Dai-bosatsu tôge (1966)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Kihachi Okamoto

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto (writer)
Kaizan Nakazato (novel)

Release Date:

1 July 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

Ryunosuke is a sociopathic samurai without compassion or scruples. When he is scheduled for an exhibition match at his fencing school...

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Playing Footsie | Samurai Warrior | Violence | Playing Footsie While In Bed

Cast

Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Ryunosuke Tsukue
Yuzo Kayama	...	Hyoma Utsuki
Michiyo Aratama	...	Ohama
Yôko Naito	...	Omatsu
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Isamu Kondo
Kei Sato	...	Kamo Serizawa
Kô Nishimura	...	Shichibei, Omatsu's 'uncle'
Ichirô Nakaya	...	Bunnojo Utsuki
Kunie Tanaka	...	Senkichi
Takamaru Sasaki	...	Ishinsai Nakamura
Ryosuke Kagawa	...	Dansho Tsukue
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Omatsu's grandfather
Eisei Amamoto		(as Hideyo Amamoto)
Akio Miyabe	...	Toshizo Ogata
Yasuzo Ogawa	...	Yohachi

Also Known As:

Daibosatsu Pass (literal English title)
Le sabre du mal (Japan)
The Sword of Doom (USA)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 | Singapore:NC-16

Company:

Takarazuka Eiga Company Ltd.

Trivia:

The abrupt ending of the film is due to the fact that it was originally intended to be the first part in a trilogy of films based on a lengthy Japanese novel. Nakazato Kaizan's 41 volume historical novel focused on the Edo period in Japanese history when the shogunate collapsed and a new government arose that revolved around the Emperor. It was the longest novel in Japan - encompassing 1533 chapters and over 5 and a half million Japanese characters - until the publication of Sohachi Yamaoka's serialized novel "Tokugawa Ieyasu", which is reportedly the longest novel in any language.

Quotes:

Ryunosuke Tsukue: I, Ryunosuke Tsukue, trust only my sword in this world. When I fight, I have no family.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Exhumed (2003) (V)

Powerful, Disturbing, Confusing

There is, of course, no question that the protagonist here is the handsome and insane Ryunosuke. And I can see that his insanity, alienation, and disassociation all come together in a climax of hallucination and compulsion. But there are things that I do not see. First, why is he insane? That is, what is his origin and the origin of his evil style of sword play? Second, why is there at least one very absorbing subplot which is developed and then dropped? I mean the romance between the "grand daughter" and Mifune's chief student and the tension regarding their welfare that builds up because of the plan of revenge? Is there some overriding master plan here; or some historical, cultural, etc. concept that I am missing?