The Legend and Butterfly - new movie

[Graculus]

A quick heads up about a new samurai movie that opened here in Japan last week – The Legend and Butterfly, (or to give it its Japanese title, Legend and Butterfly) - no spoilers, but if you know your history, you can see where it’s headed.

Set in the 16th century, it charts the relationship between the warlord Oda Nobunaga and his wife, Nohime. Of course, being one of the unifiers of Japan, there is also plenty of action – enough good fight scenes to keep people who like that kind of thing (e.g. me) happy. Don’t be put off by the fact that the two main actors (Kimura Takuya as Nobunaga and Ayase Haruka as Nohime) are mainly known for acting in light TV dramas – they are both excellent. It also manages to keep the cast of important characters to a minimum - you don’t need to know who everyone is to follow the story.

For anyone living in Japan, (and who can handle a movie without subtitles - although it’s not too demanding linguistically) it would be well worth seeing it in the theatres while it’s still there. High production standards with good acting, gorgeous sets and costumes and an excellent score, it is definitely one for the big screen. Although it’s almost 3 hours long, I was fully absorbed the whole time – it’s a human story, about character and personality, which just happens to be set in a samurai milieu. Also good as a date movie (as long as neither of you minds a bit of blood) – it manages to leave you feeling surprisingly upbeat.

Graculus
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