Toshiro Mifune did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Isaburo Sasahara in Samurai Rebellion.
Samurai Rebellion suffers slightly in comparison to the great Masaki Kobayashi’s previous films about a man against a system of injustice, particularly Harakiri which it closely resembles in the overall plot and the idea of a family being torn about by cruel lords. It isn’t as great as that film, but Harakiri is one of the greatest films ever so being less than that isn’t bad. As it is still well worth watching, even if it isn’t as tight or quite as powerful as that film, in large part we get a very special collaboration by having the great Mifune as Kobayashi’s lead this time around and proof that neither his career, nor his talent ended after this legendary collaboration with Kurosawa. And Kobayashi thankfully challenges Mifune in a different role, despite being yet another samurai, this is a different samurai for Mifune. As this character is neither the great rebel samurai of Yojimbo nor is he a chaotic fake samurai from Seven Samurai, nor the great general from Hidden Fortress, Isaburo Sasahara is kind of just a guy even though he’s in this system. There’s a different vibe Mifune brings here that is just wonderful and shows once again great acting isn’t always playing extremely different parts rather it is finding the differences in similar parts and expressing those differences to make new characters that leave lasting impressions.
Mifune does so here by in no way making Sasahara any sort of larger than life guy in fact accentuating more so the fact that there isn’t anything too notable about him despite his alluded to skills at fighting something we get the sense of as he has casual conversations with his also extremely skilled friend and fellow vassal Tatewaki Asano (Tatsuya Nakadai). Nakadai and Mifune have great chemistry here that is unique to this film given, while there will be a duel between them, this is the only film I’ve seen between them where the pair get to be friends. With Mifune and Nakadai having just work buddy chemistry. It is very easy going with Mifune’s delivery of taking his life as casually as he does, even if in a defeated way at times given he is brow beaten by his wife, isn’t of someone bemoaning his whole existence rather it is just a guy who has accepted his plight having the bit of fun he does get in getting to to express that belief with his friend. The two have a great ease where the sense of respect between the men is just a given and the way Asano describes Sasahara, you see the younger man see the older man for more than what the older man even believes. As whenever Asano builds him up too much, Mifune plays in his eyes almost an embarrassment at the idea that he could be anything truly great and not just a husband and a dad.
Speaking of those two elements we get two very distinct sides from Mifune, and again sides that are unique to this performance from the great actor. The first is that of the husband where the moments we do get of him with his domineering wife, Mifune is remarkable in the years of just accepting whatever his wife says as his eyes have a resignation and his voice has an innate sigh of a man who seems to be constantly saying to himself “it’s just not worth fighting with her”. We also get the latter part as the dad where Mifune certainly played paternalistic father figures in previous films, notably Red Beard as one of his most mature characters, but this is very different as emphasis on the dad dad so to speak. As Mifune is wonderful at being a bit of a fuddyduddy for the lack of a better term. He’s not cool or hip around his son, rather you just get this simple bright smile of appreciation towards his son and just as someone who loves him simple as that. Mifune’s portrayal of not complicating this in any way is so distinct because complication is usually the name of the game, and even in Red Beard Mifune gave his wisdom out in sometimes cold blunt ways. But here Mifune just accentuates a sincere open warmth where every interaction with his son is just as a loving guy who wants nothing more than the best for his son. Mifune makes this pure in every bit we get and consistently expresses leaving a strong impression that is key to the progression of the plot.
The plot appears as Sasahara’s son is asked to take on the single mother concubine of the lord as his wife, something they reject based on rumors of her manner but something that changes when they find that she is a lovely loving woman. I’ll be honest while the relationship isn’t bad in any way I would say it is more of just fine and the film could’ve had something just a bit more potent in showing these two as the perfect couple sort of thing, instead they do what they need to, the actors I think just don’t have that burning chemistry though I think both are more than decent in their roles. Mifune picks up the slack for that however in his reactions to the love he sees between his son and his wife, as his smiles become so much brighter and his speech about the new wife, Mifune gives a glowing delivery of every word where he shows not how much Sasahara is getting out of the new women in a direct way but rather how much he’s getting out of her by seeing how much joy it brings to his son. When he encourages his son about the relationship, Mifune’s speech is tremendous because it contains love, but also the sense of years of burdened somehow relieved as Mifune’s eyes are that of a man who couldn’t have true love himself however that wound is softened by seeing his son find it in the end.
Sadly the plot becomes more complicated when the wife is recalled by the lord at a cruel moment, something the family eventually rejects as a cruelty, particularly after the couple had conceived a child. And when we see the son take the stand Mifune’s laying of the groundwork of the man defined by this love for his son pays off, when we see his son’s happiness threatened Mifune’s work shows this love fueling his conviction to do whatever it takes to defend his son. Mifune’s calm in these scenes shows essentially the great man who always could’ve been in the way we see a man standing firm by his strongest belief that being the belief in supporting his son. Even surprising his son in his steadfast approach Mifune is great in suddenly his presence being the full Mifune of the man who is larger than life, but still different as we see that put upon dad now finding his strength as in every moment of this there is this glint in the eye of Mifune of a man who is doing it all for tender care. Eventually it all falls apart when the Lord refuses to relent leading to both the tragic death of Sasahara’s son and his daughter in law. Then we get Mifune unleashed in one of his all time great just full Mifune intensity here representing not just rage but also such rabid grief as Sasahara kills a substantial number of men from the Lord. Mifune uses all of his physical power and every bit of what his eyes can do like few actors to show the tremendous pain of a father fueled into every moment of the one sided massacre. That moment is followed by such a poignant moment of performance by Mifune as he shifts to such a gentle heartbreaking calm as he buries his family, where Mifune’s quiet in contrast to the earlier explosion is so powerful in showing the same love now just in his promise to try to spread the word of the injustice by escaping the lord’s realm. Leading Sasahara to have to duel Asano as the latter must fulfill his duty as the guard of the border, where Mifune finds such a remarkable quality as he prepares to fight his friend. There is just this quiet calm conviction as he notes what he will do no matter what, you see a man with his eyes set on only doing the justice and promise to his family. It isn’t the eyes of a killer but the eyes of a father that Mifune expresses in this quest. Throughout the incredible duel Mifune’s performance is captivating in the consistency of that conviction until he fatally wounds his best friend. When Asano stops, I love the shift of Mifune as we see that conviction vanish, not because he no longer cares, but now sees his friend as no longer an enemy but just his dying friend. Mifune is so moving by making this shift feel natural as Sasahara still loved his friend even though he had to kill him for his quest. Something we see continue in a final attempt to escape where Mifune again brings such intensity to every moment of the final fight, being this fierce powerful onslaught of that emotional power of a man putting every ounce into himself to try to find justice for his family. Mifune is incredible as he conveys that even as he is physically falling apart from wounds, the eyes never waver as the man is looking to that conviction still. Mifune delivers yet another tremendous performance here, finding a new way to the rebel samurai, this time not as a man who rebels through chaos, but rather just a reflection of love for a father.
