Fantastic!

Disturbing yet enthralling

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

A film that is Perfect. everything. the direction, writing, cinematography, acting, direction, music, editing ...etc. and most important "emotionally".A samurai film mostly dramatic, not a lot of action by Masaki Kobayashi. i've seen the masterpiece Harakiri and this film isn't less intelligent. the movie has lots of meaning and the main one is to not stand weak in front of the ruling power. the movie progresses with magnificent simplicity. visually it couldn't be better and spirituality it burns. you can feel the deep passions of the characters. this is a prefect strong simple film that will stay with you.This is now one of my favorite samurai films, and i can't describe how i feel about it, it's all in the film.

"The Greatest Evil is when Good Men do nothing in the face of Injustice..." SAMURAI REBELLION (1967) is directed by Masaki Kobayashi, the same director responsible for the awesome KWAIDAN and the far superior samurai film "Hara-Kiri". Don't get me wrong, this film is a true emotional achievement by Kobayashi, the drama and intense screenplay is magnificent that even the awesome swordplay displayed on screen seemed utterly unnecessary. "Samurai Rebellion" is a stunning masterpiece in Japanese cinema, originally titled Joiuchi Hairyo tsuma Shimatsu (Rebellion, Receive the Wife) is a tale of righteous rebellion to protect a husband and his wife's honor.Peacetime. A retainer in the Matsudaira clan named Isaburo Sasahara (Toshiro Mifune) is a retiring samurai who seeks a wife for his son Yogoro (Go Kato). However, his Clan Lord orders him to have his son marry a woman named Ichi (Yoko Tsukasa). She is the Lord's mistress and she has just given birth to his son. Ichi has caused a scandal and has been dismissed from the castle for striking Lord Matsudaira. Isaburo refuses to the union until the son himself agrees to the marriage. Surprisingly, Ichi proves to be a worthy wife; she and Yogoro get along famously and she bears him a daughter. Then the unexpected happens, Matsudaira's heir dies, which makes Ichi's son the heir apparent. Matsudaira decides to forgive Ichi for striking him and requests her return to his castle, since the mother of the heir cannot be married to a vassal. Ichi refuses and decides to stay married to Yogoro. Ruin may come to the house of Sasahara as Isaburo and his son decides to disobey; the Azu clan has gone too far.The film is a stunning portrayal of righteousness in the face of injustice. The film effectively explores the social impact of rebellion in the midst of a totalitarian excesses in the Edo Period in Japan as well as the domestic tragedy of the honorable men and the wife who precipitated the events. As in "Hara-Kiri", Kobayashi gives a very bleak view of the political and social injustices committed by self-indulgent authority figures. Kobayashi further delves into the emotional expression of similar themes about family and honor. The main characters are victims of fate, and the lead characters stand tall in their righteous indignations. Even Isaburo's close friend; Tatewaki Asano (played by Tatsuya Nakadai, Hara-Kiri, Sword of Doom) is also a victim of his principles and fate. Tatewaki was instructed to engage Isaburo in combat since he is the only one who may be able to defeat him in a duel, and as much as he tries to stall the inevitable encounter, he ends up crossing swords with his old friend nonetheless.Ichi is the most interesting female character I've ever come across in chambara films. She is strong-willed and while she did give in to Matsudaira's orders before, she is unmoved to suffer the same injustice a second time. Pressured by relatives to avoid the ruin of the Sasahara family, the woman is such a sight to behold; she outshines the heroism of the two men bent on defending her. Most classic chambara films portray Japanese women as a demure, obedient and ideal wives, and while Ichi's character are all those things; Yoko Tsukasa's devastating performance has created a character far stronger than the all the males around her; this includes her husband, played by Go Sato and her father-in-law, played by Toshiro Mifune.Toshiro Mifune's character, Isaburo is a master swordsman, whose skills have earned him the position of weapons keeper in the clan. While he did marry his wife out for the sake of social status, never for one moment that his character felt weak. Quite curious that this past may have contributed to the reasons as to why the father would support his son's decisions to disobey their lord. For him, love is a cause worth fighting for, even if it would mean his family's ruin. Yogoro is a man divided in doing his duty to his lord and to his wife, Go Kato bears his soul in his portrayal though his screen time may be limited. The actor efficiently and effectively shows all the needed emotions that an overwhelmed husband would feel.While I did say that the film didn't need any swordplay to emulate the darkness and intensity of the proceedings, we get it anyway. Toshiro Mifune once again proves why he is among the most loved actors to ever play a samurai warrior. The swordplay is realistic and intense, and follows the choreography that we have been privy to in past samurai films. Adding the strong exclamation point brought about by the duel with his Tatsuya Nakadai, the film satisfies those looking for swordplay action. Which also brings us to the film's one possible very minor fault, the bloodshed near the climax seemed a bit pointless, since the dilemma is over but I suppose the screenplay by Hashimoto Shinobu wanted to end the film with an exciting element for international audiences. (The title has been changed to fit international marketing)In Samurai Rebellion, director Kobayashi has taken his character study of individuals pushed against their emotional tolerances to the absolute limit. He successfully overcomes the stereotype that samurai films are composed of manly swordfights and has given new emphasis on the strengths of the Japanese woman and the aspects of family. In doing so, he has widened his scope and elevated the film's emotional potential.

With a title like Samurai Rebellion and a disc cover featuring a bloody, threatening Toshiro Mifune, I was expecting an old-fashioned, meat-and-potatoes samurai yarn with clearly-defined good guys and bad guys. Instead, I experienced the near opposite: a movie awash in shades of gray and in a world where honor, loyalty and sword mastery are not always enough. I'm an avid defender of genre entertainment, placing the samurai genre near the top of ones that reliably please. Samurai Rebellion, however, offers an experience that is much more interesting, as well as with a much more long-term satisfaction.Set in a time of peace and entirely on the grounds of the Sasahara clan, the movie begins with veteran swordsman Isaburo (Mifune) and his friend Tatewaki involved in a required yet ultimately pointless - and for these soldiers, elementary - training exercise under the direction of the clan lord. It becomes immediately clear that the soldiers know that the exercise is beneath them yet have no power to object to their leader's wishes, a moment which in turn establishes - in addition to the stark, imposing opening shots of the Sasahara fortress - the clan rule's imposition and obstinacy. With no opportunity to put his skills to meaningful use and with a tradition-loyal wife at home in whom he cannot confide, Isaburo starts to feel very empty and useless. This changes, though, when Isaburo learns that his son, Yogoro, is to marry Ichi, a former mistress of the clan lord. Ichi, who had a son with the ruler, quickly turned into a pariah for lashing out at him for immediately taking up with another woman as if their affair never happened. Despite her reputation, Yogoro and Ichi's marriage is a strong and loving one, producing a daughter as well as a revitalization of sorts for Isaburo, who feels more alive now than he ever did as a servant of the clan's cause. Unfortunately, his elation is short-lived, as an untimely death makes the clan lord's illegitimate son his sole heir, which by tradition requires Ichi to return to the ruler's side. Unwilling to watch his family fall apart, Isaburo opposes the entire clan and seeks to expose its wrongdoings all by himself, an act resulting in bloodshed, the revelation of true colors and ultimately, the pitting of friend against friend.As I mentioned earlier, this is a samurai movie where the villain is not bandits or warriors from another kingdom, but instead the kind of establishment that samurai were trained to uphold. In doing this, the movie takes apart the ugly side of fealty, especially in how the happiness of the subjected can vanish at the signing of an order or even at a whim. Japan being a country that takes its history and traditions very seriously, it's a wonder Kobayashi was able to get away with telling a story like this, his transition from working in the studio system to freelance being the likely explanation. Samurai Rebellion also defies convention in style and technique: instead of interspersing scenes of action with scenes of dialogue as seen in the typical samurai movie, Kobayashi gives us a slow burn of tension, saving all of the action to the best possible point to release it. Isaburo's struggle reminded me very much of Terry Malloy's in On The Waterfront in both purpose and in quality of performance. Mifune's transition from subservient veteran to vigilante is expertly gradual, and while his violent outbursts in his other performances tend to go over the top, here, he is true to character from Isaburo's highest point to his lowest. All of the supporting performances are equally solid, especially Yoko Tsukasa's, who demonstrates Ichi's powerlessness and desire for freedom with great pathos. The movie does not succeed on all points, however: the vast majority of Samurai Rebellion is dialogue-driven, and there are many scenes that could have been more interesting had Kobayashi showed more instead of told, especially since most of these scenes take place in formal settings where everyone must remain stock still. Formality or not, a little camera movement in these scenes could have gone a long way. Still, it has to be said that when Kobayashi does "show," such as in the aforementioned scene during the training exercise, he does it with great poignancy and efficiency. Also, there are some moments where characters mention that a great deal of time has passed, but since they exhibit little to no corresponding changes in age, behavior, and with the possible exception of Ichi and Yogoro's daughter, appearance, these passages are hard to take seriously. Regardless, Samurai Rebellion stands as one of the best samurai movies I've seen, not to mention proof that Kobayashi is as deserving of praise of Japanese directors like Ichikawa and Kurosawa.

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).