In Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.
Director:
Writers:
Awards:
- Won 1 Oscar. Another 29 wins & 23 nominations.
- See more »
Reviews:
Photos and Videos
Cast verified as complete
| Tatsuya Nakadai | ... |
Lord Hidetora Ichimonji
|
|
 |
Akira Terao | ... |
Taro Takatora Ichimonji
|
| Jinpachi Nezu | ... |
Jiro Masatora Ichimonji
|
|
| Daisuke Ryû | ... |
Saburo Naotora Ichimonji
|
|
| Mieko Harada | ... |
Lady Kaede
|
|
| Yoshiko Miyazaki | ... |
Lady Sue
|
|
| Hisashi Igawa | ... |
Shuri Kurogane
|
|
| Pîtâ | ... |
Kyoami
(as Peter)
|
|
| Masayuki Yui | ... |
Tango Hirayama
|
|
|
|
Kazuo Katô | ... |
Kageyu Ikoma
|
|
|
Norio Matsui | ... |
Shumenosuke Ogura
|
|
|
Toshiya Ito | ... |
Mondo Naganuma
|
| Kenji Kodama | ... |
Samon Shirane
|
|
|
|
Takashi Watanabe | ... |
Fujimaki Clan general
|
| Mansai Nomura | ... |
Tsurumaru
(as Takeshi Nomura)
|
|
| Takeshi Katô | ... |
Koyata Hatakeyama
|
|
| Jun Tazaki | ... |
Seiji Ayabe
|
|
|
|
Hitoshi Ueki | ... |
Nobuhiro Fujimaki
|
|
|
Takao Zushi |
|
|
|
|
Yoshitaka Zushi |
|
|
|
|
Tetsuo Yamashita |
|
|
|
|
Akihiko Sugizaki |
|
|
|
|
Masaaki Sasaki |
|
|
|
|
Yoshimitsu Yamaguchi |
|
|
|
|
Masuo Amada |
|
|
|
|
Masaru Sakurai |
|
|
|
|
Sakae Kimura |
|
|
|
|
Ryûjirô Oki |
|
|
|
|
Hanbei Kawai |
|
|
|
|
Ryo Nagasawa |
|
|
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Yûichi Hibi |
|
||
|
|
Seizô Katô | ... |
Koyata Hatakeyama (voice)
|
|
|
Tokie Kanda | ... |
Sue's lady in waiting (uncredited)
|
|
|
Sawako Kochi | ... |
Hidetora's concubine (uncredited)
|
|
|
Reiko Nanjô | ... |
Hidetora's concubine (uncredited)
|
|
|
Kumeko Otowa | ... |
Sue's lady in waiting (uncredited)
|
|
|
Heihachiro Suzuki | ... |
Fujimaki's General (uncredited)
|
| Susumu Terajima | ... |
Foot soldier (uncredited)
|
|
|
|
Haruko Tôgô | ... |
Kaede's lady in waiting (uncredited)
|
| Tetsu Watanabe | ... |
Official (uncredited)
|
|
Directed by
| Akira Kurosawa | ||
Written by
| Akira Kurosawa | ... | (screenplay) and |
| Hideo Oguni | ... | (screenplay) and |
| Masato Ide | ... | (screenplay) |
| William Shakespeare | ... | (play "King Lear") |
Produced by
| Katsumi Furukawa | ... | executive producer |
| Masato Hara | ... | producer |
| Hisao Kurosawa | ... | associate producer |
| Serge Silberman | ... | producer |
Music by
| Tôru Takemitsu | ||
Cinematography by
| Asakazu Nakai | ||
| Takao Saitô | ||
| Shôji Ueda | ||
Editing by
| Akira Kurosawa | ||
Editorial Department
| Hideto Aga | ... | assistant editor |
| Hajime Ishihara | ... | assistant editor |
| Ryûsuke Ôtsubo | ... | assistant editor |
Production Design by
| Shinobu Muraki | ||
| Yoshirô Muraki | ||
Set Decoration by
| Jiro Hirai | ||
| Mitsuyuki Kimura | ||
| Yasuyoshi Ototake | ||
| Tsuneo Shimura | ||
| Osumi Tousho | ||
Costume Design by
| Emi Wada | ||
Makeup Department
| Tameyuki Aimi | ... | makeup artist |
| Yoshiko Matsumoto | ... | hair stylist |
| Chihako Naito | ... | makeup artist |
| Noriko Sato | ... | hair stylist |
| Noriko Takamizawa | ... | makeup artist |
| Shoshichiro Ueda | ... | makeup artist |
Production Management
| Seikichi Iizumi | ... | production manager |
| Satoru Iseki | ... | production manager |
| Masayuki Motomochi | ... | unit manager |
| Teruyo Nogami | ... | production manager |
| Ulrich Picard | ... | general production manager (as Ully Pickard) |
| Tsutomu Sakurai | ... | unit manager |
| Takafumi Ôhashi | ... | production manager (as Takashi Ôhashi) |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
| Bernard Cohn | ... | first assistant director |
| Vittorio Dalle Ore | ... | assistant director |
| Ishirô Honda | ... | chief assistant director (as Inoshiro Honda) |
| Takashi Koizumi | ... | assistant director |
| Kunio Nozaki | ... | assistant director |
| Fumisuke Okada | ... | assistant director (as Fumisake Okada) |
| Tsuyoshi Sugino | ... | assistant director |
| Kiyoko Watanabe | ... | assistant director |
| Ichirô Yamamoto | ... | assistant director |
| Okihiro Yoneda | ... | assistant director |
Sound Department
| Takayuki Goto | ... | assistant sound |
| Soichi Inoue | ... | assistant sound |
| Takenori Misawa | ... | assistant sound |
| Hideo Takeichi | ... | assistant sound |
| Claude Villand | ... | final mix |
| Fumio Yanoguchi | ... | sound recordist |
| Shôtarô Yoshida | ... | sound recordist |
| Jean-Marc Lentretien | ... | sound mix technician (uncredited) |
Camera and Electrical Department
| Kiyoshi Anzai | ... | assistant camera |
| Noburu Asono | ... | assistant camera |
| Koji Choya | ... | electrician |
| Daizaburo Harada | ... | still photographer |
| Hidehiro Igarashi | ... | assistant camera |
| Yoshio Iyama | ... | electrician |
| Koichi Kamata | ... | electrician |
| Nobuyuki Kitô | ... | assistant camera (as Nobuyuki Kito) |
| Mutsuo Komine | ... | electrician |
| Kosuke Matsushima | ... | assistant camera |
| Masakazu Oka | ... | assistant camera |
| Yuichi Oyama | ... | electrician |
| Makoto Sano | ... | electrician |
| Takeji Sano | ... | gaffer (as Takeharu Sano) |
| Yoshio Sato | ... | still photographer |
| Tetsuo Sawada | ... | electrician |
| Yoshinori Sekiguchi | ... | assistant camera |
| Satoru Suzuki | ... | assistant camera |
| Shigeo Suzuki | ... | assistant camera |
| Shintaro Tazaki | ... | electrician |
Costume and Wardrobe Department
| Akira Fukuda | ... | assistant wardrobe |
| Kazuko Numata | ... | assistant wardrobe |
| Noriko Taguchi | ... | assistant wardrobe |
Music Department
| Hiroyuki Iwaki | ... | conductor |
| Sapporo Symphony Orchestra | ... | performer |
Additional Crew
| Anne Brav | ... | subtitler |
| Ishirô Honda | ... | director's counselling |
| Masahiko Kumada | ... | production assistant |
| Hisao Kurosawa | ... | production coordinator |
| Ko Nauri | ... | production assistant |
| Takeo Suga | ... | accountant |
Production Companies
Distributors
- Toho (1985) (Japan) (theatrical)
- Acteurs Auteurs Associés (AAA) (1985) (France) (theatrical)
- Kommunenes Filmcentral (KF) (1985) (Norway) (theatrical)
- Orion Classics (1985) (United States) (theatrical) (subtitled)
- Sandrew Film & Teater (1985) (Sweden) (theatrical)
- Virgin Vision (1985) (United Kingdom) (theatrical) (subtitled)
- Alvorada Filmes (1986) (Brazil) (theatrical)
- Araba Films (1986) (Spain) (theatrical)
- Concorde Film (1986) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
- Hoyts Distribution (1986) (Australia) (theatrical) (subtitled)
- Medusa Distribuzione (1986) (Italy) (theatrical)
- Nea Kinisi (1986) (Greece) (theatrical)
- Nordfilm (1986) (Finland) (theatrical)
- CBS/Fox (1986) (United States) (VHS) (subtitled)
- Gativideo (Argentina) (VHS)
- Constantin Film (1986) (West Germany) (theatrical) (as Neue Constantin Film)
- CBS Electronics (1987) (Greece) (VHS)
- CBS/Fox Home Video (1987) (Australia) (VHS) (subtitled)
- Showtime Video (1987) (Finland) (VHS)
- Fox Video (1993) (United States) (VHS)
- Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1993) (Finland) (tv)
- Fox Lorber Home Video (1998) (United States) (DVD)
- StudioCanal (2003) (World-wide)
- Wellspring Media (2003) (United States) (DVD)
- Atlantic Film (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
- Future Film (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
- Universal Pictures (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
- Warner Home Video (2004) (United Kingdom) (DVD)
- The Criterion Collection (2005) (United States) (DVD)
- Optimum Home Entertainment (2006) (United Kingdom) (DVD) (subtitled)
- Universal Pictures (2007) (Germany) (DVD) (HD DVD)
- Universal Pictures (2007) (Sweden) (DVD) (HD DVD)
- Art Port (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
- Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2008) (United Arab Emirates) (DVD) (Middle East)
- Universal Pictures Finland (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
- Universal Pictures (2008) (Sweden) (DVD)
- Arthaus (2009) (Germany) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
- Jesnet (2009) (Japan) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
- New Star (2009) (Greece) (DVD)
- Universal Pictures Finland (2009) (Finland) (Blu-ray)
- Universal Pictures (2009) (Sweden) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
- Rialto Pictures (2010) (United States) (theatrical) (subtitled)
- Arthaus (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
- Panorama Distributions (2010) (Hong Kong) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
- Leader Music (2011) (Argentina) (DVD) (as Leader Vision)
- Universal Pictures (2012) (Netherlands) (Blu-ray) (StudioCanal Collection)
- WOWOW (2012) (Japan) (tv)
- Kutonen (2016) (Finland) (tv)
- Ifilm (2017) (Taiwan) (theatrical) (restored version)
- Yleisradio (YLE) (2015) (Finland) (tv)
- TV5 (2016) (Finland) (tv)
- Divisa Home Video (2017) (Spain) (DVD)
- Midas Filmes (2019) (Portugal)
- Arthaus (2021) (Germany) (Ultra HD Blu-ray)
- Ekaterinburg Art Home Video (EAHV) (Russia) (VHS)
- Wellspring Media (United States) (DVD)
Special Effects
Other Companies
- Centralcolor (still photo processing)
- Christian Dior (makeup)
- Ciné-Titres (subtitles)
- Den Film Effect (titles and opticals)
- KO Creative (package design and layout)
- Les Films Michel François (titles and opticals)
- Sanwa Cine Equipment (camera equipment provided by)
- Sapporo Symphony Orchestra (orchestra)
- Studios de Billancourt (sound re-recording)
- Toho Recording Center (sound re-recording)
- Toho Studios (sound stages)
Storyline
| Plot Summary |
Japanese warlord Hidetori Ichimonji decides the time has come to retire and divide his fiefdom among his three sons. His eldest and middle sons - Taro and Jiro - agree with his decision and promise to support him for his remaining days. The youngest son Saburo disagrees with all of them arguing that there is little likelihood the three brothers will remain united. Insulted by his son's brashness, the warlord banishes Saburo. As the warlord begins his retirement, he quickly realizes that his two eldest sons selfish and have no intention of keeping their promises. It leads to war and only banished Saburo can possibly save him. Written by garykmcd |
| Plot Keywords | |
| Genres | |
| Parents Guide | View content advisory » |
| Certification |
|
Additional Details
| Also Known As |
|
| Runtime |
|
| Country | |
| Language | |
| Color | |
| Aspect Ratio |
|
| Sound Mix | |
| Filming Locations |
Box Office
| Budget | $11,500,000 (estimated) |
Did You Know?
| Trivia | Akira Kurosawa referred to his previous film, Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980), as a "dress rehearsal" for this film. He spent ten years storyboarding every shot in the film as paintings. The resulting collection of images was published with the screenplay. See more » |
| Goofs | During the battle at the third castle, there is a sequence where Hidetora emerges from the castle at the top of a flight of stairs and confronts enemy soldiers ascending the stairs. When he retreats, his bodyguards suddenly appear and retreat with him, even though they were not present moments earlier. See more » |
| Movie Connections | Featured in A.K. (1985). See more » |
| Quotes |
Kyoami:
Man is born crying. When he has cried enough, he dies. See more » |