Bushido

KAZUYA SHIRAISHI
Japan, 2024
129 minutes, Color

The many cherry blossoms crowding the screen at the start of this period drama add a wistful quality to the tale of a dishonored samurai living in exile, but the story soon turns tense. Yanagida is behind on rent, although the former warrior spends his days quietly playing the ancient board game Go while his daughter, Kino, scrambles to keep the household going. When Yanagida allows the powerful but less-skilled pawnshop owner Genbei to win a game, a cautious alliance forms. But as word comes that Yanagida's reputation may be restored, he is again accused of a crime and stakes for everyone grow higher. The tenets of the Bushido code, by which samurais lived—loyalty, respect, self-discipline, courage, etc.—are exemplified in the film not by wild fights, but through games of Go, as Yanagida works to reclaim his honor (although there is some brutal swordsmanship).—Dave Nuttycombe

In Japanese with English subtitles