Why does Nicolas Cage's samurai adversary in Prisoners of the Ghostland not speak? Directed by Sion Sono in his English-language debut, Prisoners of the Ghostland throws an array of radically different elements together, including the Old West, samurai movies, and Cage's own well-known commitment. One of the film's standout characters powerfully embodies the samurai element and does so while staying completely silent.
The right-hand man of the movie's villain The Governor (Bill Moseley), the katana-wielding samurai Yasujiro is played by Japanese action star Tak Sakaguchi. A cult icon in the West among fans of Asian action, Sakaguchi is known for films like 2000's genre-cocktail Versus, the 2016 assassin movie (and essentially Japan's answer to John Wick) Re: Born and most recently, the single-take slash-fest Crazy Samurai Musashi (released stateside as Crazy Samurai: 400 vs 1). Though Sakaguchi is known to die-hard action fans in the English-speaking world, he's not a worldwide household name in the way fellow Asian action stars like Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa, or Iko Uwais are.
Prisoners of the Ghostland is naturally giving Sakaguchi more of an international platform, yet Yasujiro abiding the same silence as the mute ninja Snake Eyes seems counterintuitive for the actor's first English-language movie role. However, this works in the favor of both Yasujiro and Sakaguchi himself. By being a silent presence throughout Prisoners of the Ghostland, Yasujiro ends up being one of its most impactful characters.
Yasujiro is the man The Governor summons when he needs his rule over his town enforced. Yasujiro stands out in the film for his swordsmanship, but his poise and consistent stoicism highlight him as the character with the most sharply focused mind. Sakaguchi's performance calls upon him to rely on his facial expressions, but it's always clear what's going on in Yasujiro's head at any given moment, whether it's determination, inner turmoil, or fealty to the samurai code of Bushido. The Escape From New York-inspired Prisoners of the Ghostland is also a movie with half a dozen different stand-out elements at any given time, from the production design to the unhinged performance of Cage himself.
Yasujiro would be a memorable character simply for being the samurai lieutenant of The Governor, but his silence makes him stand apart from everyone else even more so. Whenever he's onscreen, viewers will inevitably think of him as the stand-out antagonist of the film, like a villainous flip on Bruce Lee's Kato on The Green Hornet with a sword in hand, but his silence takes it a step further. He's not merely a henchman who happens to be great with a sword, but a no-nonsense warrior who will let no obstacle obstruct his blade when the time comes to wield it. Though Re: Born's star Tak Sakaguchi Yasujiro is a silent character, he paradoxically makes a more lasting impression because of that. Audiences seeing Prisoners of the Ghostland, already sure to latch onto Yasujiro as the samurai with flawless swordsman skills will remember him, and by extension, Tak Sakaguchi, that much more because he let his sword do all the talking.