Furin kazan "Flying Banners" (Hiroshi Inagaki / Japan / 196 

This Samurai epic set in the 16th century of Japan, is about a former Ronin, magnificently played by Toshiro Mifune, who begind to serve at an already high age as an adviser of a strong warlord Takeda, and tries through his influence to unite Japan, which is divided in various territories, and in a state of civil war. 
During the ca. 167minutes we see how Takeda's clan wins battle after battle, continously expanding its territory. There is also a kind of "love story" in the film, which is handled in a mature way, as the whole film uses little melodramtics, and tells more through things unsaid, than through dialogue. This love Story is (besides the fantastic camera work) the most interesting aspect in the film, and gives it the much needed depth and tragedy, which otherwise would be almost missing
The camerawork is outstanding, using an interesting palette of colors, and lots of impressive shots of the nature, to tell its story shot in widescreen. The directing and the dialogue are also very good, as is the editing and the acting, and the music is also right, with a pathetic but restrained note that fits the thematic.
The only major problem is the a bit too glorifying portrayal of the warriors, and the reactionary standpoint of the characters, from which the director either doesn't know how, or doesn't want, to distance himself far enough.
If it weren't for this, the film might be compared to the late Akira Kurosawa epics, and I'm sure Kurosawa was influenced by this film in the technical department.
The film is a mixture between chambara and jidai-geki, but has its moments of reflection and ambiguity towards the characters depicted. Luckily the end pulls the film in the right direction.

In the end I rated it "only" **1/2 / ****, so it's recommended, but one has to be careful with certain ideological aspects.