Director Masaki Kobayashi returns with another searing samurai saga exposing the hypocritical principles that helped to eventually undermine the Shogunate. Toshiro Mifune is the moderately wealthy vassal of a local lord. When the lord instructs Mifune’s son (Go Kato) to marry his concubine (Yoko Tsukasa), who he is replacing because she is pregnant, Mifune’s family reluctantly agrees. However, two years later, the now happily married couple are ordered to split up and the woman return. The lord’s wife has died, and the child his former concubine (Tsukasa) gave birth to, is now his royal heir. Mifune, as well as his son and son’s spouse refuse, and the film culminates in an epic pitched battle between the lord’s swordsmen and Mifune’s meager forces. Because of Mifune’s sword skill, he manages to kill off all of his attackers, leaving only his best friend (Tatsuya Nakadai) to fight – but Nakadai is his equal in swordsmanship.
Chris D discusses Samurai Rebellion on the New Beverly blog.
Read the excellent Senses of Cinema profile on director Masaki Kobayashi.
