Sakurai is a computer programmer leading his passionless life without a viable dream. He has just passed another day, which was no different than any other. Then a bunch of strange men breaks into his house: 4 men in traditional attire armed with Japanese swords so sharp they take on a bluish gleam. They turn out to be HIJIKATA Toshijo of Shinsengumi, KUSAKA Genji of Choshuhan, NAKAMURA Hanjiro of Satzmahan, NAKAOKA Shintaro of Tosahan. Nakaoka was the right hand of SAKAMOTO Ryoma, who played the central role in the Meiji Restoration. Hijikata was the founder of Shinsengumi, a group of assassins that went about killing the distinguished personage involved in the Restoration. We may not know them, but they are household names in Japan. They are representative Samurai who had their days burning themselves to ashes with sizzling passion in the middle of historical turmoil when bakuhus fell, and the Meiji Restoration took place. The director is not interested in explaining how they ended up in the 21st century world of Japan. That’s not the story Samurai Mad Fellows tries to tell. This film is a wake-up call to the modern Japan that is floating aimlessly without dreams, passions, goals and causes. The Samurai suddenly find themselves in a future Tokyo, 140 years ahead in time. They come to know how Japan will turn out in the future and what their own deaths will be like. Once enemies to each other, they accept their fate and history and ask Sakurai: What is your dream? Where does your own passion lie? Sakurai has no answer to the questions. They are questions far too difficult for a man living in the 21st century to answer. The director evokes the Samurai who “died to make their dreams come true” and asks the questions through them. The Samurai’s answer itself seems to be a stock phrase: Everybody has a dream and a passion of his/her own and what’s important is to stick to it to the end. The stock phrase, however, still has significance. Except for the battle scene with the police, the film is entirely made up with dialogues carried out in one room. Samurai Mad Fellows stresses the importance of “madness”, or rather passion, in our lives, not just for men but also for of all of us. (KIM Bong-suk)