REVIEW: THE LEGEND & BUTTERFLY

4/5

The Butterfly Effect. 

168 Mins. Starring: Takuya Kimura, Haruka Ayase, Hideaki Itō, Takumi Saitoh, Hio Miyazawa, Takuma Otoo & Miki Nakatani. Director: Keishi Ohtomo. On: Amazon Prime. 

Spreading its wings on Amazon Prime, you can now watch one of Japan's biggest movies of the year with English subtitles, if your Japanese like mine is "maa, maa" at best. 'Rurouni Kenshin' director Keishi Ohtomo's 'The Legend & Butterfly' starring Takuya Kimura and Haruka Ayase came out to mark the new year and has been a showstopping success here like 'The First Slam Dunk' or 'Suzume' anime. It's only just left Japanese cinemas after a roaring roadshow. Now in Prime position it's something you should ride along with like the Oscar winning 'Men Without Women' short story adaptation of Haruki Murakami's 'Drive My Car'. Even if the 2 hour and 48 minute runtime truly makes it a war epic for the ages. 

Toei Studio's 75th anniversary was marked with this big-budget cinematic experience that could even rival a 'Fearless' Jet Li or a South Korean 'Brotherhood' for wartime drama that strikes right at your heart until the tears flow. Focusing on the begrudging romance between warlord Oda Nobunaga and Nohime, the viper's daughter. There's love to be found amongst all the hatred of a war that's killing for peace in a bitter irony reflecting how we treat each other today with all sorts of wars and a very real one waging all around us. But to say more would spoil what's to come in this compelling coupling and craft of history and movie making art form in testimonial. 

Japanese icon Takuya Kimura ('Kyojo', 'Long Vacation') in his 50th year takes the lead. The SMAP pop star really gives us one of the most conflicted and classic performances in his career as he mixes bloodlust and a desire for a rise to power with the grounding nature of what his heart really faces and feels. Far from the "idiot" label his lord is given, there's ignorance sure, but moments of inspiration in his influence. But will he rise to his own crowning glory, or be buried in all the bodies he leaves in his wake? As the beautiful first hour of this film turns brutal when it comes to the first bloodshed in a truly unsettling moment that will stay with you uncomfortably like one of the first drink offerings in a vile victory toast. 

Living in Japan, you see former Panasonic personality Haruka Ayase everywhere. From Glico signs like a running man to Uniqlo clothes commercials. Lighting up any billboard she's on like Tokyo's Shibuya crossing, but she's more than all that, mind you. You only have to watch the classic 'Our Little Sister' to see how much of an amazing actress Ayase really is, and she's about to kill it as an assassin in her next movie 'Revolver Lily'. Her reputation precedes her here too as he puts in a punctuated and powerful performance. The Kazuo Ishiguro adapted 'Never Let Me Go' Japanese series star gets serious in one moment with her back against the wall that will truly break your heart as her closest aides simply sit in understanding unity. But it's her first meeting with Kimura where she truly hands the warlord Nobunaga's a## to him that truly the best moment of the movie and a superstar at the peak of her powers in this period piece. 

A subtle, scene-stealing Hideaki Itō (so good in 'Tokyo Vice'), a heartbreakingly good Takumi Saitoh, the true talent of Hio Miyazawa and veteran support from Takuma Otoo and the legendary Miki Nakatani of Sakurakko fame all significantly support the epic-ensemble of this love amongst all the war story. One that begins as a political move for power is balanced by moments of heartfelt humanity, dancing around Kyoto with Westerners in a more open world. Looking across the land to the sea of hope between them, 'The Legend & The Butterfly' displays grace amongst the violence. This historical account has been told countless times through books, TV and film, but with Kimura and Ayase, we finally find the heart of this story. Fact or fiction, for better or worse. Some legends float more delicately when we look behind the face of things and find what's inside. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'The Floating Castle', 'Sekigahara', 'Our Little Sister'.