Mifune is a local juvenile delinquent who wanders off with his buddy to attain some war hero cred. It doesn't go so well and before you know it they've stumbled into the clutches of a devious woman and her daughter who strip dead Samurai of their belongings in order to survive.
Shortly thereafter Mifune and his buddy are split up, with buddy going along with the devious woman and her daughter. Mifune left to wander back to his home village where the welcoming committee consists of about a thousand people wanting to put him in jail.
Finally, a Buddhist priest, Takuan, captures him. Mifune escapes with the help of his buddy's ex-girlfriend. He's captured again by the priest and forced this time to read a bunch of enlightening texts to become a better man, ready for samurai work. The girl, meanwhile, waits for him.
This is one of the more American-style movies you're gonna see out of 1950s Japan. Beautiful technicolor. Wide open vistas. Lots of fighting. Manly men. Beautiful dames. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl (repeatedly). Soaring music. Simple, straightforward story-telling.
It's all very accessible.
There are nothing but loose ends when the credits roll. So if you're gonna rent/buy/stream this one, you might as well get all 3 at the same time.
Shortly thereafter Mifune and his buddy are split up, with buddy going along with the devious woman and her daughter. Mifune left to wander back to his home village where the welcoming committee consists of about a thousand people wanting to put him in jail.
Finally, a Buddhist priest, Takuan, captures him. Mifune escapes with the help of his buddy's ex-girlfriend. He's captured again by the priest and forced this time to read a bunch of enlightening texts to become a better man, ready for samurai work. The girl, meanwhile, waits for him.
This is one of the more American-style movies you're gonna see out of 1950s Japan. Beautiful technicolor. Wide open vistas. Lots of fighting. Manly men. Beautiful dames. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl (repeatedly). Soaring music. Simple, straightforward story-telling.
It's all very accessible.
There are nothing but loose ends when the credits roll. So if you're gonna rent/buy/stream this one, you might as well get all 3 at the same time.