Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2011

These days I often fret for the future of Japanese film, feeling the originality that has enlivened it is slipping away. And then a filmmaker like Hitoshi Matsumoto appears on the scene. Matsumoto has long been in the Japanese consciousness as half the manzai comic duo Downtown, but in 2007 he started making films, offering the awesome farce Dai Nipponjin (Big Man Japan). With Symbol (2009) and this work Matsumoto is climbing to the heights of Japan’s best comedic directors, Satoshi Miki and Kankuro Kudo among them. Saya Zamurai concerns Nomi (Takaaki Nomi) a destitute and hapless samurai who has thrown away his sword and deserted his clan. His headstrong nine-year-old daughter Tae (Sae Kumada) tries to keep him focused but Nomi is captured and offered a deal: he must make his masters break into guffaws to be free. Playing like a 16th century version of the American TV show Make Me Laugh, the physical slapstick is hilarious and grueling but Matsumoto also has a few tricks up his sleeve, making this more than an absurdist comedy. Hollywood is already remaking Big Man Japan and this may be next, as it is simply brilliant. English title: Scabbard Samurai. (103 min)