GOLDEN KAMUY Review: A Gem That Fuels The Hunt For More In Shigeaki Kubo’s New Action Epic
5.5 min. read
Manga and anime adaptations are hard to make for live-action film presentations. Difficult however they may be, they’re far from impossible, and there are plenty of examples to find online. This platform has covered quite a few of them too, and to add, that stretch continues with Shigeaki Kubo’s new flick, Golden Kamuy.
Now streaming on Netflix, the film based on Satoru Noda’s Weekly Shonen Jump manga brings actor Kento Yamazaki back into the fold with a script by Kingdom franchise scribe Tsutomu Kuroiwa. The casting of Anna Yamada also lends to the atmospheric depth of Hokkaido with a circumspect treatment on the indigenous Ainu people of North Japan during the late Meiji period.
For this, our story is set at the tail-end of a bloody battle during the Russo-Japanese war. Saichi Sugimoto is one of the 1st division’s fiercest soldiers, having time-and-again survived wounds that would have otherwise proven fatal for him in battle. His reputation branded him as “the Immortal Sugimoto,” a nickname that also carries with infamy as the story progresses
Sugimoto’s journey gets harrowing from point to point as he battles untrustworthy soldiers, and the wild bears of the snow-driven Hokkaido wilderness. One such instance sees Sugimoto getting the upper hand when another soldier tries, but fails to kill him after sharing the legend of a scant tatooed code on the backs of prison escapees, and their connection a lost stash of Ainu gold.
Later, Sugimoto, in possession of the soldier’s body, is attacked by a wild bear, and is rescued by Asirpa (Anna Yamada), an Ainu village girl with exponential survival skills. After learning of Sugimoto’s quest and purpose behind the body, the two come to terms for a partnership in an effort to find the missing gold.
What matters then is whether or not they’ll be able to survives the increasing numbers of foes in their way, including the seventh division and its leader, First Lieutenant Tsurumi (Hiroshi Tamaki). The same goes for the scant prisoners living in a remote Hokkaido town, including the nimble and lithe former Shinsengumi Vice Commander Hijikata (Hiroshi Tachi).
Fans of Kubo’s work may likely be familiar with his previous ventures on the HiGH&LOW franchise, featuring the screen exploits of Japanese stage and music talents of super-group Exile Tribe. The films conveyed Kubo’s own acumen at handily directing big scale action and spectacle, and he certainly gets to crank it up a notch with Golden Kamuy, filming on location in Hokkaido.
The casting of Yamazaki presents another exemplary look at the actor who’s become a winning favorite on screen. He’s one of today’s strongest actors, and he’s provenly capable of handling extreme situations and scenarios, performing some of his own stunts to varying degrees.
Joined by actress Yamada, the two characters establish a friendship that grows a little more poignant over time. The funnier beats come when Asirpa starts chiding Sugimoto as some of their differing culinary choices surface – to say the least, she has her reasons for not liking Miso.
Yuma Yamoto plays Shiraishi, another key supporting character whose antics are moreso played up for laughs at times. It’s later in the film that his character becomes just a little more useful as the story reaches its explosive third act, preambling a climatic pursuit on horseback.
Like with any good film worth its celluloid, the more scintillating backdrop of Golden Kamuy is amplified only by its villains. Tamaki’s portrayal of the vindictive and scarred Tsurumi contributes a menacing and powerful villain, one whose own injuries can easily be seen as testament to his own will equal to that of Sugimoto’s.
Congruently, this aspect of Golden Kamuy sits crucially at the center of understanding behind Sugimoto’s actions. Citing an extensive flashback into Sugimoto’s life prior to the war and conflict that now warrant the basis for his own introspection, the movie is keen to show us a version of Sugimoto that has always been about more than material things. At his core, he’s stoic, and hungry for redemption and the chance to do right by the people he cares for most.
One thing I do want to point out is the brevity and detail from the production to bring Ainu indigeneity into focus. Its casting, particularly of actor and Ainu elder Debo Akibe, who plays Asirpa’s Great Uncle, is worth noting as his appearance here will be a first for a lot of cinephiles, mainly those with Golden Kamuy in their watch lists.
The action is fantastic, as expected from renowned stylist Yuji Shimomura who’s worked with Yamazaki several times before. I wasn’t too taken aback by the CG as the illustration of bears and wolves in the mix also brought some entertainment. That especially includes some of the more violent interludes. One guy fires a few shots at a bear during an attack, but not before perishing with remnants of his face hanging from his head. The levels of violence here are about as reasonable as it gets, albeit without Kubo going for something a little more graphic. Still, there is blood, and plenty of it. If you come away from this review with nothing else, let it be that.
Golden Kamuy is now streaming on Netflix, so fans should have a wholly worthwhile setup as Japan’s WOWOW readies the film’s episodic continuation in the months ahead. With any luck, Netflix will land the rights to the show and make fans of the inaugural film whole.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!