Love and Honour (2006)

A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Kimura) and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.

Director:

Yôji Yamada

Writers:

Shûhei Fujisawa (novel), Yôji Yamada

Stars:

Takuya Kimura, Rei Dan, Mitsugorô Bandô

15 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Takuya Kimura	...	Shinnojo Mimura
Rei Dan	...	Kayo Mimura
Mitsugorô Bandô	...	Toya Shimada
Takashi Sasano	...	Tokuhei
Kaori Momoi	...	Ine Hatano
Nenji Kobayashi	...	Sakunosuke Higuchi
Ken Ogata	...	Shinnojo's fencing instructor
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Makoto Akatsuka
Toshiki Ayata	...	Kanjuro Takigawa
Z. Charles Bolton	...	Man B (voice)
Duncan Brannan	...	Hori / Senior Chief (voice)
Cole Brown	...	Sensei (voice)
Chris Burnett	...	Shinsuke (voice)
Colleen Clinkenbeard	...	Kayo Mimura (voice)
Justin Cook	...	Noge (voice)

Storyline

Shinnojo, a low level samurai, lives with his pretty, dutiful and loyal wife Kayo. He has come to find his position in a castle as a food-taster for a feudal lord to be boring and pointless, and talks about opening a kendo school open to boys of all castes where he can teach the use of the sword. Before he can act on his dream he becomes ill with a fever after tasting some sashimi made from shell fish, but an investigation reveals that the poisoning was not due to a human conspiracy, but a poor choice of food out of season. After three days he awakes but finds that the toxin from the food has blinded him. Kayo is summoned by Shinnojo's family to explain how the couple will survive. His uncle laments that he no longer knows anybody with influence in the castle, and asks Kayo if she knows of anybody. She relates how Toya Shimada, the chief duty officer in the castle and a samurai of high rank, offered to help and they tell her to act upon his offer of assistance. A message from the ...

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | being followed | warrior | jidai geki | based on novel | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the film it is mentioned repeatedly that the main character of Shinnojo Miura receives a yearly stipend of 30 koku. During the Edo period of Japan a koku was a unit of measure that had the equivalent of one year's worth of rice for a person (approx. 150 kg). For a samurai 30 koku was a small salary and Shinnojo was thus of a low level. Incidentally, the title character from another of Yôji Yamada's films The Twilight Samurai (2002) also receives a 30 koku stipend after having 20 koku deducted from his 50 koku salary to pay for his recently deceased wife's funeral.

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Goofs

It is not stated why, when blinded, he could not continue with his food tasting role, for which sight is not required.

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Quotes

Shinnojo Mimura: Be resolved you will both die. In that lies victory. Life lies in resolve for death.

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Connections

Follows The Twilight Samurai (2002)

User Reviews

Touching Samurai Story

Yoji Yamada's appropriately dubbed 'Love and Honor' is a samurai's story of just that; Takuya Kimura is Mimura, a samurai who is used to test food for poisoning by eating it in order to prevent the lord of his clan from being poisoned. Mimura becomes blind after being fed an off-season food that can become poisonous if not prepared properly. Unable to provide for himself, Mimura becomes suicidal. His loving wife Kayo declares her support for him, offering to follow him into death. Mimura is convinced to continue on living, but with Mimura unable to provide for he and his family, his wife is left to find a way to support them. In this classic tale of love and honor, follow a blind man's struggles to find peace of mind as he tries to follow his samurai code.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Official site [United States]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

2 November 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

武士的一分

Filming Locations:

Osaka, Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,234, 4 May 2008

Gross USA:

$60,910

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$33,755,574

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, J Dream

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min 121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1