Japan, 1701. A group of samurai become rônin after their lord is forced to commit seppuku for assaulting a court official, who will become the target of a merciless revenge.
Direction
Watanabe stages suicide like sacred theater, unhurried and devastating.
Acting
Hasegawa's Ôishi: a man erasing himself for propriety's sake.
Production
Sets breathe 1701—every sliding door whispers of surveillance.
Director
Kunio Watanabe
Kazuo Hasegawa
Kuranosuke Ôishi
Yataro Kurokawa
Denpachirô Tamon
Michiyo Kogure
Dayû Ukihashi
Shintarō Katsu
Genzô Akagaki
Eitarō Ozawa
Hyôbu Chisaka
Takashi Shimura
Jûbei Ôtake
Koji Tsuruta
Kin'emon Okano
Osamu Takizawa
Kôzukenosuke Kira
Ayako Wakao
Orin, Carpenter's Daughter
Machiko Kyō
Orui, Spy
Chikage Awashima
Riku Ôishi
Keizō Kawasaki
Shinzaemon Katsuta
Raizō Ichikawa
Takuminokami Asano
Eiji Funakoshi
Tsunanori Uesugi
Fujiko Yamamoto
Yôsen'in
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the 16th filmed version of the Chūshingura tale; Japan treats this story like Americans treat Christmas Carol—inevitable, inexhaustible, slightly exhausting.
Shintarō Katsu plays Genzō here but would soon abandon samurai dignity entirely to create Zatoichi, the blind masseur gambler—a glorious career pivot.
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