Sword of the Beast
Encyclopedia
is a 1965 jidaigeki
film co-written and directed by Hideo Gosha
. Set in 1857 at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate
, the story follows a fugitive samurai
who's killed a counselor in his clan, to a mountain where he meets another samurai who is poaching gold.
As Gennosuke flees, he is given refuge by a poor farmer named Gundayu. Knowing the Gennosuke is a skilled swordsman, Gundayu makes the fugitive his partner in a scheme to poach gold from the shogun
's mountain. Doing so is dangerous, because of the presence of bandits and other poachers in the area, as well as the risk of being caught by the shogun's authorities and sentenced to death.
On the mountain, Gennosuke discovers another samurai, Jurota Yamane and his wife Taka, who are stealing gold as part of a mission for their clan. It is eventually revealed that Jurota's clan is going to betray him and kill him and his wife after they have the gold. On hearing this Gennosuke is reminded of his own betrayal by the high-ranking men of his own clan. He decides to help Jurota and Taka instead of leaving the mountain for safety. Daizaburo and Misa catch up to Gennosuke as he is making this decision and follow him to the scene of the climactic battle.
Gennosuke finds Jurota and Taka, but too late to stop their murder by their own clan. Instead he takes revenge of the gathered clansmen and mercenaries. After the battle is won, Daizaburo and Misa see the hypocrisy of the clan system mirrored in Gennosuke's situation and rescind their vendetta allowing Gennosuke to leave without a fight.
Jidaigeki
is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...
film co-written and directed by Hideo Gosha
Hideo Gosha
was a Japanese film director.Among his most famous films are Goyokin and Hitokiri, released in 1969, and The Wolves, released in 1971. His most famous film in the West is Sword of the Beast, released by Criterion....
. Set in 1857 at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
, the story follows a fugitive samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
who's killed a counselor in his clan, to a mountain where he meets another samurai who is poaching gold.
Plot
Gennosuke is a rebel samurai on the run, having fled his clan after assassinating a counselor. The daughter of the counselor, Misa, and her fiance, Daizaburo, pursue Gennosuke along with other samurai from Gennosuke's clan despite Gennosuke's obvious superiority as a warrior. A series of flashbacks reveals that Gennosuke was manipulated into committing the treason by one of the clan's higher-ranking samurai, who led Gennosuke to believe that the counselor's death would result in modern reforms to the clan and in Gennosuke's promotion to a full-fledged retainer, instead of a lowly foot soldier. In fact, the ranking samurai simply wanted the counselor killed so that he could succeed to the position himself. He had used Gennosuke to do the "dirty work", and then abandoned Gennosuke to face the consequences of the crime.As Gennosuke flees, he is given refuge by a poor farmer named Gundayu. Knowing the Gennosuke is a skilled swordsman, Gundayu makes the fugitive his partner in a scheme to poach gold from the shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
's mountain. Doing so is dangerous, because of the presence of bandits and other poachers in the area, as well as the risk of being caught by the shogun's authorities and sentenced to death.
On the mountain, Gennosuke discovers another samurai, Jurota Yamane and his wife Taka, who are stealing gold as part of a mission for their clan. It is eventually revealed that Jurota's clan is going to betray him and kill him and his wife after they have the gold. On hearing this Gennosuke is reminded of his own betrayal by the high-ranking men of his own clan. He decides to help Jurota and Taka instead of leaving the mountain for safety. Daizaburo and Misa catch up to Gennosuke as he is making this decision and follow him to the scene of the climactic battle.
Gennosuke finds Jurota and Taka, but too late to stop their murder by their own clan. Instead he takes revenge of the gathered clansmen and mercenaries. After the battle is won, Daizaburo and Misa see the hypocrisy of the clan system mirrored in Gennosuke's situation and rescind their vendetta allowing Gennosuke to leave without a fight.
Cast
- Mikijiro Hira as Gennosuke
- Toshie Kimura as Misa
- Kantaro SugaKantarō Suga, was a leading Japanese actor. His film credits span three decades, from 1960 to 1990. One of his prominent appearances was in the lead role in Pastoral: To Die in the Country...
as Daizaburo - Takeshi KatoTakeshi Katowas a Japanese gymnast and Olympic champion.-Olympics:Kato competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City where he received a gold medal in team combined exercises, and a bronze medal in floor exercise....
as Gundayu - Go KatoGo KatoGo Kato was born February 4, 1938, in Omaezaki, Shizuoka, Japan. He is a Japanese entertainer, and actor.-TV Dramas:*Sosa Kenji Ukon Makoto no Satsujin Chosho...
as Jurata Yamane - Shima Iwashita as Taka
External links
- Criterion Collection essay by Patrick Macias
- Criterion Collection essay by Chris D. Sword of the Beast at the Japanese Movie Database