Vendetta for a Samurai

Vendetta of a Samurai
Directed by Kazuo Mori
Produced by Sôjirô Motoki
Written by Akira Kurosawa
Starring Takashi Shimura
Toshiro Mifune
Cinematography Taiichi Kankura
Distributed by Toho Film Distributing Co. Ltd.
Release dates
 January 3, 1952[1]
Running time
 82 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Vendetta of a Samurai (荒木又右衛門 決闘鍵屋の辻 Araki Mataemon: Kettō kagiya no tsuji) is a 1952 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Kazuo Mori made for Toho and starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. The script was written by Akira Kurosawa.

Plot

Mataemon Araki (Toshiro Mifune), a renowned swordsman, helps a young man find vengeance. The opening scene has Araki sternly accosting Jinza with a formal proclamation of vengeance for the killing of his family member. Jinza (Takashi Shimura) 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

The screenplay is by Akira Kurosawa and the cast features four of the Seven Samurai, plus a couple of the familiar supporting actors from that 1954 masterpiece.

References

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