Duel of Blood and Sand Film Review

A very enjoyable pulp black and white samurai film that mixes in both The Seven Samurai as well as High Noon. It makes for good fun and though it takes much of the film to get to the action, it is well-done when we get there. It is helmed by Sadatsugu Matsuda, one of my favorite directors from Toei in the 1950s and 60s. Lots of Chanbara films to his credit - Crimson Bat, Tange Sazen, Bored Hatamoto, the Samurai Detective Umon and Shingo Aoi films. Toei didn't have the line-up of commercial Samurai films that its rival Daiei did, but these are some good ones. His actor in many of these was the imposing Ryûtarô Ôtomo, who is the star here as well. He was especially known for playing the ferocious one-eyed Tange Sazen. There isn't a lot of subtlety in his performances, but his bravado is compelling.

In this one he is Inaba Yajuro, a Samurai in the Hojo Clan, but he rides up to their fort and announces that he is withdrawing from the clan because of his discontent with Lord Yasumasa. Yasumasa has broken his promises of rewards for his actions. He then rides off into the sunset. Now a ronin. The Lord isn't thrilled by this act of rudeness and sends four of his Samurai off to track him down and kill him. One of them, Ichibei (Jûshirô Konoe) is a good friend of Inaba's and realizes his Lord is in the wrong - but his code is that you follow the orders of your Lord to the death. This is only the beginning of trouble for Inaba. That is the High Noon part - the Seven Samurai part is coming. Except there is only one Samurai.

He comes across a small dirt impoverished village of farmers in which a drunk ruffian is trying to rape one of the women. A spear in the gut and that is over. But he is a member of a bandit gang, and they will come looking for revenge. So instead of thanking Inaba, they throw rocks at him and tell him to leave. This so pisses him off that he decides to stay. But the bandits will come and burn our village down. A pack of scared rabbits. Let's fight them he says. I will teach you how. The role that sort of is the Grace Kelly one is Nana (Satomi Oki) but she is the village prostitute. When she offers Inaba her body, he replies "I don't sleep with a woman who is not in love with me. When you fall in love with me, I will sleep with you". Sure enough, the bandits show up and so do the four men looking to kill him. But he has Nana on his side. And she is in love.