The Legend & Butterfly

With two neighbouring kingdom's set for war, their kings decide that the best way forward is for the son of one - "Oda" (Takuya Kimura) to marry the daughter of the other - "Nohime" (Haruka Ayase). Neither are very keen on this arrangement but patrimonial loyalty and all that... An early shoulder massage illustrates really early on that these two are not a marriage made in heaven. Indeed, she proves considerably more adept than him at just about everything and is also unafraid of speaking her mind in front of his nobles - and women, well that just wasn't done! What now ensues does have an element of predictability to it, but this period of 16th century Japanese history is fraught with intrigues, political machinations, duplicity and ambition - and over the next 2¾ hours we have a decently paced unravelling of a generation of dynastic ambitions and manoeuvring that looks good and holds the attention well. Ayase takes the acting plaudits - she delivers well; and the others contribute adequately as the story advances. For me, it was the focus on the internecine society of love and honour your lord whilst you figure out ways to stab him in the back that worked well here. Loads of CGI - well it is 2023, after all, but the costumier and armourer's arts are well represented and the combat scenes spare us the worst excesses of repetition. It's a long slot of your day to commit to on the television, and I wonder if it would look better on a cinema screen, but if it's a genre in which you've an interest, then this is well worth a watch.

Although I've seen various actors portray Oda Nobunaga before, this is the first film where they've depicted Nohime as even more formidable than Nobunaga himself. Especially in their brief close combat scenes, shortly after getting married, Nohime confronts Nobunaga with a sword, and later, even in their prosperity, she powerfully reminds him of his misguided path. Aya Ueto's portrayal exudes unwavering strength, while Takuya Kimura's character evolves from hesitation to determined success and ultimately to a supremely confident ruler. Their expressions are truly on point. Although the story revisits familiar themes, the dialogue design leading up to the Battle of Okehazama really emphasizes the advantages of the enemy, making us ponder where we should apply our strengths now.

Where to start? How about the amazing beauty that is Japan? The amazing camera work in capturing 16th century Japan. Having spent time in Japan, I know there are many well preserved sites from this era. The creators of this film used them well, not overwhelming the story. Such an epic of war, conquest, rise and downfall. The way Lady No inspired the transformation of Oda from a fun loving playboy to a leader of armies is magical. There is enough comedic relief to downtown the horrors and realities of the time. I kind of loved the pseudo ending and wish things had stopped there. I would probably like to watch it again. I cannot imagine a better cast of professionals who fit the parts well. If you don't select this movie for your watch list, you are cheating yourself.

What can I say?, this is a really good movie!, it has every element of a good story along with some kick butt samurai action and humor and romance, it is a story of fate, it is like the story of Arjuna who had to do what he had to do and be a warrior, it is a story of my best friend who became a special forces medic and who's choices I always questioned but he was he is a kind of hero in his own way and these heroes fall prey themselves to the violence their predilections put them in and who knows if there's any virtue in their actions, except of course their very intention in the first place however good it may be, this is a damn fine movie don't let anybody dissuade you from watching all 2 hours and 48 minutes of it, one of the best of its genre.

The life, death and many events around the life of warlord Oda Nobunaga have been the source and inspiration of many movies. In The Legend and Butterfly, we get to see an heavily fictionnalized version of Oda defining years through a different lens, his relationship with Kicho/Nohime, his legal wife, of which not that much is known historically. This allows for a lot of flitting through actual events peperred with a mature love story (which is more of a "relation" between two very different characters than some sort of romance novel), fortunately not shaved down the throat of the audience.

Kimura Takuya professionaly portrays an Oda slowly but surely drifting from a countryside minor warlord to a ruthless borderline cruel master of the country, while Haruka Ayase has a very solid presence on screen as Kicho. A minor grip, the story spans over three decades but the main characters don't seem to age more than three minutes (whereas second roles do seem age a bit... go figure....). Also, there is -a lot- of Nanban (foreign at the time) music instruments being played at various time in the movie, to a point this becomes distracting.

Even if if perfectly works with only a little histoy knowledge, the movie may be appreciated more if one has a basic knowlegde of the events at the time, from the Okehazama battle to the burning of Enryaku temple. Nothing that a quick read from wikipedia can not solve.

Obviously a lot of money has gone into this , from the reconstitution of Azuchi castle to Portuguese ships, the gorgeous settings, etc. It shows, but there arent't many battles on screen so viewers should not expect an action movie.

Overall a surprisingly good flick.