Yashua Kimbrough (jimniexperience) Another superb collaboration between Kobayashi and Hashimoto (other being Harakiri) , attacking the samurai tradition, the contradictions behind the meaning of "honor", and hypocrisy of justice to high ranking feudal lords and stewards surrounding them. This movie takes place 1725 , during the Peace Era of Tokugawa after the disbandment of samurai clans. Samurai now resort to surveying the quiet landscape and testing their latest swords on straw dummies. Of course , the feudal lords also have a fetish for young women, and snatch them from villagers as they please .Ichi, one of the lord's finest mistress, and also the only to bear his child, has been banned from the empire for attacking the lord and his newest mistress (too proud to take the seat of unglory). The only reason Ichi put up with the abuse in the first place is she believed she'd be the last to pleasure the lord and protect all the little girls still growing in the village. She's been ordered to marry Isaburo Sasahara son, Yogoro. Isaburo was also forced to marry his wife, and wishes his son not to travel his path. He at first resist the lord's commands, but the son complies. Isaburo grows fond of his son's decision, fore the two fall in love with each other , much to the head-wife Suga spite. Isaburo retires from the clan, and makes Yogoro the new head master of the family (all according to a plan).Two years past and the lord orders Ichi to return back to the empire, and they son she beared passes away. Of course Yogoro resists, with Isaburo supporting his decision, vowing for bloodshed if he must part with his wife. Suga calls forth a Sasahara family gathering to sway Yogoro, but he only puts a target on his back for his "disobedience". Suga schemes a plan to get the youngest son Bunzo to trick Ichi on a chamberlain summoning. Upon summon, the council threatens if Ichi returns home to her husband, both he and the father will be ordered to commit seppuku.Ichi reluctantly returns to the empire. Enraged for the scheming of officials, Yogoro and Isaburo blackmail the officials to return Ichi at once or they'll take their case to the Supreme Shogunate Court of Edo (a scheme conjured up by Tatewaki, Isaburo's elder swordsman). Expecting the lord to retaliate, they spend the rest of their days in exile preparing for battle.After many failed attempts to reconciliate the tension, Steward Takahashi decides it'll be wise to show at the Sasahara family's home using Ichi as bait. If her and Yogoro disengage their wedding vows and divorce, and lord will let them live. Ichi, refusing to be a pawn in the lord's trickery, kills herself with one of the steward's bodyguard spear. All out war breaks loose, resulting in Yogoro, the steward, and 20 henchmen death. Isaburo, now a wanted man, takes his granddaugther and escapes to Edo. But first he must past his old sparring pal Tatewaki, the guard of the border. A long awaited duel to see who's the best ensues, and Isaburo wins ,, but the lord's army has caught up to the chase. A shootout happens in the high grass, resulting in Isaburo's death and another case of injustice quietly swept under the rug

masercot Not a lot of action in this movie, 'til the end...This one is more of a Greek tragedy. The main characters, the elder Sasaharas, are compelled to do the honorable thing in regards to a young woman who has been foisted on the family. The honorable thing is in direct conflict with their duty of serving their lord. It is also an act that will lead directly to the destruction of their clan and themselves.Great performances by Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai keep the viewer interested. Yoko Tuskasa puts in some nice work as Ichi, the bride. The rest of the cast is very competent, as well.This movie is less about swordplay than it is about the interpersonal and political maneuvering between the clan and the diamyo.Definitely recommended!

screaminmimi The English title, "Samurai Rebellion" might be a little misleading if you're looking for straight-ahead chambara. It's more of a family drama with a few well-staged fight scenes near the end, so it may be more appealing to drama fans than action fans.Mifune gives a restrained performance, and Nakadai almost does, as well. I'm so glad he found his "off" button as he got older. I'm not sure Kobayashi knew how to direct women as well as men. I think they come off more caricaturish than his male characters, but the caricatures work.The reason I find this film a little forced is because the camera work--all of it gorgeous--occasionally calls too much attention to itself ("look at me, I'm an arty shot") and threatens to pull the viewer out of the story. The sound track, on the other hand, is just right.I wonder if this event actually occurred, since Matsudaira was a real historical figure, and he's been depicted elsewhere in film ("Sharaku") as a hypocritical pervert.

GyatsoLa Musaki Kobayashi may be one of the lesser known names in Japanese film making, but this is no minor movie (I haven't seen his better known movies, Hari-Kiri or Kwaidan yet). For those seeing it without knowing a little about it, it will be a very surprising samurai flick - no action until the end, no real sub-plots - a script that is more like a domestic drama in its entire focus on a small group of people - a noble (if relatively low born) Samurai, his son and his daughter in law, formerly the mistress of the Clan Lord. The family are pushed to destruction as the pride of the three refuse to allow them to accept the unreasonable demands of their Lord and his scheming right hand men.While the movie doesn't have quite the flawless pacing, flowing editing and perfect black and white photography of some of the very best movies of the period, this is more than made up by the fantastic acting and gripping story. As always, Toshiro Mifune is magnetic in the lead, but all the parts are well filled. Kobayashi keeps a firm focus on the key story and admirably avoided the temptation to add the sort of sentimental sub plot that so many of this type of movie uses. The final scenes are magnificent.Kobayashi was something of a rebel himself - he refused promotion when a soldier in the war, and continually fought his studios so he could make movies on his favored theme - the injustice of the feudal system of Japan and the corruption of modern japan. The Japanese studio system has frequently been criticized for the way it tried to turn great film makers into hacks - but when so many great movies how can we complain? The sad thing is that this movie seems to have been one of the last of the great samurai films - after this the genre degenerated to simplistic chop-em-ups, with only a brief recent revival in movies like Twilight Samurai (which I suspect may have been influenced by this movie).