Chiri Tsubaki/Samurai's Promise: A brilliant Junichi Okada-led samurai movie that would make Akira Kurosawa proud.
One of my main quests throughout recent years has been searching through various chanbara and jidaigeki movies in order to find the absolute best. Most recently, I've been scanning through movies made in both the 2010s and the 2020s in order to find the best in those respective decades. This search led me to rediscover some hidden gems that I had initially overlooked. One such movie was the 2018 adaptation of Rin Hamuro's novel, Chiri Tsubaki. This project saw one of my personal favourite action stars, Junichi Okada, teaming up with former cinematographer-turned director, Daisaku Kimura. This was a big deal as Kimura had worked with the legendary Akira Kurosawa, whom he worked with as assistant camera-man from Hidden Fortress to Dodes'ka-den. Add on to that, the incredibly talented actor Hidetoshi Nishijima in a role opposite Okada and you have all the ingredients for success. Shinbei Uryu, a ronin, makes a promise to his dying wife to return the clan he was previously e...
