Casting a household-name actor to headline a period epic would normally be seen as a safe bet, but the producers of ¡°Muromachi Outsiders¡± were taking a risk when they picked Yo Oizumi for the project. The 51-year-old is an entertainer in the Ryan Reynolds mold, with a wisecracking persona that tends to vary little from one screen appearance to the next.
So perhaps the biggest surprise about Yu Irie¡¯s film is how convincingly Oizumi inhabits the role of a 15th-century rebel leader. Sure, he benefits from some editorial trickery to pass himself off as a skilled swordsman, but this is a performance with real gravitas.
He plays Hasuda Hyoe, an obscure historical figure notable for being the first r¨nin (masterless samurai) to lead a popular uprising. As portrayed in Ryosuke Kakine¡¯s 2016 source novel ¡ª which Irie adapts himself ¡ª Hyoe is a Robin Hood-esque folk hero, moved to action by the callousness and corruption of the ruling class. He may not exactly rob the rich, but he¡¯s certainly going to make sure that the poor get their debts canceled.
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