Resisting entrenched power

I enjoyed a rare Monday off work by watching one of my favorite films -- "JOI-UCHI: HAIRYO TSUMA SHIMATSU (SAMURAI REBELLION)" by MASAKI KOBAYASHI.
Starring TOSHIRO MIFUNE, YOKO TSUKASA and TATSUYA NAKADAI, Kobayashi's 1967 film presents a family caught in a dilemma: The clan lord that once forced a vassal to marry his out-of-favor mistress now wants her returned. The problem, is that the vassal and his reluctant bride have since fallen in love.
The dilemma sets up the groom and his father against the clan -- an individual's rights against, as film historian Donald Richie described it, "a well-oiled and highly calibrated system of oppression."
Kobayashi himself said "all my pictures are concerned with resisting entrenched power. I suppose I have always challenged authority."
Authority, in this case, is vividly personified by Steward Takahashi -- one of Japan's great screen villains, portrayed by SHIGERU KOYAMA.
Watching an individual struggle against monolithic tyranny is not everyone's choice of entertainment, but in the directorial hands of Kobayashi, this film truly is a joy.