LGM Film Club, Part 184: Samurai Rebellion

Last night, I watched Masaki Kobayashi’s astounding 1967 film Samurai Rebellion, about a lord forcing a vassal to marry an exiled mistress, only to see them fall in love and have a child and then calling her back when the initial heir to the lordship dies and the son he had with her becomes the new heir. Toshiro Mifune stars as the father of the man forced to marry, a lazy and docile vassal forced to action by seeing the great love his son and his new daughter-in-law form. Go Kato stars as Yogoto, the son, and Yoko Tuskasa is Ichi, the daughter-in-law. Tatsuya Nakadai plays Mifune’s friend and fellow samurai who is both bound by duty and disgusted by the lord. You may known Nakadai from some of his other great turns, including the lead role in Kurosawa’s Ran and as the insane crazed evil samurai in Okamoto’s The Sword of Doom. I’ve long loved the great era of samurai films because they so well-combine action with themes of loyalty and duty in a hierarchical society, which is really a perfect combination to make a good movie. But I hadn’t seen this one before, despite knowing very well Kobayashi’s epic Human Condition trio about an objection during World War II. This is a very great film.

Here’s the trailer: