Dixieland Daimyo

It is 1865 in the American South, and four emancipated slaves who also happen to be crack Dixieland musicians are determined to sail back to Africa. lnstead, they wash ashore with their instruments in Shogunate Japan smack in the middle of a nasty conflict between neighboring daimyo, samurai warlords. That's the wacky premise of this freewheeling absurdist parable about the discombobulating influence of Western culture on an insular Japanese civilization. Anachronistic and cross-cultural incongruities are a big part of the fun in this film. Director Okamoto makes fun of Westerns and subtitles such as "Sierra Madre mountains : approach with caution" set and sustain a tone of inspired foolishness. (Rich. in Variety, 26.8.87)