is a 1952 black-and-white

Japanese film The , also known domestically as , has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2022, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced, producing 634 fi ...

directed by

Kazuo Mori , also known by his street name , was a Japanese film director who primarily worked in popular genres like the jidaigeki. Mori directed over 100 films in his life. Career Born in Ehime Prefecture, Mori graduated from Kyoto University before join ...

made for

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

and starring

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor and producer. The recipient of numerous awards and accolades over a lengthy career, he is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time. He often played hypermasculine characters and was noted for his commandin ...

and

Takashi Shimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in '' Drunken Angel'' (1948), '' Rashomon'' (1950), '' Ikiru'' (1952) ...

. The script was written by

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 ...

Plot

Araki Mataemon (

), a renowned swordsman, helps a young man find vengeance, an event known as the Igagoe vendetta. The opening scene has Araki sternly accosting Jinza with a formal proclamation of vengeance for the killing of his family member. Jinza (

) cackles villainously and an epic fight commences. Just then a narrator breaks in to explain that this is a traditional version of the showdown at Kagiya Corner that has been told through the centuries which happened at the start of the 17th century. It is about a vendetta because of the killing of a family member, and the samurai connected with the family want revenge and Araki is one of the samurai who go looking for a showdown. The facts surrounding the vendetta have been expanded and distorted through the telling, and the villain Jinza was actually a noble man and the close friend of Mataemon Araki, whom he faces off against at Kagiya corner. The narrative returns to November 7, 1634, and Mataemon's party arrives at an inn on the site one hour before the fight will take place. As the men prepare for their ambush, we get a series of flashbacks filling in the backstory piece by piece.

Cast

as Araki Mataemon *

as Jinza *

Minoru Chiaki was a Japanese actor who appeared in eleven of Akira Kurosawa's films, including ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''Throne of Blood'', and ''The Hidden Fortress''. He was also one of Kon Ichikawa's favorite actors. He attended, but did not grad ...

as Matagoro *

Daisuke Katō was a Japanese actor. He appeared in over 200 films, including Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'', ''Rashomon'', ''Yojimbo'', and ''Ikiru''. He also worked repeatedly for noted directors such as Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi. ...

as Mago * Kokuten Kōdō as the Innkeeper * Bokuzen Hidari as Magoemon the elder * Toranosuke Ogawa as Buemon * Yuriko Hamada * Akihiko Katayama * Shin Tokudaiji

References

External links

* 1952 films 1950s Japanese-language films 1950s samurai films Films set in feudal Japan Films produced by Sōjirō Motoki Films directed by Kazuo Mori Toho films Films with screenplays by Akira Kurosawa Japanese black-and-white films 1950s Japanese films {{1950s-Japan-film-stub