Saw Samurai Gold Seekers (AKA Sword of the Beast) a samurai movie about a dude on the run from his clan who are after him for killing their head clan-guy. We follow this dude and he's clearly the protagonist but most of the film concerns an illegal gold mining operation in the mountains. This is government land and thus it's illegal to mine there but a husband-wife team are mining away. There's a gang of thieves who are trying to steal this gold, the main dude who is in cahoots with an ugly man to steal the gold, and another husband-wife team from the clan who are hunting down the main dude. There's a lot going on.
The different groups are tied together with a theme of betrayal (especially of superiors over subordinates.) The protagonist is shaggy-haired and talks of the mountains as being the domain of "beasts" however the film argues that humans have beast-hood thrust upon them. Everyone is taking part in the bestial pursuit of gold, but everyone is compelled to do so by superiors or for nobel reasons (well, except for the gang of thieves. They're just evil.)
In keeping with the beastial/human dichotomy, much of the film is fairly lurid. Many rapes occur, murder is of course perpetrated at the drop of a hat, and double-crosses are common. Despite being made in the 60s, it has the feel of true-crime film, luxuriating in the ugliness of human activity.
This is a film with a straightforward message hidden behind a complex plot. It's very tough to follow at times but always reliably returns to a human caught between the nobility of their soul and the bestial compulsions of their superiors.
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