Samurai Rebellion: Amazon.ca: Toshir� Mifune, Y�ko Tsukasa, G� Kat�, Tatsuyoshi Ehara, Etsuko Ichihara, Isao Yamagata, Tatsuya Nakadai, Shigeru K�yama, Michiko Otsuka, Tatsuo Matsumura, Masao Mishima, Jun Hamamura, Kazuo Yamada, Masaki Kobayashi, Hisashi Sagara, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Shinobu Hashimoto, Yasuhiko Takiguchi: DVD

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15 Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking man's samurai movie, Jan 18 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Samurai Rebellion (Widescreen) (VHS Tape)

This movie asks several basic questions. Just how far should a samurai's loyalty to his master go? When does the master's demands become unreasonable? And what should a samurai do, when faced with a master's injustice? To modern-day Westerners, the answers may seem obvious. But in 18th century Japan, personal feelings took a backseat to duty.

In Samurai Rebellion, the main character Isaburo (played by Toshiro Mifune) must decide whether to challenge his overlord's decision to take back a former mistress who had become Isaburo's daughter-in-law. The title of the movie should give you a clue to Isaburo's decision. The big sword fight in this film is worth watching, simply because of the rage boiling inside Isaburo. This is swordplay that actually has passion, as opposed to the run-of-the-mill fighting you often see in lesser movies.

The film's director Masaki Kobayashi always made thoughtful dramas that often examined injustice in society. Those who like this movie should also check out two of his other masterpieces, Harakiri and The Human Condition (a nine-hour trilogy).

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A matter of honor, swordplay and social dynamics, Nov 8 2005

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Torval Mork (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Samurai Rebellion (DVD)

Kobayashi's Samurai Rebellion is a lesson in the social heirarchy of feudal Japan during the Edo period. We open on some interesting camera-work that uses focus pulling and quick cutting to convey the sword mastery of our hero, Mifune's Isaburo. Through dialogue and the respect given to Isaburo from his colleagues, we derive that he is not a Samurai to be trifled with. In fact, there is very little swordplay throughout the film, with innuendo conveying the brilliance of Isaburo's skills. This lends much to the central story-line, which revolves around Isaburo's son being forced into marriage with a dismissed former mistress of the local ruler. When the ruler asks for her back after she has given birth to a daughter with her new husband, Isaburo is adamant that she stay with his family. Isaburo is finally driven to unsheath his sword at around the 3/4 mark; the final rebellion of a man who can only give so much in trying to appease the ruling class.

Kobayashi uses the metaphor of the samurai to portray the plight of an honorable man who has been asked too much of his government. Much as the director's of the French New Wave used film to serve as a barometer of the 60's social climate, we can also see this element at play in the work of Japanese auteurs.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Man, a Woman, a Sword, and Family Honor, July 17 2002

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James Paris "Tarnmoor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samurai Rebellion (Widescreen) (VHS Tape)

To be a samurai meant owing nearly absolute allegiance to the leader of one's clan, the daimyo. One often filmed story is about 47 loyal samurai committing harakiri en masse when their clan is disbanded. But what happens when the daimyo is unjust and plays with the lives of his loyal samurai?

In SAMURAI REBELLION, a young samurai is forced by his daimyo to marry a difficult mistress who had dared to manhandle him. Lady Ichi surprisingly turns out to be a jewel, and Yogoro, her new husband, grows to love her. When the daimyo changes his mind and has her kidnapped after several unsuccessful attempts to bully the family, Yogoro and his father Itaburo (Toshiro Mifune) singlehandedly take on the whole clan.

Before you know it, the blades are out of their sheathes, and bodies are falling all over the place. Particularly spectacular is a duel between Itaburo and his friend Tatewaki (played by the great Tatsuya Nakadai) in a windswept field of grass. Director Masaki Kobayashi (KWAIDAN, HARAKIRI) is at his best here; and numerous scenes are icily controlled and eerily beautiful as he guides his camera, breaking down sequences into abstract geometrical patterns.

I can't help remembering the song in the musical BANDWAGON which summarizes HAMLET as "The king and the prince meet / And everyone ends up mincemeat." As in HARAKIRI, there is a point to the mayhem here: The honor of a single family CAN outweigh the honor of the clan.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Samurai Movie
One of the best samurai movies ever made. This film shows a darker side of the Japanese films. Tells of a time when a warrior is asked if he should follow the orders of his... Read more

Published on Jan 7 2004 by deadkenny311

5.0 out of 5 stars Good chambara
Although this does not have the same intensity as Hara Kiri, this film is definitely worth seeing. Like all good Japanese sword fight movies it has a very deep message. Read more

Published on Jun 1 2002 by Michael A. Navarro