The first thing that comes in mind when i think about this movie, is the mindblowing performance of Tatsuya Nakadai. His eyes crushed me, the face, and that slow and tired voice. I think he did a very serious phisical work. I mean you see that he’s not passsing through good times he’s thin, almost starvin. When the movie goes ahead, you see perfectly how the things affects him and drive him to do what he does.
Then the direction work is amazing, with a very elegant and calm camera work. I love the way we see those big house landscapes from the wealthy house and the little dark rooms of the little house where Hanshiro Tsugumo lived with his family.

This movie for my looks like some kind of social cinema, where we see how things where in that period of time, and how a poor ronin could be more honorable than a wealthy family.