Sanbiki no samurai

Gosha was the Don Siegel of Japan, an artist of action, a poet of mêlée. So it is with this newly restored early picture of his, now available from Criterion in blazing black and white. Typical sam fare: clunky plot, great sword work, cool flourishes (like blowing dust giving mythic quality to climactic duel, or the use of blood to punctuate kills, never overdone but extremely dramatic.) Extremely enjoyable, it turns out to be an "origins" tale in which we learn how the three outlaws (if Japanese TV fame) came together. Briefly, seems wandering ronin decides to throw in with peasant reformers who've kidnapped magistrate's daughter for leverage on tax reform, and one way or other, the two others come to his side and ultimately they face off in duels and battles with magistrate's own ronin, soldiers, various thugs and creeps. Lots of racing, slicking, sword fighting in flip-flops and bathrobes. What did somewhat shock me was the utter disregard the movie shows for women. They are used up and tossed aside like Kleenex, with no regret or mourning or much in the way of grief. At least three are murdered or commit suicide, and two more dumped. I know this is emblematic of Japanese society in early '60s, but even so, it seems a little overdone here. I don't like to judge then by the standards of now, but even if gals were objects in '64, by those standards Gosha goes a bit overboard.

Strong performances, economy of storytelling, abundant action and even a keen sense of class consciousness...Hideo Gosha manages to get just about everything right in his first directorial effort. "Three Outlaw Samurai" stars genre stalwart Tetsuro Tamba as a wandering ronin who decides to aid a group of peasants in their struggle against a cruel magistrate; eventually he is joined by Isamu Nagato as another ronin sympathetic to the plight of the people, and Mikijiro Hira as a more ethically compromised warrior who turns his back on the magistrate at the last minute. I'm not a huge fan of Gosha but he really was on fire here, weaving a fine dramatic tale (without taking three talky, long-assed hours to get his point across) and punctuating it with a number of teeth-grindingly intense fight sequences. Especially good were Nagato's scenes with the spear: it's an unusual weapon for a chambara film, but the actor wields it masterfully under the direction of choreographer Kentaro Yuasa.

You may have encountered other examples of this genre and found them underwhelming, but don't dismiss the samurai film altogether before you've seen Hideo Gosha's debut. I guarantee that "Three Outlaw Samurai" will not disappoint.

This debut from Gosha is a masterpiece. It features all the tropes of the samurai stories. It has familiar film tropes as well (think westerns, for instance.) It has humor in spades.

As the camerawork goes, you see in these movies where the John Wick films may have gotten some of their inspiration. Longer shots with minimal edits allow the audience to enjoy swordplay between multiple attackers WHILE running. Wide shots of the rural landscape as well as the scenes by the river could be taken as stills for a photography class.

I am a big fan of samurai films. There are many out there that do not feature Toshiro Mifune that are of equal or higher caliber.

This film is one of those. See it the first chance you get!

Three Outlaw Samurai is a relentlessly thrilling Samurai movie full of twists and betrayals.

After a title sequence with a bombastic score, the action begins almost immediately in this film. A wandering Samurai stumbles upon a hostage situation - a few pathetic peasants (not too different from the ones in Seven Samurai) are holding the daughter of an aristocrat hostage in the hope that he would waive taxes. After observing the bumbling peasants and their failed negotiations with the aristocracy for a while, the cynical Samurai decides to join the fight on the peasants side.

While watching this film, it struck me that the Samurai attitude towards life is not too different from the cowboys in spaghetti westerns or protagonists in Noir thrillers. They are very cynical and are always watching how the situation unravels. But they often put their neck on the line in the end.

The treatment and portrayal of women in this film is quite hilarious and politically incorrect.

I liked the way the director balanced the different aspects of the film - the film is a mix of cynical tongue in cheek humor and relentless action while also foregrounding themes like samurai honor and the plight of peasants.

The plot, like a Noir film is quite complicated.

(7.5/10)

Unlike the more familiar Seven Samurai, remade as The Magnificent Seven, this film only features three. Really, it is only one for most of the movie, then another joins in, and finally the third.

The story is familiar. The Samurai feel sorry for the poor peasants and one even gives up his luxurious life in the Magistrate's service to fight the evil tax collector that is bleeding the peasants dry.

It's the film debut for Hideo Gosha, and he does a great job of mixing samurai fighting and humor and concern for the poor into an enjoyable film that was beautifully shot.

I am certainly going to look for more of his work.