The Meiji period has always been an interesting and fascinating backdrop for the samurai drama. Recent films such as THE LAST SAMURAI and THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI have observed the plight of the Japanese warrior during their last years by examining their awareness of a changing world, challenging Bushido within the sphere of western influence, where bladed steel makes way for explosive ammunition. MIBU GISHI DEN also tackles this dynamic, testing its protagonist against intangible forces such as famine, civil war, and industrialization.

MIBU GISHI DEN begins in the city of Tokyo, 1899. An old man by the name of Hajime Saito carries his sick grandson on his back in the snow towards the door of the town doctor, Chiaki Ono. Saito catches Ono in the midst of packing; household items and clothing are scattered around, ready to be put in cases. While Ono’s wife tends to the grandson, Saito and Ono sit down for tea. As the men initiate polite conversation, they soon discover that their lives are connected through a samurai by the name of Kanichiro Yoshimura.

Thus begins an intertwining narrative that explores the life of Yoshimura from the eyes of two men. Ono recounts Yoshimura’s past as his sensei in Morioka within the Oshu clan, while Saito reminisces about Yoshimura’s later life as an eccentric samurai in the Shinsen-gumi. These two perspectives jump back and forth, slowly unraveling the timelines of Yoshimura’s life in an emotionally effective manner. It is this storytelling that sets up each and every moment to a degree that is both impactful and tremendous. From Yoshimura and Saito’s developing friendship to the courtship of wife, Shizu, the rendering of Yoshimura’s perseverance is executed simply and beautifully.

While other aspects of MIBU GISHI DEN fall perfectly into place (Joe Hisaishi’s moving score and Takehiro Nakajima’s wonderful screenplay), the emotional poetry displayed by Kiichi Nakai as Yoshimura is perhaps the strongest aspect of director Yojiro Takita’s film. MIBU GISHI DEN literally does handstands on Nakai’s shoulders. The scenes themselves had the potential to be too heavy handed and melodramatic, but Nakai’s affecting performance provided the proper ebb and flow in the sequences. The last quarter of MIBU GISHI DEN alone will definitely raise some tissues and wet some eyes as Nakai’s final scene is breathtaking and magnificent.

In the end, MIBU GISHI DEN is a character driven drama that gives a captivating glimpse on the last days of the samurai, a wonderful gem of Japanese cinema that hopefully will not be forgotten in the sea of other brilliant samurai films. If anything, Yojiro Takita’s latest efforts have definitely made this humble reviewer an instant fan of Kiichi Nakai.