Steineded How sad is this?

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

bigverybadtom The actual Japanese title is far different, and close to the premise of the story. In 1725 Edo period Japan, a feudal lord has had a son from one of his concubines. Unfortunately the temperamental concubine gets into a fight with the lord and is dismissed from the castle, with the lord commanding the son of one of his vassals to marry the concubine. The vassal's family knows what has happened, but reluctantly agree, not wishing to disobey their lord. The son and concubine marry, and to everyone's surprise, the marriage turns out to be happy after all, and the couple even have a baby daughter.But the lord's heir dies, and the lord needs to have his former concubine back to raise the son. This proves to be too much even for the lord to ask of his vassal, and the wife absolutely refuses to return to the castle. From then on, it is a battle of wills. Can the wife be convinced to go back? Can the lord be forced to relent? Will the vassal and his family ultimately defy or obey the lord? The rest of the movie does drag on, but for a reason...to leave the audience hoping that there is a way for the situation to not end in tragedy.

William Samuel Aged samurai Isabura (Toshiro Mifune) has always been a peaceful man, blessed to live in peaceful times. He performs his duties, serves his lord to the best of his abilities, and does his best to avoid conflict. So when he is told that his son Yoguro must marry their lord's disgraced former mistress, Ichi, he acquiesces. And to their surprise and delight, the young couple fall deeply in love. But when the lord demands his mistress's return, it is too much even for Isabura, and he determines to take a stand, even great risk to his family and honor.I admit it starts rather slow, with a great deal of time taken setting up the plot and establishing the characters. At about the forty minute mark, things begin to pick up rapidly as the crisis comes and the lines are drawn. The middle act is a complex web of intrigue and test of wills as each side searches for an advantage and tries to outsmart the other. And when the action comes, it's as breathtaking and tragic as any in the annals of Japanese cinema. The courtyard battle is reminiscent of the best fights scenes in Yojimbo, and is second only to the magnificent conclusion.Masaki Kobayashi has directed Samurai Rebellion with subtlety, grace, and emotion. He builds the tension slowly, then more quickly, and provides not one, but two climaxes. He keeps the audience guessing with unexpected twists, and it's clear that he got the most out of everyone involved. The cinematography is excellent too. The stark black and white photography fits well with the movie's feel.Mifune is of course Japan's most famous and possibly greatest actor and this is among his best performances. He brings wisdom, compassion, and determination to his role, displayed unrivaled swordsmanship, and has a death scene that would upstage even Boris Karloff. He is almost equaled by -Yôko Tsukasa, who plays Ichi. She pours herself into her character as a woman forced to bear sons for a man she does not love, then given a chance at happiness, only to see it torn away. Her plight will get the waterworks going for many in the audience.I won't lie, there is no happy ending here, but the film is made more powerful for it. Kobayashi has created a masterpiece on par with all but the very best of Kurosawa or Ozu. This is a must see for any fan of Samurai films, or Japanese movies in general. And although Samurai Rebellion's style and the social structures it deals with are uniquely Japanese, its story of a peaceful man forced to great lengths in the pursuit of justice will resonate with audiences of any nationality.

kurosawakira Made three years after the colour epic "Kaidan" (1964), two years after the break-up of Kurosawa and Mifune in "Akahige" (1965) and five years after Kobayashi's hit for the rival Shochiku "Harakiri" (1962), "Jôi-uchi: Hairyô tsuma shimatsu" (1967), known in English as "Samurai Rebellion" is just as good as I've come to expect from Kobayashi. While there are similarities to past films (Mifune takes justice in his own hands, Kobayashi paints a rotten society and his heroes and heroines, if you want to call them such for all their suffering, are faced with an impossible task and fall between), "Samurai Rebellion" is to "Harakiri" what "Tsubaki Sanjûrô" (1962) is to "Yôjinbô" (1961): a thematic and stylistically sibling that annotates, expands and elaborates the thesis Kobayashi explored in 1962 of both the social injustice masquerading as clan tradition and law and the radically dimensional visual vocabulary built around rigid shapes and symmetries. If there's a single motif that runs through Kobayashi's work it's the inevitability of risk. Risk both in the story but also in the filmmaking. He's stylistically brilliant, a true master of moving the camera geometrically and harmoniously, that one might expect an equally harmonious narrative. But that's not Kobayashi: his stories take him to witness such cruelty, both without and within that the contextual discrepancy between the formal beauty of the film and its shocking narrative underline the cruel irony that befits the film, in fact lives and breathes it. At this writing the Criterion Collection DVD of the film is already nine years old, not that the DVD wouldn't be excellent for being nine years and in standard definition. But one does wonder when it'll be released on Blu-ray.

revenge_of_shinobi Samurai Rebellion is a taught and tense samurai film throughout, possessing not even an ounce of humour. That's no bad thing. You get the impression it's all building to something huge, in-fact I was waiting to see this 'Rebellion' where suddenly all the samurai overthrow the lord, but, it never happens. the rebellion is a small and personal one of just three people of one household as everyone, including there own family members seem intent on splitting them apart. That is where the films strength lies, the first hours and a quarter, and disappointingly, when the action comes it's full of frankly rubbish dialogue and clichéd scenes. It's a slow film, nothing is rushed, and the setting is very pleasant. The ways of the Japanese culture of those times is interesting to watch , how they are all polite and stuff, however there are points where it just goes beyond belief. That's as much a criticism of the story as it is of the formal tone of the film. In the end that is the very reason it loses it's realism, as the father gives some corny dialogue towards the end it's hard to not compare it with something like Rambo or even He-man where we the audience are being preached at rather than being told a story. It's a shame they even departed from the 'courtroom drama' type vibe of the first half if they couldn't bring it to a satisfying violent conclusion. In the end I felt a little depressed and a little disappointed, but still, it's 'ye olde japan' and its got samurai and the first half is pretty damn good so it's worth a watch if you're interested in that time and place.