is a 2019 Japanese-British historical action adventure film co-written and directed by Bernard Rose and starring

Takeru Satoh is a Japanese actor. He is best known for his leading role as Kamen Rider Den-O (character)#Ryotaro Nogami, Ryotaro Nogami in the ''Kamen Rider Den-O'' franchise, and as Himura Kenshin in the live-action ''Rurouni Kenshin (film), Rurouni Kenshin ...

, Nana Komatsu and

Mirai Moriyama is a Japanese actor and dancer. Life and career Moriyama started training in dance when he was 5 years old. He trained in jazz dance, tap dance, ballet and hip-hop, and he appeared in several stage roles. He officially made his stage debut with ...

. It is based on the 2014 novel ''The Marathon Samurai: Five Tales of Japan’s First Marathon'' by Akihiro Dobashi, itself inspired by the origin story of the Ansei Toashi 30-km footrace held annually in Annaka City.

Plot summary

In 1855, a daimyo sends his men on a grueling marathon to discover if they're tough enough to face the newly arrived Americans. Misunderstanding his intent, the Shogun dispatches assassins.

Cast

as Karasawa Jinnai * Nana Komatsu as Princess Yuki *

as Tsujimura Heikurō * Shōta Sometani as Uesugi Hironoshin *

Munetaka Aoki is a Japanese actor. He played Sanosuke Sagara in the live action adaptation of the manga and anime series ''Rurouni Kenshin'', and engineer Sōsaku Tachibana in ''Godzilla Minus One''. He is married to Japanese actress and model Yūka. Film ...

as Ueki Yoshikuni *Ryu Kohata * Yuta Koseki *Motoki Fukami *Shinsuke Katō *Joey Iwanaga *Ruka Wakabayashi * Mariko Tsutsui *

Mugi Kadowaki is a Japanese actress. Biography In 2011, Kadowaki debuted in the television drama ''Misaki Number One!!''. At the time of her debut she was signed to Blooming Agency. In 2013, Kadowaki became a hot topic because of a commercial for "Chocola B ...

* Nao * Junko Abe * Taishi Nakagawa *

Naoto Takenaka is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. ...

as Kurita Mataemon *

Danny Huston Daniel Sallis Huston (born May 14, 1962) is an American-British actor, director and screenwriter. A member of the Huston family of filmmakers, he is the son of director John Huston and half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston. He is known for ...

as Commodore Perry *

Etsushi Toyokawa is a Japanese actor. Biography Born in Yao, Osaka, he studied at Shimizudani High School, and eventually dropped out of Kwansei Gakuin University to pursue a career in acting. He began by joining the sho-gekijo theatrical troupe "Under T ...

as Ioki Suketora *

Hiroki Hasegawa , nicknamed , (born March 7, 1977, in Tokyo) is a Japanese stage, film, and television actor. Trained as a stage actor at the Bungaku-za after graduating from Chuo University, he first began to appear on Japanese TV in small roles in 2008, and t ...

as Itakura Katsuakira

Release

The film was released in theaters in Japan in February 2019. It was later featured at the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

in June 2019.

Well Go USA Entertainment Well Go USA Entertainment is an American independent and international film distributor. It distributes films in a variety of genres, including action films, American indie films, and martial arts films, on all types of platforms, including in ...

acquired North American distribution rights to the film in July 2019. The film was released on VOD and digital platforms in May 2020. It was also released on DVD and Blu-Ray in the United States on July 21, 2020.

Reception

The film has rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. James Hadfield of ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' awarded the film three stars out of five.

References

External links

* * {{Philip Glass 2010s Japanese-language films 2019 action adventure films 2010s historical action films 2010s historical adventure films Films set in 1855 Japanese action adventure films British action adventure films Films scored by Philip Glass Films directed by Bernard Rose (director) Films produced by Jeremy Thomas Films based on Japanese novels Films set in Bakumatsu 2010s English-language films 2010s British films 2010s Japanese films English-language Japanese films English-language action adventure films