Samurai Rebellion

Rebellion is the fitting original title of this relentless social portrait of those who demand subservience and those who have had enough. A magisterial Toshiro Mifune slow burns his way through the role of dutiful samurai Sasahara, whose attempts to be a “good servant” are about to end. “You retreat, and retreat,” says his friend Asano (Tatsuya Nakadai), “until finally you attack.” Rare for the genre, the film’s plot is set in motion by a woman, one whose willful stand against injustice inspires the men to act. Effective or not, it is the act of rebellion, Masaki Kobayashi implies, that matters.