椿三十郎 (aka Sanjuro) (1962)

A jaded samurai warrior (Toshiro Mifune) helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences. Based on the short story HIBI HEIAN by Shugoro Yamamoto and directed by Akira Kurosawa (HIGH AND LOW). A follow up to Kurosawa's hugely popular YOJIMBO from the year before. The element of humor is upped here and the tone is less bold than its predecessor. As the title protagonist, Mifune is as charismatic as ever and gives an authoritative performance. I have to confess I found the infighting rivalry confusing at times but not enough to take away from my enjoyment of the film. The wide screen (Tohoscope) lensing by Fukuzo Koizumi is impressive and despite some anachronistic bits, so was the underscore by Masaru Sato. With Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yuzo Kayama and the lovely Reiko Dan.