Sakon Shiba is a wandering samurai traveling his country?s countryside. In his travels he stumbles onto a dire situation. The peasants of a county are under such duress that they found no alternative but to kidnap the magistrate?s daughter. They hope to form an appeal with the magistrate to release more food to the
families who are starving. Shiba sees the peasants as a just cause to risk his life. Shiba talk's sense into the peasants but in doing so puts his own life at risk. In doing so, the magistrate lies to Shiba and turns his back on his people. Shiba will have to hope the peasants will see the errors of their ways and rebel against the magistrate with the help of other aimless ronin. ?A case of using poison to fight poison.? Hideo Gosha, director of Four Days of Snow and Blood, Death Shadows, The Geisha, Hunter in Darkness, and Samurai Gold Seekers delivers Three Outlaw Samurai. This marks another excellent and deep storyline delivered by Gosha. The characters have fantastic depth, possesses their own inner demons that they must overcome, and are heroes in their own way. Mikijiro Hira appears in this film as Kikoye and also appeared in Samurai Gold Seekers. ?Who are you???Gods of death.? The ?human nature? reference, the house being invaded and defended by Shiba, the jail house trial, the hotel reference, the ?reckless fellow? scene, Kikyo taking the ?bitch,? the wife?s promise of revenge, the mercenaries getting beat with a stick, the club torture, the daughter biting off her own tongue, the negotiations for punishment, the slaying of the peasants, Ine?s discovery of who killed her husband, the God?s of death dispatching the mercenaries, the kennel rescue, Shiba?s rescue from jail, Kikoyo?s fight at the brothel, the ?vagabond? reference, the ?sole survivor? encounter, the stray dogs versus the magistrate?s militia, Shiba?s final showdown, and the magistrate?s demise were amongst the better portions of the film. ?If you?re not careful you?ll lose your life for nothing.? Three Outlaw Samurai marks the second magnificent film I have viewed by Hideo Gosha. Gosha does a fabulous job of blending action with his intricate and well presented storylines. His films are brilliant. The audience quickly becomes engulfed in every word and action delivered by Gosha?s fantastic characters. I strongly recommend Gosha?s pictures to anyone who enjoys brilliant films. ?Even a worm has a soul.? Grade: A
February 25, 2007
