Bushido

A Thoughtful and Beautifully Crafted Samurai Drama

Bushido takes the familiar world of samurai cinema and approaches it with patience and restraint. Rather than building everything around sword fights, the film focuses on honor, reputation, responsibility, and the consequences of living according to a rigid moral code. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi gives a wonderfully controlled performance as a former samurai living modestly with his daughter. The film's attention to everyday life and the game of Go gives the story a distinctive rhythm before the stakes begin to escalate. The period production design and cinematography are beautiful, and when violence does arrive it carries more weight because the film hasn't been constantly building toward action. Overall, this is a mature and elegant period drama that offers something different from a conventional samurai movie while still delivering an emotionally satisfying story.

Old school new-wave chanbara!

Modern day classic in motion. Without narrowing down to any director in particular, Bushido has all the hallmarks of the great samurai films from 60s and 70s. Political, enraged and violent in action pieces. Amazing artwork on slip as well.

Top Tier Samurai Film

The picture and sound were fantastic, so let’s just get that out of the way. What a movie. If you’re looking for a sword swinging bloodbath, this is not that. It’s such a good, simple story of honor and trying to do the right thing. It’s a great character driven piece of drama, and I’m so happy I took a chance on this blind buy.