A Boy and his Samurai (2010)
dir. Yoshihiro Nakamura
act. Ryo Nishikido, Rie Tomosaka
This will be playing Thursday August 9 at 5:05pm and I absolutely recommend it for kids and families. It’s a feel good movie that even with the time traveling samurai always remains grounded in the reality of challenges faced by a single parent family. It’s at times funny and emotional with excellent performances.
It starts out with a chance meeting that a mother and son have with a real samurai from the past who has somehow been transported to the present. The mother and son take the samurai home and help him adjust to modern life. At first, in order to repay their kindness he offers to do “women’s work” aka domestic chores. Gradually bonds are formed between him and the mother and child. As a result the mother is able to focus more on work and the child gains a father figure but such a harmonious situation cannot last. When the samurai gets a job in a bakery, an argument over who should do the domestic chores ends with him leaving.
The ending is bittersweet although the eventual reunion is due to a crisis rather than any change in opinion of the samurai. Plus having the samurai change his opinion on women’s roles would’ve rang false had it happened.
