is a Japanese samurai drama film released in 1969. It was directed by

Hiroshi Inagaki was a Japanese filmmaker best remembered for the Academy Award-winning '' Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto'', which was released in 1954. Career Born in Tokyo as the son of a shinpa actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining ...

and is based on the novel ''Furin kazan'' by Yasushi Inoue.

Plot

Yamamoto Kansuke (

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as '' Rashomon'', '' Seven Samurai'', '' The Hidden Fortress'', '' Throne of Blood'', a ...

) is a general of warlord

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful Daimyo, daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of ...

( Nakamura Kinnosuke), whose titular red banners are his trademark. Yamamoto has a ruthless but effective approach to battle and politics, and advises Takeda Shingen on almost everything he does, including the assassination of Suwa Yorishige ( Akihiko Hirata). Of Lord Suwa's household, Princess Yu (Yoshiko Sakuma) refuses to commit suicide, and the film comes to center on a love triangle between the lord, his general, and the princess. The film ends with the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima, in which Yamamoto erroneously believes his battle tactics have failed and commits a pincer attack, but is killed in action before the battle is won.

Cast

– Kansuke Yamamoto * Yoshiko Sakuma – Princess Yuu * Nakamura Kinnosuke –

Shingen Takeda , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

* Yujiro Ishihara –

Kenshin Uesugi , later known as was a Japanese '' daimyō''. He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Know ...

* Katsuo Nakamura – Nobusato Itagaki * Nakamura Kankurō V – Katsuyori Takeda * Kan'emon Nakamura – Nobukata Itagaki * Masakazu Tamura – Nobushige Takeda * Mayumi Ozora – Princess Okoto * Masao Shimizu : Yokota Takamatsu *

Ryūnosuke Tsukigata was a Japanese actor known especially for his work in jidaigeki in film and television. His real name was Kiyoto Monden. Career Born in Miyagi Prefecture, Tsukigata entered the actor's school at Nikkatsu in 1920, but earned his first starring ro ...

: Kasahara Kiyoshige * Akihiko Hirata : Yorishige Suwa * Ryosuke Kagawa : Nagasaka Yorihiro * Yoshiko Kuga : Dame Sanjō * Sachio Sakai : Yamagata Masakage * Akira Kubo : Baba Nobuharu *

Yoshio Tsuchiya was a Japanese actor who appeared in such films as Toshio Matsumoto's surreal ''Bara No Soretsu'' (a.k.a. ''Funeral Parade of Roses'') and Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'' (as the firebrand farmer Rikichi) and ''Red Beard'', and Kihachi Okamot ...

Tsuchiya Masatsugu was Japanese samurai warrior in the Sengoku period. he is known as one of the " Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". In 1573, he fought at Battle of Mikatagahara againts Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1575, he was killed at the Battle of Nagashino ...

* Takashi Shimura – Toramasa Obu * Ken Ogata : Hatanaka

Release

''Samurai Banners'' received a

roadshow release Roadshow theatrical release is a practice in which a film opened in a limited number of theaters in large cities. Road show or Road Show may also refer to: *'' Antiques Roadshow'', a BBC TV series where antiques specialist travel around the count ...

in Japan by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the produc ...

on 1 February 1969. It received a wide release in Japan on 1 March 1969. The film was Toho's top-grossing film of the year and the top-grossing film among domestic releases in Japan in 1969. The film was released in the United States by Toho International under the title ''Under the Banner of the Samurai'' on June 24, 1969. It was later released to home video as ''Samurai Banners''.

Reception

"Mosk." of '' Variety'' found that "even Mifune's unique presence fails to give this many new twists and provide dynamic stature or the poetic insights that marked some earlier Japanese films of this genre." The review concluded that "Mifune is spectacular as usual if the film's surface prettiness and melodramatic flourishes, without the deeper classic flair and rightness to make this more than a florid actioner, limit its art potential."

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* 1969 films Films directed by Hiroshi Inagaki Jidaigeki films Samurai films Films with screenplays by Shinobu Hashimoto Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka Films scored by Masaru Sato Films produced by Toshiro Mifune Films set in the 16th century Cultural depictions of Takeda Shingen Cultural depictions of Uesugi Kenshin 1960s Japanese films {{1960s-Japan-film-stub