, also known as 11 Samurai, is a 1967 Japanese jidaigeki (period drama) film directed by Eiichi Kudo. This is the third and final chapter in Kudo's Samurai Revolution trilogy. The plot is a samurai epic with a loose historical basis. "The young Lord Nariatsu was probably modeled after the real life figure of Matsudaira Nariyoshi, also known as Matsudaira Tokunosuke (1819-1839)," who was the 19th or the 20th son of the Shōgun Ienari (1787-1837) and the younger brother of the Shōgun Ieyoshi (1837-1853). "Nariyoshi died when he was 19 years old--a perfect fit for this story. The circumstances surrounding his death are obscure, which is also very convenient for dramatic purposes."

Plot

This black and white film is set in November 1839, during the final decades of Japan's Tokugawa shogunate. The retired Shōgun's youngest son, Lord Nariatsu, crosses into the neighboring Oshi fief, while he's hunting. Confronted by the Clan Lord Abe Masayori for trespassing in his lands of Oshi, Nariatsu kills him in a fit of pique and rides home. The Oshi fief retainers appeal to the Shōgun's Council of Elders for justice. Not wishing to embarrass the Shōgun's Tokugawa Clan, Chief Secretary Mizumo rewrites the event with Clan Lord Abe in the wrong and Lord Nariatsu defending himself. For this "attack," the Oshi fief is to be abolished at the end of the month, and the lands will be given to Lord Nariatsu as compensation.