CHUSHINGURA (WIDESCREEN)

Details

• Release Year: 1963
• Genre: Action, Drama
• Plot: A young lord attempts to combat the corruption endemic to the Shogunate bureaucracy, only to be placed in an impossible conflict of duties. He refuses to pay the "customary" bribe expected by a Chancellor sent from the Shogunate to teach him the etiquette for receiving envoys from the Emperor. In revenge, the Chancellor goads the lord into drawing his sword when the envoys are present, a crime punishable by death. The young lord is forced to commit ritual suicide for this crime. His vassals are ordered to turn over their lords estate for confiscation, forbidden to take revenge for their lords death, then disbanded as a clan. To obey the Shogun, the lords former samurai must follow those orders, but to be loyal to oaths they swore to their lord and have justice, they must avenge him. This conflict of obligations is the primary dilemma in Japanese society, which is why this story is considered their national epic. The story is richly woven and the film worth seeing for the gorgeous art works, buildings, and costumes of 18th century Japan alone. Written by Mike O'Brien
• Cast: Yûzô Kayama, Tatsuya Mihashi, Akira Takarada, Yôsuke Natsuki, Makoto Satô, Tadao Takashima, Seizaburô Kawazu, Takashi Shimura, Daisuke Katô, Keiju Kobayashi, Ryô Ikebe, Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Reiko Dan, Yuriko Hoshi, Yumi Shirakawa, Kumi Mizuno, Mie Hama, Nami Tamura, Yôko Fujiyama, Junko Ikeuchi, Keiko Awaji, Mitsuko Kusabue, Michiyo Aratama, Hisaya Morishige, Furankî Sakai, Norihei Miki, Kingorô Yanagiya, Kiiton Masuda, Mutoshi Happa, Tôru Yuri, Toshiaki Minami, Kyû Sazanka, Ichirô Arishima, Hiroshi Koizumi, Yû Fujiki, Akira Kubo, Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Tatsuyoshi Ehara, Tadao Nakamaru, Sachio Sakai, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kamatari Fujiwara, Jun Tazaki, Susumu Fujita, Ken Uehara, Jun Funato, Kiyoshi Kodama, Hisaya Itô, Kôzô Nomura, Kô Mishima, Kunio Ôtsuka, Ren Yamamoto, Hideyo Amamoto, Nadao Kirino, Heihachirô Ôkawa, Shigeki Ishida, Akira Tani, Yoshifumi Tajima, Ikio Sawamura, Yoshio Kosugi, Sonomi Nakajima, Machiko Kitagawa, Keiko Yanagawa, Mieko Kurenai, Misako Asuka, Yaeko Izumo, Tsuruko Mano, Haruko Tôgô, Atsuko Ichinomiya, Chieko Nakakita, Ryôsuke Kagawa, Sôji Kiyokawa, Unpei Yokoyama, Haruyuki Katô, Yôji Misaki, Gen Shimizu, Jôtarô Togami, Sadako Sawamura, Kumeko Otowa, Teruko Mita, Noriko Sakabe, Naoko Sakabe, Shin Ôtomo, Yutaka Nakayama, Mitsuo Tsuda, Keiichirô Katsumoto, Hiroshi Akitsu, Haruo Suzuki, Jun Kuroki, Kôji Iwamoto, Yôichirô Kitagawa, Naoya Kusakawa, Akira Yamada, Junpei Natsuki, Kôichi Satô, Jirô Mitsuaki, Ichirô Chiba, Seiji Ikeda, Gorô Sakurai, Jun'ichirô Mukai, Hakuô Matsumoto, Kichiemon Nakamura, Matagorô Nakamura, Shikaku Nakamura, Komazô Ichikawa, Kichijûrô Nakamura, Danshirô Ichikawa, Ennosuke Ichikawa, Chûsha Ichikawa, Toshirô Mifune, Michael Higgins, Hiroshi Inagaki, Toshio Yasumi
• Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
• Runtime: 3:27
• Company: Image Entertainment
• Media Format: Movie