Eleven Samurai

The lord of the Oshi fief is killed by Nariatsu, who has trespassed on the neighbouring land. Nariatsu is the son of the former shogun and untouchable. The investigation turns the wrong way round: the Oshi clan is declared guilty and ordered to be disbanded. Eleven of the clan's best swordsmen refuse to accept the ruling and settle on a single target. Eiichi Kudo's film is spoken of together with his own Thirteen Assassins and The Great Killing; all three are about a group organising against those in power. It is shot in black and white, and the last stretch is one long fight taking place almost entirely in mud. The telling does not exalt samurai honour; it shows how the system spends its own men.