Samurai Banners

Samurai Banners
Samurai Banners
Directed by	Hiroshi Inagaki
Screenplay by	Shinobu Hashimoto; Takeo Kunihiro;
Based on	Furin kazan; by Yasushi Inoue
Produced by	Toshiro Mifune; Tomoyuki Tanaka; Yoshio Nishikawa; Hiroshi Inagaki;
Starring	Toshiro Mifune; Yoshiko Sakuma; Nakamura Kinnosuke; Yūjirō Ishihara;
Cinematography	Kazuo Yamada
Edited by	Yoshihiro Araki
Music by	Masaru Sato
Production; company	Mifune Productions
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	1 February 1969 (Japan);
Running time	165 minutes
Country	Japan

Samurai Banners (Japanese: 風林火山, Hepburn: Fūrin Kazan) is a Japanese samurai drama film released in 1969. It was directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and is based on the novel Furin kazan by Yasushi Inoue.^[1]^[3]

Plot[edit]

Yamamoto Kansuke (Toshiro Mifune) is a general of warlord Takeda Shingen (Nakamura Kinnosuke), whose titular red banners are his trademark.^[4] 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[edit]

Release[edit]

Samurai Banners received a roadshow release in Japan by Toho on 1 February 1969.^[2] It received a wide release in Japan on 1 March 1969.^[2] The film was Toho's top-grossing film of the year and the top-grossing film among domestic releases in Japan in 1969.^[2]

The film was released in the United States by Toho International under the title Under the Banner of the Samurai on June 24, 1969.^[2] It was later released to home video as Samurai Banners.^[2]

Reception[edit]

"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."^[5] 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."^[5]

References[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Galbraith IV 2008, p. 255.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Galbraith IV 2008, p. 256.
^ "風林火山". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
^ Galloway, Patrick (2005). Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves: The Samurai Film Handbook. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. pp. 134–137. ISBN 1-880656-93-0.
^ ^a ^b Variety's Film Reviews 1968-1970. Vol. 12. R. R. Bowker. 1983. There are no page numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "July 30, 1969". ISBN 0-8352-2792-8.

Sources[edit]

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743. Retrieved October 29, 2013.

External links[edit]

Samurai Banners at IMDb

This article related to a Japanese film of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[FOOTNOTEGalbraith_IV2008255-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Galbraith IV 2008, p. 255.

[FOOTNOTEGalbraith_IV2008256-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Galbraith IV 2008, p. 256.

[3] "風林火山". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

[4] Galloway, Patrick (2005). Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves: The Samurai Film Handbook. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. pp. 134–137. ISBN 1-880656-93-0.

[variety-book-5] Variety's Film Reviews 1968-1970. Vol. 12. R. R. Bowker. 1983. There are no page numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "July 30, 1969". ISBN 0-8352-2792-8.

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