I had never heard of Hideo Gosha but when I ran across these two titles they were going to run on TCM I DVR'd them immediately. Turns out these were the first two films he ever directed. He went on to make 24 films in all and if these two are any indication then I need to familiarize myself with his catalogue. I did watch them out of order though.
Sword of the Beast - Set in the year 1857, the movie opens with Yuuki Gennosuke (Mikijirô Hira) hiding in a corn field. A woman approaches him and offers herself to him. It is, of course a distraction and the film gradually reveals the man's trangression and the reason he's being hunted down. He's a fugitive because he killed his clan's counselor and his pursuers include the dead man's daughter Misa (Toshie Kimura), her fiance and his best friend Daizaburo (Kantarô Suga) and the clan's master swordsman. Knowing that he needs money to fund his flight he teams up with dirt poor farmer Gundaya (Takeshi Katō) in a scheme to poach gold from the Shogun's mountain. Once there he runs across a samurai from another clan, Jurota Yamane (Go Kato) and his wife Taka (Shima Iwasheta). They've been there for some time and have collected quite a bit of gold. Gennosuke realizes that he and Jurota are both victims of higher ups who have promised them advancement and riches. In Gennosuke's case the vice counselor enticed him into murder by dangling the possibility of reform only to turn his back once he was assured of the dead man's position within the clan.
The feel of this is almost noirish which would be awe inspiring because samurai noir is something I didn't even know existed. There are plenty of double crosses and femme fatales and chiaroscuro tableaus. But running beneath it all is Gosha's righteous disapproval at the hypocrisy of the so called ruling class and the pitfalls of blind loyalty. I really liked this. Liked the casting, the somewhat somber story arc and the underlying message.
90/100
Three Outlaw Samurai - This is Gosha's first ever feature and it's an auspicious beginning IMO. Wandering ronin Sakon Shiba (Tetsuro Tamba) happens across three farmers holding a girl prisoner in an abandoned mill. She turns out to be the daughter of the local magistrate and the men have abducted her in order to force a dialogue on behalf of all the suffering peasants that the lord has long disregarded. At first looking only for somewhere to sleep, Shiba offers advice to the clearly outmatched farmers and when the Magistrate and his motley crew of men eventually show up he takes note of Einosuke Kikyô (Mikijirô Hira) who is clearly in another class as far as demeanor and fighting skills are concerned. With Shiba's help the farmers are able to stymie the magistrate's attempt at forcibly rescuing his daughter.
Once back at his compound the lord hires as many men as he can including the one's currently in his jail cells. One of these is Kyôjûrô Sakura (Isamu Nagato), scruffy and penniless but an expert with a spear and also head and shoulders above the rabble the magistrate is recruiting. Upon meeting Shiba and hearing of the farmer's plight he realizes he has more in common with them and switches sides.
There is plenty of dialoguing and machinations by the magistrate and changes of heart from supporting characters. Gosha once again plays with the heretofore unassailable notion of honor and loyalty by stressing it's limitations when the powers that be refuse to hold up their end of the bargain.
Eventually the seemingly unprincipled Kikyô realizes he can no longer remain on the sidelines and joins arms with the other two samurai in time for the big showdown. This was a fine piece of
chanbara but I did enjoy
Sword of the Beast a bit more.
85/100