The Samurai and the Prisoner: reviews

What the critics say average 8.0 from 28 outlets

• 10 Roger EbertBrian Tallerico In a sense, this is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Throne of Blood,” one of the other Kurosawa’s unequivocal masterpieces, and it earns that comparison in every way. Read
• 10 Original-CinLiam Lacey The Samurai and the Prisoner, the latest film by the prolific Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, is intelligent entertainment, based on a 2021 historical mystery novel by Honobu Yonezawa and, as with Kurosawa’s anxiety-charged previous thrillers (Cure, Pulse, Cloud), follows chain-reaction social disasters. There’s an echo of that serial approach in the nested puzzles that make up the movie’s plot though the tone here is classically restrained. Read
• 9.1 The Film StageLeonardo Goi Kurosawa finds in Murashige a formidable analog; anchored as it may be to a rich, illustrious cinematic lineage, The Samurai and the Prisoner feels at once retro and rebellious—a loving tribute from one disruptor to another. Read
• 9.0 VarietyJessica Kiang “Samurai” is classical, if pared-back, in approach — at once a satisfyingly linked series of rousing whodunnits, a tricksy game of mental cat-and-mouse and a trenchant, often rather moving, exploration of the nature of true leadership, in all its solitude and sacrifice. Read
• 9.0 The Daily BeastNick Schager Intricate, enthralling, and as psychologically rich as his best work, it’s another feather in the illustrious artist’s cap. Read
• 9.0 New York TimesBen Kenigsberg Kurosawa’s well-timed camera moves cut like daggers. What emerges is a samurai picture that feels simultaneously classical and modern, austere and capacious, familiar and surprising. Read
• 9.0 The Wall Street JournalZachary Barnes Mr. Kurosawa, among our most contemporary-minded auteurs, has never been one to venture so far into the past, but here he brings it to vivid and complicated life. Read
• 9.0 VultureBilge Ebiri What ultimately emerges is a fascinating existential drama about mercy and sacrifice, about the individual and the state. Read
• 9.0 The Globe and MailBarry Hertz There is a patience and commitment on display from Kurosawa that requires an equal investment and energy from his audience. But it also doesn’t take much to fully give in to this intricately constructed world of vengeance and mercy, order and dishonour. Sit down, and embrace the mystery. Read
• 9.0 The New YorkerJustin Chang “The Samurai and the Prisoner” may be set centuries earlier, but it’s a Kurosawa movie through and through. The talk is grave, the editing unhurried; the camera holds multiple characters in the frame and watches them from a sedate remove. Read
• 8.8 LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen A whodunit set in 1578 Japan, The Samurai and the Prisoner plays like something Agatha Christie might have written after binge-watching a bunch of Akira Kurosawa. Read
• 8.3 The A.V. ClubRory Doherty There’s an openness to Muragishe (symbolized by his hobby as a diligent tea master and tea urn collector) that Kurosawa admires, something fairly rare in his dark, disorientating filmography. It’s this admiration—not to mention the film’s patience and detail—that makes The Samurai And The Prisoner a delightful detour for the genre master. Read
• 8.3 AwardsWatchRyan McQuade While not his finest film of his career (or even this year, that would be Chime), Kurosawa continues to prove himself as a vital contemporary master of the craft that explores the essential fabric of his past and present in order to understand the future that is coming. Read
• 8.0 The WrapChase Hutchinson In each mesmerizing move of the camera or precisely-framed shot, he draws us in closer and closer until we can practically feel the grass under our feet while he simultaneously keeps his sharp eye on the bigger picture. Read
• 8.0 Screen DailyWendy Ide It’s a handsomely mounted piece that leans more towards psychological warfare than the sword-based bloodshed that fans of Kurosawa’s previous work might expect. Read
• 8.0 Los Angeles TimesTim Grierson Although the film is a somber examination of violence, it can also be dryly funny in its depiction of what Murashige must endure.
• 8.0 CinemagaviaGuillem Uceda i Oliver “The Samurai and the Prisoner” stands up for the pleasure of watching closely. Against a cinema that often mistakes intensity for speed and spectacle for movement, Kiyoshi Kurosawa bets on patience, composition and narrative intelligence. Read
• 8.0 El antepenúltimo mohicanoRubén Téllez Brotons Its purpose may well be described as an attempt to give a single life back its worth in a context that is only capable of producing death and making it banal. Read
• 7.8 The Austin ChronicleRichard Whittaker If there’s one disappointment, it’s that Kurosawa falls into the constraints of visual starkness that is so often the hallmark of jidaigeki. Gorgeous as the camera work of Yasuyuki Sasaki is, all those wide shots and smooth tracking motion seem so familiar. Read
• 7.5 35 MilímetrosÁlvaro García-Baquero Despite its episodic structure, this is a great, daring work from one of the finest directors alive today. A film of dialogue in a violent world. Read
• 7.0 Next Best PictureCody Dericks Much as its main character tries to untangle seemingly impossible conundrums, viewers of “The Samurai and the Prisoner” will find themselves leaning in and working hard to discern the film’s intriguing details. It’s not a task for those who look to cinema as an escape, requiring aggressive attention from its audience, as all worthwhile art should. Read
• 7.0 The Hollywood ReporterJordan Mintzer Based on the prizewinning 2021 novel by Honobu Yonezawa, the film tells a story that will probably be familiar to anyone who grew up in Japan. It then takes that classic narrative and adds a few new twists, as well as a decidedly anti-war message that seems to be speaking to our time as well. Read
• 7.0 Screen RantAlex Harrison Turning a historical mystery into a feature-length exploration of motive proves a compelling decision, especially when combined with Kurosawa's mastery of form. I did, however, respond to it more intellectually than emotionally. There are moments of performance or framing, usually accompanied by stillness, that break through, but for whatever reason – perhaps a consequence of the murder-mystery framework – I experienced the film at some degree of a remove. Read
• 7.0 MoviementariosVicky Carras The story is very well told: from the start the siege is always there, that oppressive feeling in the castle, with everyone running from one place to another without really knowing what to do. Read
• 6.3 Slant MagazineMarshall Shaffer The Samurai and the Prisoner offers a master class in framing and blocking, with Kurosawa continually finding new ways to render the story’s self-contained setting as a source of rich visual pleasure. Read
• 6.0 FotogramasSergi Sánchez In essence the film, at times a touch tedious, is a thriller of deceit and conspiracy that sets out to show that even the wealthiest of warlords can fall victim to his own naivety when it comes to keeping his honour intact without getting blood on his hands. Read
• 6.0 La RazónSergi Sánchez It has the shape of a samurai film, but nobody here draws a sword; there are no fights and no all-out wars. The hero and his followers live by a code of honour, and there are betrayals and knives in the back, but Kiyoshi Kurosawa, always against the current, has made a film that is talked, not fought. Read
• 5.8 IndiewireDavid Ehrlich Tedious in its plotting but rich in its temporal frictions, this ultra-faithful adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa’s 2021 novel embraces the time-honored traditions of its form with an eye toward subverting them by the end, an approach that proves apt — if not always satisfying — in the context of a story about a samurai who’s struggling to determine if he should do the same. Read