Kiru (1968)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Kihachi Okamoto

Writers:

Akira Murao (writer)
Kihachi Okamoto (writer)

Release Date:

22 June 1968 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Two ronin - an ex-samurai and an ex-farmer - get caught up a local officials complex game of murder and betrayal. |

Plot Keywords:

Ronin | Betrayal | Murder | Ambush | Samurai

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Genta
Etsushi Takahashi	...	Hanji (Hanjiro Tabata)
Naoko Kubo	...	Tetsutaro Oikawa
Shigeru Kôyama	...	Tamiya Ayuzawa
Akira Kubo	...	Monnosuke Takei
Seishiro Kuno	...	Daijiro Masataka
Nami Tamura	...	Yo
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Magobei Shoda
Eijirô Tôno	...	Hyogo Moriuchi
Isao Hashimoto	...	Konosuke Fujii
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Shinroku Matsuo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eisei Amamoto	...	Gendayu Shimada
Takeo Chii	...	Yaheiji Yoshida
Akira Hamada	...	Denzo Nishimura
Hiroshi Hasegawa	...	Injured Ronin
Kôichi Hashimoto
Yuriko Hoshi	...	Chino Kajii
Shin Ibuki	...	Injured Ronin
Masao Imafuku	...	Doshin - Monk
Ryosuke Kagawa	...	Sachu Mizoguchi
Shin Kishida	...	Jurota Arao
Susumu Kurobe	...	Kinsaburo Ayuzawa
Ryu Kuze	...	Oomori
Yutaka Nakayama	...	Ronin
Yasuzo Ogawa	...	Kisuke
Wataru Omae	...	Guard
Hiroshi Sekita	...	Ayzawa's vassal
Emiko Suzuki	...	Tomi
Haruo Suzuki	...	Banto
Chotaro Togin	...	Ronin

Also Known As:

Kill! (USA)

Runtime:

109 min | USA:115 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Joshu, Gunma, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Actor Yoshio Tsuchiya's character is his own actual ancestor, Matsuo Tsuchiya.

Quotes:

Ayuzama: A vagrant couldn't do all this.

Movie Connections:

Version of Tsubaki Sanjûrô (1962)

A truly rewarding samurai movie!

Nothing prepared me for the laughter and all-around entertainment offered by this film. The writer, director and actors manage to have fun with icons of Japanese society (e.g., a card shark priest, an honest bureaucrat who has never visited a brothel, a noble peasant, etc.,) while maintaining a good pace with the swordplay and forward movement of the story line. Nakadai is brilliant as the "been there, done that" samurai, who reveals much of the story's insanity to us through whispered comments and observations. Viewers might need a scorecard to keep track of all the double-crossing and back-firing that takes places, but Kiru is tremendous fun from beginning to end. And it's the only movie I've seen with the ugliest chicken in the world serving as a leitmotiv.