A new magistrate in the town of Horisoto—widely reputed to be the most lawless township in Japan, uses guile and his opponents' own misperceptions and prejudices to defeat his enemies and uproot corruption.
Acting
Koji Yakusho owns every frame with tipsy charisma.
Direction
Kon Ichikawa's final film, still razor-sharp at 85.
Writing
Forty years gestating—originally written in 1960.
Director
Kon Ichikawa
Koji Yakusho
Koheita Mochizuki
Yuko Asano
Yuko Kosei
Bunta Sugawara
Nadahachi on the Great River
Ryudo Uzaki
Yoshijuro Senba
Tsurutaro Kataoka
Yasukawa Hanzo
Saburo Ishikura
Tomoe no Taiju
Renji Ishibashi
Saibei of Tsugimachi
Tsuyoshi Ujiki
Katsunosuke Nakai
Isao Bitō
Rokuzaemon Ichikawa
Hideji Ōtaki
Imamura
Shigeru Kōyama
Ikki Honda
Takeshi Katō
Toneri Uchijima
Noboru Mitani
Masami Ochiai
Kyôko Kishida
Lady of the Sister Wind
Nekohachi Edoya
Mokubei
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kon Ichikawa wrote this screenplay in 1960 as part of the 'Four Musketeers' group with Kurosawa, Kobayashi, and Kinoshita. They all planned to direct one—only Ichikawa survived to make his.
The 'dora-heita' nickname derives from 'dorai' (dry/dried fish) and 'hei'—slang for a useless drunk, hiding his sharp mind behind regional prejudice against country bumpkins.
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