Film

Somewhere in Bushido, the code of the samurai, there has to be an entry that warns against messing with another man’s wife. We imagine it reads: “Don’t do it.” If not, we’d recommend that Yamada’s latest—the story of a cuckolded samurai who cares too much for love and honor to let things slide—be granted its own section.

Low-ranking samurai Shinnojo Mimura (Kimura) performs his castle duties by sampling the feudal lord’s food, testing for poisons, but he dreams of quitting the clan and opening an equal-opportunity kendo dojo, teaching children of all castes the ancient art of swordfighting. When he downs some out-of-season sashimi, Shinnojo goes blind, and his position as a samurai comes into question. His wife, Kayo (Dan), hoping to secure their place, seeks help from relatives, who recommend she visit chief duty officer Toya Shimada (Bando), a man with the ear of the lord. Shimada agrees to help but takes Kayo to bed as payment.

Few characters make the right decisions in this nuanced drama, which is a huge step up from 2002’s turgid Twilight Samurai. And what happens when you make bad decisions in feudal Japan? Swordfight! A beautifully wrought battle between blind Shinnojo and ethically blind Shimada provides the needed tension release and the proper moral for the code.