Three Outlaw Samurai – Sanbiki no samurai (1964)

Directed by: Hideo Gosha | 94 minutes | action, drama | Actors: Tetsuro Tamba, Kyoko Aio, Kamatari Fujiwara, Mikijiro Hira, Tatsuya Ishiguro, Yoshiko Kayama, Toshie Kimura, Miyuki Kuwano, Yôko Mihara, Jun Tatara, Isamu Nagato

Long before Quentin Tarantino made the katanas clatter in ‘Kill Bill’ there were swordsman movies. They were called Chambara, the samurai films that had their heyday in the fifties and sixties. Films such as ‘Seven Samurai’, ‘Rashomon’ and ‘Hidden Fortress’ by director Akira Kurosawa also attracted attention outside the Japanese borders and served as a source of inspiration for westerns such as ‘The Magnificent Seven’. George Lucas also made grateful use of the samurai concept, except that he did not call the wandering warriors ronin but jedi and gave them lightsabers rather than katanas.

Director Hideo Gosha may be less known in the West than Akira Kurosawa, but he also belongs in the list of big names. In 1964, he made his debut with ‘Three Outlaw Samurai’, an adaptation of a 1950s television series. You can hear from the music that the film is an oldie, but an oldie that defends itself bravely. The contrasting black-and-white images flawlessly evoke the right atmosphere and the fights cut into it. Often literally, because Gosha pursued realism. It is touching what you can touch in ‘Three Outlaw Samurai’ and the blood flows abundantly from the veins, in moody black streams.

In 1964, visual gimmicks like CGI and bullet time were not yet in the toolbox. Creating spectacle was old-fashioned handiwork. Gosha keeps the heart rate high by quickly alternating dialogue and action scenes. The choreography of the clatter of weapons may be a little less over the top than we are used to these days, but the fights are no less spectacular because of it. The fighters toil and toil, often coming to an abrupt end. No long drawn-out death scenes here; dead is dead. In between there is room for drama and dry humor, served with taste by the charismatic actors.

“Three Outlaw Samurai” isn’t all about bad guy kebab. The director had a story to tell. The film exposes the exploitation of the peasants in the feudal system. A problem from days long gone, but the story of exploitation is timeless. Just like the story of heroic loners who – out of principle or out of boredom – resist corrupt rulers. Sometimes all the sacrifices are for nothing. Also in ‘Three Outlaw Samurai’. The three samurai from the title work up a sweat for the peasant population, but what do those same peasants do when some initiative is asked of themselves? Nothing, and that makes the sacrifices made a bit sour. But hey, that’s life.