Samurai (1965/I)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Kihachi Okamoto

Writers:

Jiromasa Gunji (story)
Shinobu Hashimoto (writer)

Release Date:

5 March 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History

Plot:

February 17 to March 3, 1860, inside Edo castle. A group of assassins wait by Sakurada Gate to kill the lord of the House of Ii...

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Japan | 1860s | Sword Fight | Jidai Geki

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Tsuruchiyo Niiro
Keiju Kobayashi	...	Einosuke Kurihara
Michiyo Aratama	...	Okiku / Kukuhime
Yûnosuke Itô	...	Hoshino Kenmotsu
Eijirô Tôno	...	Seigoro Kisoya
Tatsuyoshi Ehara	...	Ichigoro Hayama
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Shigezo Inada
Shiro Otsude	...	Kaname Kojima
Yoshio Inaba	...	Keijiro Sumita
Akihiko Hirata	...	Sohei Masui
Eisei Amamoto	...	Matazaburo Hagiwara (as Hideyo Amamoto)
Ikio Sawamura	...	Tatsukichi Bisenya
Chotaro Togin	...	Seiichi Morikawa
Yasuzo Ogawa	...	Ronin
Masanari Nihei	...	Ronin

Also Known As:

Samurai Assassin

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

Mifune Productions Co. Ltd.

Irony at it's best

I bought this film about a year ago and just got the opportunity to watch it last night. This film was beautiful brutality, simplistic complexity, unjust justice, and traditional tragedy. The sword duels are quick and brutal, the battle scene is long and horrific. The film jumps through time and space at a frantic pace with out warning. And yet the plot is slowly revealed through the hurried pace. I highly recommend this film that examines the complex psyche of Norii the Ronin. My only warning is that there is a lot of dialogue and it wears a little thin at some times. And the subtitles go by so fast at times it calls for some rewinding. The action is so fast in some parts you will want to watch in freeze frame. One scene looked so real, I would almost swear that they actually had to kill the guy. Go see this film now.