The Samurai and the Prisoner

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The Samurai and the Prisoner

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2h 27m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

Crime

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96%

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55 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

When Lord Murashige Araki (Masahiro Motoki) rises up against the tyrannical Nobunaga Oda (Bando Shingo), he finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle. Isolated, he is confronted with a series of mysterious crimes that shatter the fragile order of his court, plunging the fortress into fear and suspicion. With Oda's army closing in and a traitor hiding among his ranks, Murashige is forced into an uneasy alliance with Kanbei Kuroda (Masaki Suda), a brilliant yet dangerous strategist held prisoner in the dungeon. Helped by his wife Chiyoho (Yuriko Yoshitaka) and his most loyal generals, Murashige must uncover the truth before the castle falls.

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Critics Consensus

Orchestrated with an intelligence as sharp as a katana's edge, The Samurai and the Prisoner is an elegant mystery that offers further proof of director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's mastery in any genre.

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Bilge Ebiri

New York Magazine/Vulture

1d

The film’s central puzzle thus becomes something more profound than the sum of its smaller mysteries: the question of how to achieve freedom in a world that seems to have no place for it.

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Justin Chang

The New Yorker

4d

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.

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Zachary Barnes

Wall Street Journal

5d

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.

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Derrick Murray

That Hollywood Show

31m

8.5/10

...it feels like a Kurosawa doing Kurosawa. Whether Akira or Kiyoshi, It combines the spectacle of one with the thematic richness of the other...interchangeable depending on what sticks out to you the most...something I never thought possible in cinema.

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Alan Zilberman

Washington City Paper

2h

Part thriller and part chamber piece, the film may initially seem old-fashioned, but has a few tricks hidden in its robes.

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Robin Clifford

Reeling Reviews

1d

A-

Adapted from the novel by Honobu Yonezawa, the filmmaker gives us a lesson in Japanese history that is right up my alley

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Sean W

@seanwang.94 4d

Wanted to love but needlessly confusing

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Jo S

4d

R u kidding me? Who will understand this?!

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B P

@Bradster69 4d

The Samurai and the Prisoner, as expected from one of this generation’s very best—if not, dare I say, absolute masters—is as resolved and seductive as fans might expect.

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Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Director

Masahiro Motoki

Murashige Araki

Masaki Suda

Kambee Kuroda

Yuriko Yoshitaka

Chiyoho

Munetaka Aoki

Kyuzaemon Araki

Shingo Bando

Nobunaga Oda

The Samurai and the Prisoner: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

When Lord Murashige Araki (Masahiro Motoki) rises up against the tyrannical Nobunaga Oda (Bando Shingo), he finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle. Isolated, he is confronted with a series of mysterious crimes that shatter the fragile order of his court, plunging the fortress into fear and suspicion. With Oda's army closing in and a traitor hiding among his ranks, Murashige is forced into an uneasy alliance with Kanbei Kuroda (Masaki Suda), a brilliant yet dangerous strategist held prisoner in the dungeon. Helped by his wife Chiyoho (Yuriko Yoshitaka) and his most loyal generals, Murashige must uncover the truth before the castle falls.

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Producer: Satoko Ishida
Screenwriter: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Distributor: Janus Films
Production Co: Shochiku, Tokyo Broadcasting System
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama, Crime
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 31, 2026, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $64.5K
Runtime: 2h 27m

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