Classic Japanese Cinema Discussion Thread

Hideo Gosha , began directing in the early sixties, starting out with light Samurai films, historical drama and hard boiled crime film, at the end of the decade he mastered two of the most astonishing Samurai films ever made. 
He was a supreme stylist with a daring & vivid approach to his craft. Gosha developed his own distinctive mark as a director, an animalistic vision of life and human beings, labelled by himself as dobutsuteki na ronri (animal logic), men and women unable to transcend their beastly impulses because of the social disorder and violence around them. Never fearing to explore the human soul and its impulses, his characters are richly drawn, penetrating into the samurai psyche.
 Fascinating, action packed, existential drama, captivating cinema, spiriting you away within seconds, placing you in a totally unfamiliar world, absolutely riveted until the very end...

 Two of the finest examples of the chambara genre (sword fighting ,Samurai) are Gosha's  Goyokin (1969)  & Hitokiri (1969)

Hitokiri literally means manslayers, it is the title for an outstanding very dark historical samurai film aka Tenchu .
Set in the political turmoil of 1868 at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate (the last feudal Japanese military government), the stunning, spellbinding film is based on the lives of the historical group known as the Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu , with a central focus on Okada Izo
These four samurai were warrior elite, said to be undefeatable by mere mortals. Starring with a mesmerizing performance, the main protagonist, Shintaro Katsu as Okada Izo and notably Yukio Mishima as Tanaka Shinbei , two of the most feared of the four assassins. These real life characters make for fascinating reading & historical research. 
Working under the command of Takechi Hanpeita, who sought to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and restore the Emperor of Japan to power, the swordsmen unquestioningly , carried out bold political assassinations on prominent high profile opposition reformers... 10/10  
Pictured above Katsu, and the four, centre are Shintaro Katsu, and in a rare film appearance, author Yukio Mishima