As we mainly get our thrills from watching live MMA action here at fullmount.co.uk it came as something of a surprise to be approached by the lovely people at Cine Asia about reviewing their latest offering Yamada: Way of the Samurai. As a keen film buff (of sorts) I was keen to get a look and see whether I would like the film and importantly to me, whether I liked the fight scenes. A lot of films have been ruined for me with dreadful fight scenes where supposedly realistic films take a turn for the worse where a character suddenly gains near magical powers and beats someone to death using moves that wouldn't be possible outside of a choreographed dance class.
The films leading man, Seki Oseki has an interesting story and one which neatly mirrors the story of the character he plays in the film. Having starred in a few Japanese films alongside his modelling career he travelled to Thailand to further his acting career. That ties in well with the plot for this film, Yamada (Oseki) is challenged with finding out who was behind a plot to kill the king of Ayothaya, part of ancient Thailand with whom the Japanese were attempting to sign a peace treaty with. Upon discovering that the people behind the plot were in fact his own people Yamada is betrayed and left for dead. When he is found and nursed back to health by some of the villagers from a remote village that specialises in the training of the Ayothayan kings body guards Yamada trains with them and combines his Samurai skills with the Thai Muay Boran art and becomes a formidable warrior and finds friendship, brotherhood and a new purpose in life.
I needn't have worried about the fight scenes in Yamada: Way of the Samurai however, with the film being based upon real events and people from Thailand's history it was an obvious choice to recruit one of the countries renowned pro fighters to star. Buakhao Paw Pramuk (catch our exclusive interview soon) turned out to be that man and if you read up on him he has won pretty much everything there is to win in the world of Muay Thai kick boxing and his prowess in the real life ring has translated perfectly to the big screen. There's obviously some cinematic licence used but the moves, combinations and grittiness of the fights isn't tarnished in anyway. The no nonsense hard and fast hitting and kicking of Muay Thai is shown well against Yamada's more traditional Japanese arts and in a way his skill set early in the film is a metaphor for how cinema has been affected by the prevalence of MMA in modern culture. People now realise that a real fight between two skilled proponents isn't a boxing match of like an 80's Kung Fu movie and the Ayothayan's no nonsense approach cuts through a lot of the airy fairy stuff that is deliberately overwrought by Yamada in his initial training sessions with the Ayothayan's.
One gripe would be the excessive blood spattering added in post production but it again wasn't enough to detract from the overall skill on display. Oseki performs well especially in such esteemed and decorated company and there are moments of humour in what is quite a dark and serious film, such as when an impetuous Yamada marches into the middle of the Buran training camp to face their champion during sparring practice! Also, something I wasn't aware of was how ancient Thai warriors presented themselves and if you're in the same boat as I was be prepared for some facial hair Don Frye would be proud of!
The locations are beautiful and an advert for Thailand's natural splendour as well as it's ancient man made temples. The sets are well crafted and at no time did I find myself watching the film thinking that the film had been made on a budget that was in need of a few more 0's on the end.
The story itself is, as mentioned, a true one. I won't spoil the ending by telling you about it but the tale of a man being confident, broken down, rebuilt and then going to face his tormentors is a well trodden one but that's not to say that it's a cliché. With this films clever use of real active top level fighters there is an added element of realism (despite the blood) that helps retain your interest in the film right up until the end. It's not a “clever” film I many regards, it is still primarily a martial arts film although one somewhat devoid of the, in my opinion, tiresome mystical nonsense many Westerners feel they need in a martial arts film as if they can somehow justify to themselves that you need to be a magician to learn a martial art and thereby justifying their sitting in their bedroom watching anime and ordering nun chucks off ebay. That wee rant aside what is left is a fantastic action movie with a great true story about honour and intrigue in ancient Japan and Thailand that kept me captivated until the end and continually amazed at the level of skill on display.
Yamada: Way of the Samurai is available for pre order now
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The films leading man, Seki Oseki has an interesting story and one which neatly mirrors the story of the character he plays in the film. Having starred in a few Japanese films alongside his modelling career he travelled to Thailand to further his acting career. That ties in well with the plot for this film, Yamada (Oseki) is challenged with finding out who was behind a plot to kill the king of Ayothaya, part of ancient Thailand with whom the Japanese were attempting to sign a peace treaty with. Upon discovering that the people behind the plot were in fact his own people Yamada is betrayed and left for dead. When he is found and nursed back to health by some of the villagers from a remote village that specialises in the training of the Ayothayan kings body guards Yamada trains with them and combines his Samurai skills with the Thai Muay Boran art and becomes a formidable warrior and finds friendship, brotherhood and a new purpose in life.
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