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Samurai Assassin is a 1965 Japanese film directed by Kihachi Okamoto, starring Toshiro Mifune. It tells the story of Niiro Tsurichiyo, an illegitimate samurai who joins forces with multiple clans to assassinate Lord Ii Naosuke, the powerful right hand of the shogunate, in 1860 before the Meiji Restoration. The film is based on actual events involving the assassination of Ii Naosuke outside Edo Castle and inspired by a novel about samurai in Japan at that time. It was produced by Toho and Mifune Productions and released in Japan on January 3, 1965.

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81 views

Samurai Assassin: Jump To Navigation Jump To Search

Samurai Assassin is a 1965 Japanese film directed by Kihachi Okamoto, starring Toshiro Mifune. It tells the story of Niiro Tsurichiyo, an illegitimate samurai who joins forces with multiple clans to assassinate Lord Ii Naosuke, the powerful right hand of the shogunate, in 1860 before the Meiji Restoration. The film is based on actual events involving the assassination of Ii Naosuke outside Edo Castle and inspired by a novel about samurai in Japan at that time. It was produced by Toho and Mifune Productions and released in Japan on January 3, 1965.

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kevyn porras
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Samurai Assassin

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Samurai Assassin

Japanese film poster

Directed by Kihachi Okamoto

Screenplay by Shinobu Hashimoto

Based on Samurai Japan

by Jiromasa Gunji

 Tomoyuki Tanaka
Produced by
 Reiji Miwa[1]

Starring  Toshiro Mifune

 Keiju Kobayashi

 Michiyo Aratama

Cinematography Hiroshi Murai[1]

Edited by Yoshitami Kuroiwa[1]


Music by Masaru Sato[1]

Production  Toho
companies
 Mifune Productions[1]

Distributed by Toho

Release date  January 3, 1965 (Japan)

Running time 121 minutes[1]

Country Japan

Samurai Assassin (侍, Samurai) is a 1965 Japanese movie directed by Kihachi


Okamoto and starring Toshiro Mifune, Koshiro Matsumoto, Yūnosuke Itō,
and Michiyo Aratama.[2] Samurai Assassin is set in 1860, immediately before
the Meiji Restoration changed Japanese society forever by doing away with the
castes in society and reducing the position of the samurai class.[3]

Contents

 1Plot summary
 2Cast
 3Production
 4Release
 5Reception
 6See also
 7Footnotes
o 7.1References
 8External links

Plot summary[edit]
The film tells the story of Niiro Tsurichiyo (Mifune) as the illegitimate son of a
powerful nobleman, and the way of his life that made him a swordfighter but also a
social outcast. He joins forces with the multiple clans against the Lord of Hikone,
Sir Ii Kamonnokami Naosuke. Ii is the right hand of the shogunate and brought
upon himself the wrath of the Satsuma, Mito, and Choshuu provinces after making
an unpopular choice for the appointment of the 14th shogunate. Many critics arose
after the controversial appointment, and Ii initiated the Ansei Purge to quiet critics
of his choices. This, in turn, led to an assassination plot hatched by the three
provinces in order to remove Ii from his position of power. The shoguns also
weeding out Ii's spies from the plot. The film is based on a novel, which in turn was
inspired by the historical Sakuradamon incident, in which the feudal lord Ii
Naosuke was assassinated outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle.

Cast[edit]
 Toshiro Mifune - Tsuruchiyo Niiro
 Keiju Kobayashi - Einosuke Kurihara
 Michiyo Aratama - Okiku / Kikuhime
 Yūnosuke Itō - Kenmotsu Hoshino
 Eijirō Tōno - Masagoro Kisoya
 Tatsuyoshi Ehara - Ichigoro Hayama
 Tadao Nakamaru - Shigezo Inada
 Kaoru Yachigusa - Mitsu
 Haruko Sugimura - Tsuru
 Nami Tamura - Yae
 Shiro Otsuji - Kaname Kojima
 Toshio Kurosawa - Itamura Katsunoshin
 Yoshio Inaba - Keijiro Sumita
 Akihiko Hirata - Sohei Masui
 Hideyo Amamoto - Matazaburo Hagiwara
 Takashi Shimura - Narihisa Ichijō
 Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII - Ii Naosuke

Production[edit]
Samurai Assassin was a production of both Toho and Mifune Productions.[1] It is
based on the book Samurai Japan by Jiromasa Gunji.[1]

Release[edit]
Samurai Assassin was released in Japan on January 3, 1965.[1] The film was
released in the United States on March 18, 1965 where it was distributed by Toho
International.[1] The film's title was apparently changed from Samurai to Samurai
Assassin in the United States to avoid confusion with Hiroshi Inagaki's
film Samurai (Miyamoto Musashi) from 1954.[1]

Reception[edit]
In a contemporary review, "Robe." of Variety declared that samurai film was not
"superb" but "very good", noting that Toshiro Mifune and "the entire cast,
particularly the men, give excellent portrayals" and that Hiroshi Murai's "crisp black
and white photography is more effective in the outdoor, dead-of-winter panoramas
and fight scenes"[4]

See also[edit]
 Hitokiri

Footnotes[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k Galbraith IV 2008, p. 216.
2. ^ "侍".  Agency for Cultural Affairs  映画情報システム. Retrieved  2 November  2019.
3. ^ "侍".  Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
4. ^ Variety's Film Reviews 1964-1967. Vol.  11. R. R. Bowker. 1983. There are no page
numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "March 17, 1965".  ISBN  0-
8352-2790-1.

References[edit]
 Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008).  The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography.
Scarecrow Press.  ISBN  978-1461673743.

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