The Samurai Film
Adopted from the book The Samurai Film by Alain Silver [2006 Expanded & Revised edition]
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- DirectorTokuzô TanakaStarsRaizô IchikawaTamao NakamuraShinobu ArakiNemuri Kyoshiro, a youthful and cynical ronin with unparalleled skill, is approached by both sides in a game of corruption, ambition, and double crosses. The leader of the Kaga clan, who thinks he has killed his smuggling partner, fears that the shogunate will discover his illegal activities. He learns of evidence that will prove his guilt. Meanwhile, his partner is not dead, and, assisted by a master of Shorenji boxing, is looking for revenge and for his loot. The Kaga leader sends the beautiful Chisa to enlist Nemuri's aid. The unexpected happens: the hard-bitten Nemuri falls in love. Can he protect her, topple the criminals, and avoid the boxer's deadly skill?
- DirectorKenji MisumiStarsRaizô IchikawaKôichi AiharaSan'emon ArashiThe orphan swordsman wanders into a town and stumbles upon the opportunity to do righteous deeds. He finds a larger plot is afoot with a corrupt court system, a well meaning public servant and lots of danger for all involved.
- DirectorKimiyoshi YasudaStarsRaizô IchikawaKyôko AzumaRyônosuke AzumaThe shogun's illegitimate son decapitates a peasant which draws in nomadic Nemuri Kyoshiro into more sword-fighting adventures when he's blamed for the beheading.
- DirectorKazuo IkehiroStarsRaizô IchikawaMichiko AiAkira AmemiyaThis film of the sleepy-eyed ronin series has the quite reluctant hero refuse to come to the assistance of a Japanese Christian in an age of both proselytizing and persecution, but later come around and render the services of his sword following a series of events, with the involvement of a malevolent princess, that lay to bare hypocrisy in many forms.
- DirectorKenji MisumiStarsRaizô IchikawaTamao NakamuraMichiko SugataThis film of the sleepy-eyed ronin series has the red-haired swordsman on his way to the city of Edo when he comes across the scene of a woman in the midst of a knife fight with a man. When he reluctantly and with considered hesitation becomes involved, his intervention has him involved in a thieving plot involving the top official of the local Todo Clan and a plan to cover up a theft from a band of pirates.
- DirectorTokuzô TanakaStarsRaizô IchikawaMiwa TakadaYaeko MizutaniTwo devious retainers are competing to take control of a fief when the current Lord dies, but involving Kyoshiro in the conflict against his will is a bad idea.
- DirectorKazuo IkehiroStarsRaizô IchikawaNaoko KuboShiho FujimuraJust when you think Kyoshiro's life can't get any stranger, someone starts running around raping and murdering, and leaving notes proudly proclaiming that he did it. Tracking down the real culprit willtake him along a twisted trail that involves the Shogun's harem, hidden christians, and positively pregnant politics.
- DirectorKimiyoshi YasudaStarsRaizô IchikawaMichiko SagaMachiko HasegawaTsurumatsu, a young boy, is supposed to be a new Lord but he's not really interested, he would rather be a carpenter. So he gets kidnapped and it's up to Nemuri Kyoshiro to save him.
- DirectorAkira InoueStarsRaizô IchikawaYaeko MizutaniIchirô NakataniPrincess Kiku, Shogun's daughter, wants revenge on Nemuri Kyoshiro for embarrassing her.
- DirectorKenji MisumiStarsRaizô IchikawaShigeru AmachiShiho FujimuraThe hero avenges a band of samurai whose master was unceremoniously assassinated for seeking justice and better conditions for the citizens. The city shall burn for the elite's greed.
- DirectorKazuo IkehiroStarsRaizô IchikawaNobuo KanekoToshio KimuraThis film of the sleepy-eyed ronin series has the hero talked into escorting a precious religious artifact to Kyoto, Japan. A sect of Christian swordsmen are lying in wait to steal the statuette. What does it take for the reluctant man to accept the assignment? Why, enjoying the company of a virgin daughter of course.
- DirectorKimiyoshi YasudaStarsRaizô IchikawaMako MidoriMaka SarijoOur anti-hero discovers locals who are oppressed, held captive against their will. For the swordsman to succeed, he first must wade through traps and assassins, and a few seductive maidens.
- DirectorHisatora KumagaiStarsChôjûrô KawarasakiKan'emon NakamuraShizue YamagishiJidai-geki surprisingly critical of bushido codes and practice of seppuku (aka hara-kiri). Yaichiemon Abe, denied permission to commit ritual suicide with more than a dozen vassals to Lord Hosokawa, commits suicide anyway, which in turn brings ruin upon his survivors, who are punished for misdeed.
- DirectorTakashi KoizumiStarsAkira TeraoYoshiko MiyazakiShirô MifuneDuring a downpour, a generous ronin and his supporting wife are stranded at a country inn. The ronin comes to the attention of a lord who wants to hire him as an instructor for his men, who treat the ronin with disrespect.
- DirectorHiroyuki NakanoStarsMasanobu AndôMegumi OkinaKumiko AsôA love triangle blooms between a team of three ninjas before tragedy strikes and forces them to reassess their clan's principles.
- DirectorKihachi OkamotoStarsToshirô MifuneShima IwashitaEtsushi TakahashiImpersonating an Imperial Army officer by wearing a "red lion's mane", a poor servant returns to his village after 10 years of absence to end the village's suffering caused by corrupt officials and businessmen.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneYûzô KayamaTsutomu YamazakiIn 19th-century Japan, a rough-tempered yet charitable town doctor trains a young intern.
- DirectorDaisuke ItôStarsKinnosuke NakamuraToshirô MifuneKeiju KobayashiThe story of Ryoma Sakamoto, considered to be the architect behind the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was considered an outlaw by his own clan, hunted by his government, and was despised by supporters of the Shogun as well as the Loyalists for desiring the opening of Japan to the West in order to learn its technology, in the hopes of one day defeating the West with a modern army and navy.
- DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsToshirô MifuneYûjirô IshiharaRuriko AsaokaSent on a secret mission, a ronin must discover who his friends are and who must die.
- DirectorMasahiro ShinodaStarsTetsurô TanbaShima IwashitaEiji OkadaIn 1863, when Americans warships approach Japan, a enigmatic ronin becomes a important figure in a complex game of power between the Shogunate and the empire.
- DirectorMasatoshi TakeuchiStarsYasuki KumeKazunobu KawazuYumi Goto"Assassination" - Adaptation of Hermann Hesse's novel "Demian". A young man's detachment from and revolt against the superficial ideals of the world of appearances and eventually awakens into a realization of self. Max Demian is his childhood friend and mentor.
- DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsAya UetoKenji KohashiHiroki NarimiyaRaised to deal in cold blooded death, the teenage assassin girl Azumi must defeat three evil warlords while also battling her own heart.
- DirectorMitsuyuki YakushijiStarsKen WatanabeRiho MakiseTetta SugimotoIn the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, there was a cute warrior, Souji Okita, who belonged to the armed police of the shogunate in Kyoto. Very few knew that Souji was not a boy, but a woman. Souji loved the vice-leader of the armed police, Toshizou Hijikata. Souji suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis and coughed up blood during a battle. Toshizou helped her but said that he did not care for the girl with a smell of blood. Souji had a real talent for swordsmanship and no one but Ryouma Sakamoto could compete with her. Ryouma was a liberal intellectual and tried to carry out a revolution without blood. However, the bloody Meiji Restoration broke out and Souji killed Ryouma who lost his dream. Because a friendship had sprung up between Toshizou and Ryouma, Toshizou got angry and slashed at Souji with a sword. Unwillingly, she unsheathed her sword and thought that she might get love if she was killed by the man she loved.
- DirectorSatsuo YamamotoStarsRaizô IchikawaShiho FujimuraYûnosuke ItôA young ninja becomes embroiled in a plot to kill a tyrannical warlord. He journeys across feudal Japan, facing deceit, betrayal, and enemy ninja at every turn. Goemon must complete his mission, regain his honor, and survive.
- DirectorSatsuo YamamotoStarsRaizô IchikawaSô YamamuraShiho FujimuraConfident that he has destroyed the Iga Ninja, the evil Oda Nobunaga continues his quest to conquer Japan. Meanwhile, Ishikawa Goemon (Ichikawa Raizo) has settled down with his wife and child, and wishes only to live in peace -- a wish that will not be granted. As mighty warlords battle and connive, Goemon must once again try to assassinate Nobunaga, in order to save the Bhuddist religious community that has come to mean so much to him. But the path to success is once again a twisted one, full of scheming samurai and nefarious traps!