The Fall of Ako Castle
- October 28, 1978 (1978-10-28)
The Fall of Ako Castle (赤穂城断絶, Akō-jō danzetsu) is a 1978 Japanese historical martial arts period film directed by Kinji Fukasaku.[1] It depicts the story of the forty-seven Ronin (Chūshingura). The film is one of a series of period films by Fukasaku starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke, including Shogun's Samurai.[2][3] The film received one nomination for the Award of the Japanese Academy for best cinematography.[4][5]
Plot
Lord Tsunayoshi of the Tokugawa shogunate strips 48 samurai of their assets, but they are afraid to resist and nevertheless attend a ceremony where he is presented with the Imperial Sword. Enraged by insults from the court official Kira, Asano draws his sword but is prevented from killing him. Asano is sentenced to seppuku, his land and property are seized by the shogunate, and the Asano name is abolished. Several disciples of Asano, upset about the one-sided verdict, vow to return to Edo to take vengeance on Kira. They wait a year for an opportune time to make their move.
Kira retires and Tsunayoshi's follower Lord Yanagisawa sends Kira to Yonezawa. Hashimoto and Horibe of the Asano clan hastily choose to ambush him en route against orders but are stopped by spies and other members of their clan and Hashimoto is injured. Yanagisawa dispatches three criminals to kill Oishi, the only perceived threat. Oishi divorces his wife and sends her and their younger children to her father's home but keeps his eldest son and heir Chikara with him. The three attackers enter Oishi's house and attack but the ronin Fuwa, who is living in the woods near his former master Oishi's home, intervenes and kills them, saving Oishi and Chikara.
Lord Kira's attendant Kobayashi Heihachiro attempts to slay Oishi but kills a different man who happens to be sleeping in his room. Kobayashi visits Hashimoto, who is unable to work due to his leg injury, forcing his wife into prostitution. Kobayashi offers him 50 ryo to reveal the location of Oishi. Hashimoto refuses and attacks with his sword but is overpowered. Kobayashi leaves the money and says that he already knows that Oishi is in Edo.
When Kira goes to the Uesugi mansion in Sakurada, Oishi tells the clan that the raid will take place the following night. Jujiro delivers the message to Hashimoto, who is now unable to fight and angrily draws his sword on his fellow clan member delivering the message. His wife stabs him in an attempt to stop him and he kills her as well, proclaiming that it is Oishi's fault for waiting too long, then he kills himself. Jujiro brings their infant daughter to Oishi.
The Ako warriors descend on an inn where Kira is sleeping following a tea ceremony. Fuwa defeats Kobayashi after a long battle, then they search the house for those who are hiding. Kira is found and they blow a whistle to summon Oishi, who kills him. Asano's wife is told of their success and she is overcome with regret that 47 ronin have now sacrificed themselves for one man. Yanagisawa views their act as an attack on the infallibility of the shogunate and sentences them all to seppuku but the shogunate also abolishes the name Kira.
Cast
- Yorozuya Kinnosuke as Ōishi Kuranosuke
- Sonny Chiba as Fuwa Kazuemon
- Tsunehiko Watase as Kobayashi Heihachiro
- Masaomi Kondo as Hashimoto Heizaemon
- Toshiro Mifune as Tsuchiya Michinao
- Kyōko Enami as Ukibashi
- Mitsuteru Nakamura as Date Muratoyo
- Shinsuke Mikimoto as Tsuchiya Masanao
- Teruhiko Saigō as Asano Takumi no Kami
- Nobuo Kaneko as Kira Kōzukenosuke
- Hiroki Matsukata as Denhachiro Tamon
- Yoshiko Mita as Yozeiin
- Mariko Okada as Ōishi Riku
- Sanae Nakahara as Todano Tsubone
- Ken Nishida as Asano Daigaku
- Junkichi Orimoto as Izeki Tokubei
- Kyoko Enami as Ukihashi
- Jun Fujimaki as Okajima
- Runtarō Mine as Hayami Toemon
- Toru Minegishi as Horibe Yasubei
- Minori Terada as Otaka Gengo
- Ryosuke Kagawa as Uchikawa Magozaemon
- Naruse Masashi as Okano Kingoemon
- Yoshirō Aoki as Ueda Mondo
- Tatsuo Endō as Yoshida Chuzaemon
- Mieko Harada as Hatsune Hatsu
- Kensaku Morita as Hazama Jujirō
- Ryo Tamura as Uesugi Noritsuna
- Hiroshi Miyauchi as Kayano Sanppie
- Seizo Fukumoto as Spy
- Takuya Fujioka as Ōno Kurobei
- Go Wakabayashi as Araki
- Hideji Otaki
- Mikio Narita as Katō Etchu
- Tetsurō Tamba as Yanagisawa
See also
References
- ^ "The Fall of Ako Castle". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- ^ "深作欣二「千葉ちゃん、ウソって観客に思わせたら負け」". asageiplus. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ "千葉真一、深作欣二の初時代劇の教えに感謝". asageiplus. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077135/awards [user-generated source]
- ^ "The Fall of Ako Castle". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
External links
- The Fall of Ako Castle at IMDb
- v
- t
- e
- Drifting Detective: Tragedy in the Red Valley (1961)
- Drifting Detective: Black Wind in the Harbor (1961)
- Hepcat in the Funky Hat (1961)
- Hepcat in the Funky Hat: The 20,000,000 Yen Arm (1961)
- High Noon for Gangsters (1961)
- The Proud Challenge (1962)
- Gang vs. G-Men (1962)
- League of Gangsters (1963)
- Jakoman and Tetsu (1964)
- Wolves, Pigs and Men (1964)
- The Threat (1966)
- Kamikaze Man: Duel at Noon (1966)
- Rampaging Dragon of the North (1966)
- Ceremony of Disbanding (1967)
- Gambler's Farewell (1968)
- Black Lizard (1968)
- Blackmail Is My Life (1968)
- The Green Slime (1968)
- Black Rose Mansion (1969)
- Japan Organized Crime Boss (1969)
- Bloodstained Clan Honor (1970)
- If You Were Young: Rage (1970)
- Tora! Tora! Tora! (with Richard Fleischer and Toshio Masuda, 1970)
- Sympathy for the Underdog (1971)
- Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)
- Street Mobster (1972)
- Outlaw Killers: Three Mad Dog Brothers (1972)
- Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973)
- Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973)
- Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War (1973)
- Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics (1974)
- Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode (1974)
- New Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1974)
- Graveyard of Honor (1975)
- Cops vs. Thugs (1975)
- Cross the Rubicon! (1975)
- New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Boss's Head (1975)
- Violent Panic: The Big Crash (1976)
- New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Last Days of the Boss (1976)
- Yakuza Graveyard (1976)
- Hokuriku Proxy War (1977)
- Doberman Cop (1977)
- Shogun's Samurai (1978)
- Message from Space (1978)
- The Fall of Ako Castle (1978)
- Virus (1980)
- The Gate of Youth (1981)
- Samurai Reincarnation (1981)
- Dotonbori River (1982)
- Fall Guy (1982)
- Theater of Life (1983)
- Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983)
- Shanghai Rhapsody (1984)
- House on Fire (1986)
- Sure Death 4: Revenge (1987)
- A Chaos of Flowers (1988)
- The Triple Cross (1992)
- Crest of Betrayal (1994)
- The Abe Clan (1995)
- The Geisha House (1998)
- Battle Royale (2000)
- Battle Royale II: Requiem (2003)