Runin: Banished

This film takes place in the 19th century on a small Japanese island which serves as a penal colony in which people convicted of certain crimes are exiled as punishment. To that effect, the people are expected to obey certain rules--with one of the most important being that any attempt to escape is punishable by death. Along with that, living conditions are extremely basic as well and in order to survive each person is also required to perform basic duties or functions to sustain the overall society at large. That being said, one of the central characters in this society is a former courtesan by the name of "Toyogiku" (Keiko Matsuzaka) who was exiled there many years earlier and spends her life as a prostitute to make ends meet. Naturally, since the female population is extremely limited, she keeps quite busy but even so she is fully aware that her best days are behind her--and this fills her with great despair. Things change, however, when she meets a new prisoner by the name of "Kisaburo" (Kazuhiro Nishijima) who--being several years younger--temporarily awakens feelings in her that have gone dormant. Not only that, but she also sees in him an opportunity to finally escape from this prison as well. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a pretty good film, by and large, which benefited from excellent performances by both Keiko Matsuzaka and Kazuhiro Nishijima. Admittedly, I didn't particularly care for a couple of crude (and totally unnecessary) scenes which the director (Eiji Okuda) apparently felt compelled to add--but other than that I enjoyed this film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.