Kiyoshi Kurasawa, a renowned Japanese filmmaker known for his internationally acclaimed period piece, “The Samurai and the Prisoner’, has broken from tradition with a period piece about a castle under siege over 500 years ago. The film, set over 500 year ago and based on actual incidents, is about Lord Murashige, a lord who holds a messenger from his enemy, Kanbei, captive and seeks help in solving mysteries and outing a traitor. Kurosawa, who is not related to legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosaw, found the world of samurai appealing appealing to audiences due to its duality of constraint and freedom within the system. He adapted his film from a novel by Honobu Yonezawa, one of Japan's most popular authors.