After wandering into a rural village, masterless samurai Sanjuro (Mifune) discovers a blood feud between a sake brewer and a silk merchant. Seeing an opportunity to play both sides against the other, Sanjuro finds himself at the center of a bloody conflict that must end with a final showdown. This genre-defying film was later adapted by Sergio Leone as A Fistful of Dollars, starring Clint Eastwood in Mifune’s role. (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1961, 110 min., b&w) In Japanese with English subtitles