Synopsis
The tragic, yet exciting story of the friendship between Nakayama Yasubei, a member of the 47 Ronin, and Tange Tenzen, a relative by marriage of the vile Lord Kira. Remake of Hakuôki AKA Samurai Vendetta (1959).
1969 ‘秘剣破り’ Directed by Kazuo Ikehiro
The tragic, yet exciting story of the friendship between Nakayama Yasubei, a member of the 47 Ronin, and Tange Tenzen, a relative by marriage of the vile Lord Kira. Remake of Hakuôki AKA Samurai Vendetta (1959).
Hiroki Matsukata Kōjirō Hongō Tomomi Iwai Shigeru Tsuyuguchi Yoshihiko Aoyama Yoshi Katō Tatsuo Matsumura Naomi Kobayashi Akane Kawasaki Ryūtarō Gomi Yoshio Inaba Akitake Kôno Jutarō Hojo Toranosuke Tennoji Yūzō Hayakawa Yasuyo Matsumura Gen Kimura Takeshi Date Tatsuo Hanabu Shinzo Hotta Ichiro Yamamoto Yūsaku Terashima Shōsaku Sugiyama Chikara Hashimoto Ikuko Mōri Teruko Omi Seishirō Hara Kimiko Tachibana Yūji Hamada Show All…
An odd hybrid of old fashioned, pre-Yojimbo, honourable samurai being self-defeatingly honourable storytelling (it's a remake of 'Samurai Vendetta' from 1959) and late-60s Daiei stylisation - classical balance and restraint, regularly elbowed aside by pulpy excess - courtesy of two genre veterans, director Kazuo Ikehiro and cinematographer Chikashi Makiura. There's an impressively staged, wintry climax that approaches Chang Cheh levels of machochism (minus the homoeroticism).