Der Samurai

Watching the movie at Frightfest where it generally played better than my vote is displaying, it feels weird talking about it. Shot-wise, that is framing and lighting and everything technical is really exceptional. Especially considering this is only a first time effort (and for the "budget" it was made).

But actually understanding the performances (language-wise) and getting that there are quite a few flaws in the acting department takes a bit out of the fun. You also have to have a keen sense of the absurd to really enjoy it. It doesn't hurt if you are not too judgmental either considering the homo-erotic undertones (actually you can say they are not so subtle) in the movie. Something that helps the movie, but due to the "performances" also kind of lets it down (if you have an issue with the ... issue it'll be a letdown either way). Just watching it and getting the essence from the subtitles might be helpful enjoying this more of course. Which many celebrities at Frightfest did. Also the director is a very nice and humble person. And with a festival success like that, he'll be able to do something grander

The samurai of the title is a wild fellow, actor Pit Bukowski, who manages some odd jumps and even a nude scene complete with an erection, all with a maniacal smile on his face. It's not the kind of performance that is easy to watch or forget. The only American actors I can think of who have even approached this kind of crazed portrayal are the late Heath Ledger and the ubiquitous Woody Harrelson. Pit outdoes them both.

The Samurai is on a killing spree threatened by a local cop, Jakob, well played by Michel Diercks. There is a sort of half-baked subplot with a wolf that doesn't really gel, but the main thrust of this movie is the story of a small town German cop having to deal with a man dressed as a woman, wielding a sword. I have no idea what transvestites will think of all this, they may like it, I don't know, but I think the two leads and the director, Till Klienert, have an impressive future in front of them.

This movie would make a great one to show to adult friends prepared for some fairly campy horror and gore. It's definitely not for kids or for anyone not prepared for the short segment with male nudity near the end.

I saw this film at the Imagine (sf/horror/fantasy) filmfestival Amsterdam 2014. The title may attract the wrong audience, but that is the only problem I have with this movie. It focuses on the Samurai sword that is carried all the time by the transvestite, who is the primary trigger of all events following. He and local policeman Jakob are the obvious main characters that carry the story from start to finish. But the sword is far from the lead weapon, due to very prominent roles of confusion, surprise and deviant behavior to augment the proceedings. The latter three story elements make it difficult to tell much about the story, fearing literally spoiling all the inherent fun of this movie.

Nice are some interwoven plots. A perfect example is the motor gang, seemingly appearing in the beginning as a side issue. This group unexpectedly gets an important role later on, when grouping around the transvestite in an obvious attempt to mock him. Little do they know what disaster is before them. There is a second interwoven plot around Jakob's mother, but I better confine myself to hinting that it is useful to keep an eye on her too.

All in all, very good entertainment full of unexpected events, perfectly capable to keep our attention throughout. In the Q&A we learned that it is "just" a master thesis project, still more reason to admire the end result. This film ended 23rd (out of 43) for the audience award, with average score 7.20.

I had difficulties in the beginning with this flick. I didn't get it and it took a while before the action do comes in. It isn't a straight horror it's more of a psychological flick about who one crazy person, the samurai, can get into the mind of a cop.

Slowly the cop will get involved into the actions of the samurai and towards the end you will know what will happen to both of them. I can't say that this is for everybody out there because it do has an homo-erotic feeling over it and it even has male nudity with an erection so some will be offended by that too. The gore attached towards the story isn't shown in a normal way, It has an arty way of showing it. So again on that part some will turn it off but I must say that the first minutes I was thinking to turn it off but somehow I kept watching and clocking in at 75 minutes it worked out fine.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

I had no preconceived ideas going into this movie but was pleasantly surprised by the plot, which was unique and kept me interested until the end.

It's well made with a low budget and despite not really being a horror, it was a strange (in a good way) dark fantasy.

Well worth a watch.