi

COUNTRY: Japon; 135 min.
LANGUAGE: Japanese, English subtitles

Official Synopses:

"When the Amago samurai withdraw their protection of the village of Tatara, famous for their manufacture of the legendary swords, the younger generation - erroneously - believe that guns will suffice."

The film's story line is set in the 16 century, during the Japan's Age of Wars, a time of social upheaval and constant military conflict. The guns are introduced to Japan, and the era of the Lord Oda's supremacy comes to the end. The Samirai lords begin to covet the guns and battle over the numbers of guns they posses.

There is a small village in the mountains making steel from ancient times. Their steel is made by Tatara-buki, a secret ancient method known as supreme steel. Tatara does not rust for a thousand years. Since the best Japanese swards cannot be made without Tatara steel, everybody, not only swordsmiths, but also traders associated with Samurais, strive to get this steel. With the introduction of the guns, the traders further attempt to usurp the steel production into their hands.

Gosuke, the leading character in the film, is the eldest son of the Murage Family, the only person in the village to inherit the Tatara steel making production. He has the obligation to guard the Tatara-buki steel making method inherited from his ancestors. In order to guard the village, he concentrates on martial arts training. He also decides to become a samurai to advance his fighting and defence skills, but gets disillusioned when he sees the power of the guns. The young village men then decide to protect their village with the guns, which leads to tragic results.

The film has a complex story line which weaves through the Japanese realities and shows the horrors and devastation caused by the embattling social strata. The film's director, who is also its script writer, stated that he drew a parallel in this film between the old era fighting to control the steel production and the issues behind the global oil demand in our days. The fighting will never solve the problems we face today. The peace has to be achieved without drawing out the sword.

The film shows beautiful and very peaceful Japanese sceneries which contrast with the aggression of the warring men. The cast is superb, and the film touches on some core issues of our collective existence.

This film won the Best Artistic Contribution prize at the Montreal World Film Festival 2016.