Perfect and funny. Mifune is right to keep asking for money. I felt really taken with the image of the naive samurai leaping across the river strewn with camellia flowers. I would’ve been the guy in the closet who didn’t seem to know whether he was totally on their side or not, but found himself immediately obedient to the lady. The stakes of the action feel different with a movie centered on an essentially nameless and unknowable protagonist. You’re always waiting for his reaction to get a glimpse of his inner life

Mifune is so charming and effective and also depthless. Love a story that still feels like a story even when its protagonist doesn’t undergo any significant changes. The shots of Mifune up on the tower surveying the effect of his work are magic. The sequence where he frees the basically enslaved woman is so good but honestly maybe her husband should’ve died too

Incredible editing and sourcing. Moved to tears by some of the testimonies, which I’d never seen before or even heard similar to. Extremely difficult to watch war criminals recount their part in overthrowing Lumumba and sowing instability in Africa with smiles on their faces. I almost cant believe all of this took place over only sox months. Weeks where decades happen etc. delicate, smart cross section