Japanese films - Hana yori mo naho

Hana yori mo naho

is a 2006 feature film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. The drama follows a young and inexperienced samurai, Aoki Sozaemon ("Soza"), who has moved from Matsumoto to Edo. He lives in a slum waiting to find his father's killer. He seeks revenge on him to restore his clan's honor. However, his life of poverty takes its toll, as does the discovery that his intended victim, another low-status samurai, has a wife and young children. Finally, Soza must decide: to kill or not to kill?
The backdrop of the film is the many other residents of the slum, including children, the landlord, a group putting on an amateur theater play, and a young widow, Osae, with whom Soza enters into a love affair.
Unbeknownst to all, a small group of samurai, members of the 47 Ronin, also live in the slum, hiding and plotting their revenge attack on Kira Yoshinaka's villa.

Movie Data

International title: Hana - the Tale of a Reluctant Samurai
Original title: 花よりもなほ, Hana yori mo Naho
Published: 2006
Length: 128 minutes

Staff
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Script: Hirokazu Koreeda
Music: Ryūichi Sakamoto

Cast
Jun’ichi Okada: Aoki Sōzaemon "Sōza"
Rie Miyazawa: Osae
Arata Furuta: Sadashiro
Jun Kunimura: Isekan
Katsuo Nakamura: Shigehachi
Tadanobu Asano: Jubei Kanazawa
Tomoko Tabata: Onobu
Yui Natsukawa: Oryō
Renji Ishibashi: Aoki Shōzaburō
Susumu Terajima: Kichiemon Terasaka

Comment

The film is set during the Genroku period in 1702. The young samurai Aoki Sōzaemon moves from Matsumoto to Edo to avenge his father's death. He lives in a slum, where he quickly befriends the residents and falls in love with the widow Osae. He abandons his plan to seek revenge and instead teaches the children to count, write and read.
"Entertaining social satire that resists all the temptations of the genre and questions a traditional value system with a wink. The clever production, the excellent lead actor and the splendid photography allow you to overlook some of the longueurs, clichés and inconsistencies."
(Lexicon of International Films)

Dojo and reality

In the film, little boy Shinbo was bullied by other children and now wants to learn sword fighting.
Soza-san never teaches outside of his dojo. So another samurai takes over the lessons. A young man from the neighborhood who likes to fight doubts the practical use of techniques learned in the dojo. He challenges Soza-san and beats him with his unconventional methods.