Some extra thoughts on Samurai Rebellion

I don’t know if it’s the presence of Toshiro Mifune that pushes this over the top for me in terms of Masaki Kobayashi’s filmography, but there are a host of things in Samurai Rebellion (I prefer how Kobayashi always just referred to it as Rebellion) that makes it stand above the rest, no matter how great the rest is.

The marvelous use of the house set, with the pristinely raked sands that get disturbed at specific times for intentional reasons, the perfect use of flashback to build a great character in Ichi as well as her relationship with Yogoro that the entire emotional reality of the film hangs on, or the meticulously considered thematic material beneath the surface that tragically plays out across the robust two-hour runtime all combine together, along with Mifune’s commanding and compelling presence to make one of the most emotionally gripping films I’ve ever seen.

The way the structured way of life in feudal Japan breaks down so completely when one man simply decides to say no to the whim of his lord that is only there to save face in an embarrassing situation got me as much the second time watching this as the first time.

I honestly don’t think I have a whole lot more to say than I originally did in my original review, but I do adore this film. It is one of the greatest of Japanese movies, and one of my favorites.