Directed by:
Hiroshi InagakiScreenplay:
八住利雄Cinematography:
Kazuo YamadaCast:
Yûzô Kayama, Tatsuya Mihashi, Toshirō Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Setsuko Hara, Yōko Tsukasa, Mie Hama, Frankie Sakai, Norihei Miki, Kenji Sahara, Akira Kubo (more)Plots(1)
In March 1701 the era of Japan's great civil wars has been over for a century, but the samurai warrior class lingers on. The new young lord, Asano (Yuzo Kayama), from the fierce country domain of Ako gracefully accepts his initiation into state duties in the capital of Edo. But the old Grand Master of Ceremonies, Kira (Chusha Ichikawa), betrays him when Lord Asano refused to bribe him for his advice on official etiquette. Enraged and humiliated by Kira's merciless greed. Asano draws his sword in the Shogun's palace, a capital offense. Kira suffers only a slight wound, but gloats over the mock trial that condemns Asano to ritual harakiri suicide. Ako's lands are assigned to a new lord, and its warriors become ronin, masterless samurai, with nowhere to go and no ancestral lord to serve. The outrage lives on in their hearts, but they are forbidden to act, under pain of death. Chamberlain Oishi (Koshiro Matsumoto), Asano's wise and loyal chief retainer, calms the others and urges them to obey in silence, as their day of revenge will come. They wait for Oishi's word. The succeeding months of secret fury, humiliation, self-sacrifice, poverty and planning reveal the Japanese virtue of personal loyalty in all its glory. When the faithful 47 arrive at the snowy day to avenge their lord's honor, each individual personality, from the stoical Oishi to the hotheaded, hard-drinking Tawaraboshi (Toshiro Mifune) has become a symbol of the samurai spirit. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Yûzô Kayama
Japan
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Red Beard (1965)
Sanjuro (1962)
Tatsuya Mihashi
Japan
Best movies:
High and Low (1963)
The Burmese Harp (1956)
The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Toshirō Mifune
China
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Seven Samurai (1954)
High and Low (1963)
Takashi Shimura
Japan
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Asu o tsukuru hitobito (1946)
Setsuko Hara
Japan
Best movies:
Tokyo Twilight (1957)
Early Summer (1951)
Late Autumn (1960)
Yōko Tsukasa
Japan
Best movies:
Samurai Rebellion (1967)
Yojimbo (1961)
Late Autumn (1960)
Mie Hama
Japan
Best movies:
Scattered Clouds (1967)
47 Ronin (1962)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Frankie Sakai
Japan
Best movies:
Shogun (1980) (series)
47 Ronin (1962)
The Sun Legend of the End of the Tokugawa Era (1957)
Norihei Miki
Japan
Best movies:
Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi (1989)
Ballad of Narayama (1983)
47 Ronin (1962)
Kenji Sahara
Japan
Akira Kubo
Japan
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi (1989)
Sanjuro (1962)
Hiroshi Tachikawa
Japan
Best movies:
Sanjuro (1962)
Yojimbo (1961)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Kamatari Fujiwara
Japan
Best movies:
Tokyo Twilight (1957)
Seven Samurai (1954)
High and Low (1963)
Susumu Fujita
Japan
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Asu o tsukuru hitobito (1946)
High and Low (1963)
Kiyoshi Kodama
Japan
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
47 Ronin (1962)
Steamboy (2004)
Chieko Nakakita
Best movies:
Asu o tsukuru hitobito (1946)
Early Spring (1956)
The Rickshaw Man (1958)
Michiyo Aratama
Japan
Best movies:
Daisuke Katō
Japan
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Yojimbo (1961)
中村吉右衛門
Japan
Best movies:
Revenge of the Pomegranate Tree Hill (2014)
The River Fuefuki (1960)
47 Ronin (1962)
Reiko Dan
Japan
Best movies:
Red Beard (1965)
Sanjuro (1962)
Fort Graveyard (1965)