I’ve been alternately busy and lazy this week, so I haven’t put together a lot of useful content. But since they’re easy and kill time… a Top Five list!
Samurai movies are great. There’s a lot of crap out there, of course, but the good stuff is really good. Inspired by American westerns, and in turn inspiring more American westerns as well as George Lucas, they’re full of action, drama, suspense, and some fantastic actors. For the record, I’m restricting the list the the “chambara” genre, which emphasized swordplay and action; films like Ran, Rashomon, and Throne of Blood don’t quite count as “samurai movies” in my book, even though they have samurai in them. Watch them anyway.
- The Seven Samurai: This one is obvious, and yes, it really is as good as everyone says. A group of peasants hire a band of down-on-their-luck samurai to protect their village from bandits. I could write several long posts on the film – and perhaps I shall eventually – but I’m not sure I could sell it any better. It’s got action, drama, comedy, and some tremendous performances by a great ensemble cast. Criterion recently reissued it in an amazing DVD set, so try to buy/rent that if you can. Seven Samurai also inspired The Magnificent Seven, if that helps to convince you.
- Samurai Rebellion: Masaki Kobayashi’s historical drama just qualifies for the list – it may be 90% drama, but the 10% action puts it over the top. Like the director’s Harakiri, it explores the ideas of honour and obedience to a lord. Toshiro Mifune plays an older samurai on the verge of retiring whose greatest concern is finding a wife for his son. All is good until the local lord orders his son to marry the lord’s former mistress, who has worn out her welcome. The girl is reluctantly taken in, and eventually wins the hearts of the family. But their happy life is broken up yet again when the lord changes his mind. Samurai Rebellion – originally released in Japan as Receive the Wife – is a slow-burning drama that gradually amps up the tension until it reaches a fierce and furious finale. The final confrontation between Mifune and an opponent will stick in your mind, as well as produce thoughts along the lines of “Hey, George Lucas really liked Samurai movies.”
- Goyokin: Probably the hardest on the list to find, though Amazon does have it available on DVD. Tatsuya Nakadai plays a master swordsman who undertook a self-imposed exile after watching his brother-in-law massacre a village in order to cover up a theft of the Shogun’s gold. When he hears rumours of a second attempt, he vows not to let another crime be commited. From the creepy opening shots of an abandoned village to the tense standoff at the finale, Goyokin is a lesser-known film that deserves to be a classic. It also deserves some credit for having a strong female role in the part of con-artist Ruriko Asaoka. It’s also in colour, in case you’re reluctant to dive into black & white.
- Sanjuro: This, along with Yojimbo, is probably the closest to a pure action movie Akira Kurosawa made. Toshiro Mifune glowers and menaces while reprising his ronin from Yojimbo, swaggering into a town in the midst of rebellion and tumult. A group of young and well-intentioned samurai are concerned about corruption, but the gruff and cynical Mifune shows them who the real villain is and how to stop him. It’s fairly light and fluffy by Kurosawa’s standards, but still entertaining. Criterion is also doing reissues of Sanjuro and Yojimbo that look quite nice.
- Kill!: Loosely adapted from the same source material as Sanjuro, this is something of a parody of Samurai film conventions. It’s no Spaceballs, even if you are familiar with the genre, but it’s nonetheless a lighter, funnier film. The corrupt village of Sanjuro receives two newcomers in this film: A down-on-his-luck ronin who just wants to gamble and relax, and an enthusiastic farmer who craves the dramatic and exciting life of the samurai. Tatsuya Nakadai deapans his way through most of the movie, toning down his fierce performances in Goyokin and Sword of Doom to an easy-going guy who just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a lighter side of the genre to dabble in, though probably more fun if you’ve sampled a few of the more serious films first.