Samurai Assassin (1965)
"Samurai" (original title)

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, a powerful man in the Tokugawa government, which has ruled ... See full summary »

Director:

Kihachi Okamoto

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto (screenplay), Jiromasa Gunji (novel)

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Keiju Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratama

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toshirô Mifune	...	Tsuruchiyo Niiro
Keiju Kobayashi	...	Einosuke Kurihara
Michiyo Aratama	...	Okiku / Kikuhime
Yûnosuke Itô	...	Kenmotsu Hoshino
Eijirô Tôno	...	Masagorô Kisoya
Tatsuyoshi Ehara	...	Ichigoro Hayama
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Shigezo Inada
Kaoru Yachigusa	...	Mitsu
Haruko Sugimura	...	Tsuru
Nami Tamura	...	Yae
Shirô Ôtsuji	...	Kaname Kojima
Yoshio Inaba	...	Keijiro Sumita
Akihiko Hirata	...	Sohei Masui
Hideyo Amamoto	...	Matazaburo Hagiwara
Ikio Sawamura	...	Tatsukichi Bisenya

Storyline

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, a powerful man in the Tokugawa government, which has ruled Japan for 300 years. They suspect a traitor in their midst, and their suspicions fall on Niiro, an impoverished ronin who dreams of samurai status, and Kurihara, an aristocratic samurai who befriends Niiro. Niiro longs to identify his father, knowing he is a high-ranking official who will disclose himself only if Niiro achieves samurai status. With American ships in Japan's harbors, cynicism among the assassins, and change in the air, Niiro resolves to reach ends that may prove ephemeral.

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | japan | 1860s | martial arts | sword fight | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

5 March 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Samurai Assassin

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mifune Productions Co. Ltd., Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Samurai Nippon (1957)

User Reviews

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.