I have yet to see a film by Hirokazu Koreeda that was not excellent. Koreeda is one of my favorite directors, and it is my life’s mission to see all his films. The following review is based on my experiences with the film, not independent knowledge of Japanese history, so please forgive any errors. Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai is a period film that takes place in the early 1700s. Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai primarily unfolds in a slum and follows the residents of the neighborhood over several seasons. Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai is a period slice of life movie that is not stylized, but makes the people feel real as opposed to sepia-toned depictions.
Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai includes the story of a young samurai who feels an obligation to fulfill his filial duties, but responds more naturally to a life that contrasts greatly from the one assigned to him since birth. Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai asks a central question: what is a noble life? Is it fulfilling your duty as a samurai to avenge deaths, fight and die a bloody death in the name of theoretical honor? Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai suggests that the beauty of daily life holds the answers, and it is nobler to embrace the cycles of life rather than to destroy and waste it.
Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai even takes it one step further and asserts that the life of the mind is nobler than the life of the samurai. Writing and acting in plays about vengeance are preferable to the ugliness and reality of death. Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai turns Hamlet on its head. It is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune instead of taking arms against a sea of troubles. One of the characters even discovers that you can take shit and turn it into something sweet–this is the life of the creative mind.
None of the Koreeda films that I have seen are period pieces except possibly Nobody Knows, which was inspired by an event from 1988. I imagine that it was very difficult to make Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai, but he succeeded in making a great reprise worthy of challenging the legendary tale of The 47 Ronin. Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai wisely refuses to romanticize the past, but infuses it with the same empathetic sensibility and tenderness as his contemporary characters.
Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai may not be my favorite Koreeda film, but it is still a masterpiece that is better than most films that have ever and will ever exist. Hana: The Tale of a Reluctant Samurai urges viewers that when the drums of war play, play the drums.