is a 2000 Japanese film by Director

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...

. It was the 74th film made by Ichikawa.

Plot

A new magistrate (played by Kōji Yakusho) 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.

Cast

* Kōji Yakusho * Yuko Asano *

Bunta Sugawara was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 200 feature films. Dropping out of Waseda University, he worked as a model before entering the film industry in 1956. After years of work, Sugawara finally established himself as a famous actor at the ...

* Ryudo Uzaki * Tsurutaro Kataoka * Hirotarō Honda as Denkichi *

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over 100 feature film, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films span a variety of different genres, ranging from violent and surrealism, b ...

Production

The film was planned and written by the Yonki-no-kai, a group of four of Japan's most notable directors:

Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy '' The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology '' Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Sen ...

Keisuke Kinoshita was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and ...

, and

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

in 1969. The commercial failure of ''

Dodes'ka-den is a 1970 Japanese drama film directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, Toshiyuki Tonomura, and Shinsuke Minami. It is based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's 1962 novel ''A City Without Seasons'' and is about a group of homeles ...

'' meant that funds were not available for filming ''Dora-heita''. Many years later, after the deaths of the other three partners, Ichikawa was able to produce the film. The film includes cinematography by Yukio Isohata and a musical score by Kensaku Tanikawa. The film was screened at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

in 2000 and the Japanese Film Festival. cinema.com.my: Features - 10 movies lined up for Japanese Film Festival 2008
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Reception

'' Variety'' gave a mixed review and said the film lacks energy and muscularity of samurai classics of the 1950s and 60s but noted the solid production, efficient camerawork, and striking musical score. '' The Times Online'' called it "a witty, mellow period film".

References

External links

* {{Kon Ichikawa 2000 films 2000s Japanese-language films 2000s samurai films Japanese historical adventure films Films directed by Kon Ichikawa Films with screenplays by Akira Kurosawa Films with screenplays by Keisuke Kinoshita Films with screenplays by Kon Ichikawa Films with screenplays by Masaki Kobayashi Nikkatsu films Toho films Films based on Japanese novels Films based on works by Shūgorō Yamamoto