Crazy Samurai Musashi

A clan’s future hangs in the balance. A boy of noble birth waits by a temple. The dishonor of his father and the death of his brother must be avenged. The boy is merely bait, there to draw out the enemy who has brought shame upon the Yoshioka school of swordfighting. In the surrounding woods, hundreds of Yoshioka retainers lurk, weapons at the ready, in anticipation of the solitary swordsman’s arrival. This will not be a fair fight. Not fair at all.

Japan’s most legendary swordsman, undefeated in at least documented 60 duels, Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) has ben reborn on the silver screen many times, notably in the famous SAMURAI trilogy, starring Toshiro Mifune. Now it’s leading Japanese action star Tak Sakaguchi (VERSUS, and countless classics since), tearing out of semi-retirement and working again with director/choreographer Yuji Shimomura – that’s right, the DEATH TRANCE dream team, tackling the toughest battle of Musashi’s life. Following a very brief but effective opening scene, CRAZY SAMURAI MUSASHI (written by no other than Sion Sono!) unfurls as a single, uninterrupted 77-minute shot following Musashi as he confronts and defeats hundreds of opponents – 588, for those keeping count (we advise against any drinking games related to on-screen kills). Sakaguchi, quite convincingly worn out and winded as the slaughter progresses, delivers possibly the most impressive and demanding physical performance in the history of moviemaking. An almost transcendental marathon of mayhem, flawlessly guided by Shimomura, CRAZY SAMURAI MUSASHI immediately distinguishes itself as an absolute classic of action cinema. – Rupert Bottenberg