THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI (1964)

THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI was always going to be my final installment of this 9 classic film countdown to Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.

This is due to the fact that the first time I saw this SAMURAI  was right after I saw THE LAST JEDI and I was bowled over by the visual connections between the two films. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, here’s the trailer for THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI…

Criterion always does a top-notch job with the packaging of the movies in their collection. Their back cover synopsis sums up the story quite well: “The first feature by the legendary Hideo Gosha is among the most beloved chanbara (sword-fighting) films. An origin-story offshoot of a Japanese television phenomenon of the same name, Three Outlaw Samurai  is a classic in its own right. A wandering, seen-it-all ronin (Tetsuro Tamba) becomes entangled in the dangerous business of two other samurai (Isamu Nagato and Mikijiro Hira), hired to execute a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of a corrupt magistrate. With a remarkable storytelling economy and thrilling action scenes, this is an expertly mounted tale of revenge and loyalty.”

Let’s get right to it. SPOILERS AHEAD.

WOMEN IN PERIL, CHANGING EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT

Both films feature women who are quite capable of joining the fight – by either inflicting damage on others or themselves. By the time we get to THE LAST JEDI, Rey is already an established warrior with a staff, blaster, spaceship. lightsaber, The Force, whatever. Her sacrificial mission to face Kylo Ren and Snoke alone is amazing – as it puts her in peril and she is quickly tortured by Snoke. Of course, with Ren’s help, the tide turns. Samurai begins with a princess prisoner – a woman the audience at first may be concerned for, but Gosha redirects our emotional investment in her well-being as ronin Shiba draws the backstory out of her peasant captors. When Shiba hears their reasoning, he sides with them and the audience goes right along with him - after all, they are mere peasants and under the ruthless, voilent oppression of a corrupt magistrate. Redirection around various female characters continues throughout Samurai from rich and poor women fighting against each other to a female peasant hostage killing herself for the sake of all peasants.

Peasant's daughter is offered as a hostage exchange in THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI. Image obtained from DVDtalk.com

“UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE TO THE ACTION”

The SAMURAI Criterion Blu-Ray includes a neat, little booklet about the film featuring an article called “The Disloyal Bunch” – written by Bilge Ebiri. The booklet shares how director Hideo Gosha is known for his “tactile and physical cinema. He sometimes gets uncomfortably close to the action: his beautiful, striking compositions are constantly on the verge of being upended by yet another body or weapon flying into frame, or by the background action suddenly moving to the foreground.” Gosha often does this in simple conversations between captors and captured – with prison bars, railings or weapons dividing up the space between the two parties (and the audience). Where Gosha really employs this technique is in his sword fights – whether the warriors are in a barn, prison, forest or wide-open field. 

SAMURAI's end battle choreography is amazing. Image obtained from DVDtalk.com

Rian Johnson uses the same technique throughout his film – in particular, during the bombing run at the beginning of the film and, most expertly, in the battle between Rey, Ren and the Praetorian Guards. Rian even uses a Gosha fighting technique from Samurai where one samurai throws another samurai a sword to take out a dangerously close bad guy. 

THEY’RE ANIMALS!

Gosha also uses environment to echo the rootlessness of his characters as they are “left wandering the wilderness, at the mercy of the elements – be it rain, or mud or snow – and they at times feel like extensions of the animal world.” This is best exemplified at the end of the picture, when the three samurai have finished the battle and wander in an open space, unsure where to travel to next. Now, in Rey and Ren’s case, they have exhibited similar behavior in The Force Awakens (remember the battle in the snowy woods on Starkiller base? The pacing, the blood spills, the screams and so on.) That connection to nature and surroundings is intensified in Last Jedi – especially for Rey during her training on Ahch-To. And, from what we’ve seen in the Episode 9 trailer – nature echoes the clash between Ren and Rey once more (crazy waves!)….

If you want to see a samurai film that’s different from Kurosawa and, perhaps, a bit closer to Disney’s Star Wars – I highly recommend THREE OUTLAW SAMURAI. Not for the faint of heart: the blood does flow and characters are put through some torturous battles – but it is artfully executed and mild by today’s standards of onscreen violence.

This last recommendation concludes our 9 film countdown to Episode 9! I can’t believe RISE OF SKYWALKER is almost here! SO EXCITED!

I hope you’ve enjoyed our countdown and were inspired to see our list of classic movies. Most importantly, I hope you enjoy the upcoming final film in the Skywalker saga. 

We have some exciting plans in the works for 2020. Please come back and check to see what’s up.