There's a very excellent movie from Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi, 'Harakiri', which presents a sort of negative view of Japanese feudal society and its various samurai/daimyo leadership. In the movie, the daimyo of a certain feudal clan tries to present himself and his clan as being honorable and noble, in the Bushido sort of way, but in reality they are greedy and vane.
The story for the movie is fictional, but it was still Kobayashi's intent to persuade people that the idea of the 'honorable Samurai' isn't quite as pure as people like to believe. Regardless if you believe this notion or not, I still highly recommend seeing the movie if you can find it - it's a Kurosawa-quality film.
A quote about the movie from someone who is a much better writer than I am:
Quote:
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Based on a novel by Yasuhiko Takiguchi, Harakiri is a scathing indictment on the hypocrisy, repression, and barbarism of codified behavior. Using rigid rectangular framing against fluid tracking shots and exquisitely composed long shots that delineate class station and social disparity, Masaki Kobayashi visually reflects the oppressive confinement and regimentation of the samurai bushido (code of conduct): the title sequence presented against shots of the empty passageways that lead to the sacred chamber of the Iyi clan's ancestral armor; the isolating, diagonal shots of Saito's interviews with Tsugumo and Chijiwa; the repeated image of Tsugumo on a ceremonial mat encircled by retainers. By illustrating the class stratification and imposed social conformity fostered by the Tokugawa shogunate (1600-1867) as a means of retaining and centralizing authority, Kobayashi presents a harrowing indictment of the ingrained cultural legacy of coercive, outmoded rituals, chauvinism, and blind obedience that resulted in the inhumanity and senseless tragedy of the Pacific War.
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