Hitokiri (1969)

Izo Okada, a ronin (masterless samurai), desperately seeks a way out of his financial straits. He allies himself with the Tosa clan under the ruthless leader, Takechi, and imagines that he ... See full summary »

Director:

Hideo Gosha

Writers:

Ryotaro Shiba (based on the novel by), Shinobu Hashimoto (screenplay)

Stars:

Shintarô Katsu, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yukio Mishima

Cast

Credited cast:
Shintarô Katsu	...	Izo Okada
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Hampeita Takechi
Yukio Mishima	...	Shimbei Tanaka
Yûjirô Ishihara	...	Ryoma Sakamoto
Mitsuko Baishô	...	Onimo
Takumi Shinjo	...	Minakawa
Noboru Nakaya	...	Kintoki Anegakoji
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Saburô Date	...	Ronin patrol leader
Ren Fukuyama
Kin'ichi Hagimoto
Ken Hatano
Sôtarô Ibuki
Natsuko Kahara	...	Otaki
Ichirô Nakatani
Shôgen Nitta

Storyline

Izo Okada, a ronin (masterless samurai), desperately seeks a way out of his financial straits. He allies himself with the Tosa clan under the ruthless leader, Takechi, and imagines that he has come up in the world. But Takechi makes Izo a killer and a puppet, filled with self-loathing and a need to stop Takechi.

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | assassination | meiji ishin | japan | japanese history | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

February 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tenchu!

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fuji Television Network, Katsu Production Co. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Izo (2004)

User Reviews

Block-Headed Assassin!!!

Hitokiri or Tenchu! (1969) is a very entertaining Samurai movie with an extraordinary central performance by Shintarô Katsu as a block-headed assassin.

Although Izo Okada as played by Shintarô Katsu is a ruthless killer, his performance is very sympathetic and surprisingly moving.

A particular scene where Izo is hopelessly drunk and allows his self-pity and hurt to overwhelm him, is superbly performed.

Shintarô Katsu also plays the character of Izo as a dim-witted block-head. He does not try to subvert the character by allowing his actor's ego to possibly inject some false notes.

Shintarô Katsu is an amazing actor. He is almost chameleon-like, as each character he inhabits differs so greatly from the next. Whether playing Hanzo 'The Razor' or Zatôichi, the Blind Masseur Ichi, he is utterly convincing.

This is a great movie and highly recommended if you are a fan of the Samurai genre or not.