This film focuses on the period when the Samurai were disappearing and Japan was becoming Westernized.
I takes place in a village where master-less ronin spend their time eking out a living, and prostitutes are the main characters. We meet people like Aramaki Gennai (Yoshio Harada) who is most un-samurai like, and seems to be mad, or Doi, a former samurai who raises birds, or Bull (Shintarô Katsu) the bouncer.
The beautiful prostitute Oshin (Kanako Higuchi) is strangely tied to Aramaki, while Horo (Renji Ishibashi) is madly in love with her, but afraid to take her away.
It is a story about characters, not action, although action will soon be a part for those who hang in there.
Soon, some outsiders (seven samurai) start killing off the prostitutes, and the master-less samurai are forced to act like samurai again to save the village, especially when they tie two bulls to Oshin's legs to rip her apart.
A beautiful film with all the bloody action at the end.
Great acting by Kanako Higuchi, Renji Ishibashi, and Yoshio Harada.
