This is a character driven movie in which the plot is only corollary to the actual story of a group of characters thrown together in a small town. The marginal plot involves retainers of the Shogun killing prostitutes, but what make this a memorable movie are the characters: 'Bull' - a belligerent drunken bouncer for a drinking establishment who is the spitting image (in spirit) of Toshiro Mifune - 'Aramaki' - an uncouth and dirty ronin and pimp who looks like a Japanese Benicio Del Toro - Oshin - a prostitute and barmaid - Sakichi - who is a former vassal of the local lord who sells birds for a living, and smells eternally of bird droppings, and Horo - who makes his living testing swords on dead convicts. I recommend it if you are tired of the typical range of Samurai movies, and just want an entertaining, well acted drama that just happens to have Samurai with cutting instruments.
