The Life of Matsu the Untamed is the 1943 original of the film which Inagaki remade in 1958 under the title The Rikisha Man. Though the latter took the Venice prize and is the more well-known, the earlier film avoids the sentimental pitfalls of its color, widescreen remake. The story is of a lowly rikisha man (played by Tsumasaburo Bando, see February 6 and 19), who falls in love with a young army captain's widow.
The original is considered the best of several wartime films set in the Meiji period (the Meiji-mono films), a retreat into history taken by directors as they came under increasing pressure from the military. Donald Richie describes The Life of Mastu the Untamed as “a very cunningly constructed film in which it is never certain whether the hero's almost imbecilic adherence to traditional standards (he falls in love with a benefactor's wife; later, after the husband's death, he refuses to express himself, despite the fact that she now loves him as well, because it is not the proper thing to do) is a strength, leading to an eventual and glorious death; or whether it is pure weakness, making his life entirely worthless.”