Sanjuro (1962)

This is a superb adventure story with Toshirô Mifune reprising his role from "Yojimbo" as the wandering samurai warrior. This time he arrives in a village facing some local corruption. The "Chamberlain" has been framed by the superintendent of a clan, who tries to secure his tenuous position by killing off any detractors. "Sanjûrô" decides to help protect them, and is soon drawn into the battle that requires all of his skills and know-how (of course, they are completely outnumbered). The plot interveaves a story of local politics nicely with a lust for power, and a coming of age for many of the locals who are in awe of their warrior leader. Takako Irie is quite interesting as the wife of the arrested Chamberlain; she looks every inch the prim and proper Japanese wife, but is frequently (and to Mifune's chagrin, on occasion) the character delivering some quite insightful and learned comment; she seems to have the measure of the Samurai! I found Mifune's performance to be engaging and charming - he deals with his men as a teacher might his pupils, sometimes with humour, other times with discipline - but always with care; and that speaks more to the way Kurosawa develops the characterisations - with integrity and class. It's still got it's fair share of action and there are loads of sword-fights to keep the plot moving along until it all comes to an head. It's odd that almost 60 years later, this has never been given the Hollywood treatment - perhaps that's a good thing?