Goyôkin (1969)

A guilt-haunted samurai warrior attempts to stop a massacre taking place.

Director:

Hideo Gosha

Writers:

Kei Tasaka, Hideo Gosha

Stars:

Tatsuya Nakadai, Tetsurô Tanba, Yôko Tsukasa

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Magobei Wakizaka
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Rokugo Tatewaki
Yôko Tsukasa	...	Shino
Ruriko Asaoka	...	Oriha
Kunie Tanaka	...	Hirosuke
Isao Natsuyagi	...	Kunai
Kô Nishimura
Eijirô Tôno
Ben Hiura	...	Rokuzo
Susumu Kurobe	...	Omura Sobee
Hisashi Igawa	...	Takeuchi Shinjiro
Fujio Tokita
Shinnosuke Ogata	...	Miyauchi Hanzo
Shôji Ôki
Yoshitarô Asawaka

Storyline

Tatsuya Nakadai plays a samurai overcome with guilt over his unwitting part in a massacre of a small village. Now a ronin, he learns of a scheme by his old clan to repeat the same crime. determined to stop them, he endures great hardships in an attempt to atone for his earlier mistakes.

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Plot Keywords:

massacre | samurai | japan | fire | gold | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

6 September 1971 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Steel Edge of Revenge

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fuji Television Network, Tokyo Eiga Co Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first Japanese feature film in Panavision.

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Connections

Remade as The Master Gunfighter (1975)

User Reviews

Absolutely gorgeous images that stay with you forever!

I saw this film in the late 1970s. It was called "Goyekin - The Emperor's Gold". As I watched our guilt-ridden hero return to fulfill his promise, really a threat, to punish his family if they repeated their crime. I still see the image of him striding along the beach with a conical hat pulled low. The shadow on his face made his eyes glow under the hat and the shot was taken with a telephoto through wispy beach grass. Completely memorable. Then the scene in the forest with the horsemen riding through. It looked like an ancient Japanese painting with hazy colors and an other-worldliness that was amazing. Then the concluding duel in the snow. Two brilliantly attired samurai dueling in a pure white, glistening environment. So many great images from one film!

The film itself is a pretty typical revenge film with some twists. When Tom Laughlin tried to redo it as a Mexican western,"The Master Gunfighter", it just fell flat. But the samurai movie has an entertaining plot and good action characters with beautiful settings. I think this film is a special case of cinematographic excellence. See it and enjoy the beauty.