Overview
is a 2006 film set in Japan of the Edo period. It is the final film in Yoji Yamada's acclaimed Samurai Trilogy, following Twilight Samurai (2002) and The Hidden Blade (2004).
Plot
Shinnojo, a low level samurai, lives with his pretty and loyal wife Kayo. Bored with his position as a food-taster for a feudal lord, he talks about opening a kendo school open to boys of all castes. Before he can act, he becomes ill after tasting some whelk sashimi. An investigation reveals that the poisoning was not a human conspiracy, but a poor choice of food out of season. After three days, he awakes but finds that the toxin has blinded him.
His uncle is asked by Shinnojo's family how the couple will survive. He laments that he no longer knows anybody with influence, and asks Kayo if she knows of anybody. She relates how Toya Shimada, the chief duty officer in the castle and a samurai of high rank, offered to help and they tell her to act upon his offer of assistance.
A message from the castle brings the good news that Shinnojo's stipend of rice will remain the same, and for life but his aunt tells him that Kayo was seen with another man. He has Tokuhei, his faithful servant, follow her. Kayo notices that she is being followed, and although Tokuhei offers to cover for her, she reveals to Shinnojo that Shimada offered to help but at a price, shown when he forced himself upon her. He then solicited additional trysts by threatening to tell Shinnojo about the first. An enraged Shinnojo divorces her and orders her out of his house.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).