Kill!

1968 Japanese film

Akira Murao
Kihachi Okamoto

Based onTorideyama no jushichinichi
by Shūgorō YamamotoProduced byTomoyuki Tanaka^[1]Starring

Tatsuya Nakadai
Etsushi Takahashi
Atsuo Nakamura
Tadao Nakamaru

CinematographyRokuro Nishigaki^[1]Edited by

Kihachi Okamoto
Yoshitami Kuroiawa^[1]

Music byMasaru Sato^[1]

Production
company

Tokyo Eiga^[1]

Distributed byToho

Release date

8 June 1968 (1968-06-08) (Japan)

Running time

130 minutes^[1]CountryJapan

Kill! (斬る, Kiru) is a 1968 Japanese comedy-chambara film directed by Kihachi Okamoto.^[1] The film had a screenplay written by Akira Murao and Okamoto, and is based on the story Torideyama no jushichinichi (lit. '17 Days at Fort Mountain') in Yamamoto Shugoro zenshu (1964) by Shūgorō Yamamoto.^[1]

Plot

Tatsuya Nakadai stars as Genta, a former samurai who became disillusioned with the samurai lifestyle and left it behind to become a wandering yakuza gang member. He meets Hanjirō Tabata (Etsushi Takahashi) a farmer who wants to become a samurai to escape his powerless existence. Genta and Tabata wind up on opposite sides of clan intrigue when seven members of a local clan assassinate their chancellor. Although the seven, led by Tetsutarō Oikawa (Naoko Kubo) rebelled with the support of their superior, Ayuzawa (Shigeru Kōyama), he turns on them and sends members of the clan to kill them as outlaws.

Style

The film is a comically exaggerated exploration of what it is to be a samurai. The characters either give up samurai status or fight to attain it, and samurai are seen behaving both honorably and very badly. The film has a parodic tone, with numerous references to earlier samurai films.^[2]

Cast

Tatsuya Nakadai as Genta (Hyōdō Yagenta)
Etsushi Takahashi as Hanji (Hanjirō Tabata)
Yuriko Hoshi as Chino Kajii
Naoko Kubo as Tetsutarō Oikawa
Shigeru Kōyama as Ayuzawa
Akira Kubo as Monnosuke Takei
Seishirō Kuno as Daijirō Masataka
Tadao Nakamaru as Shōda Magobei
Eijirō Tōno as Moriuchi Hyōgo
Shin Kishida as Jurota Arao
Atsuo Nakamura as Tetsutaro
Ryosuke Kagawa as Mizoguchi
Takeo Chii as Yoshida Yaheiji
Susumu Kurobe as Ayusawa Kinzaburo
Isao Hashimoto as Konosuke Fujii
Yoshio Tsuchiya as Matsuo Shiroku
Hideyo Amamoto as Shimada Gendaiu

Release

Kill! was released theatrically in Japan on 22 June 1968 where it was distributed by Toho.^[1] It was released in the United States by Frank lee International with English subtitles in August 1968.^[1]

Reception

Along with Human Bullet and Judge and Jeopardy, Kill! gave art director Iwao Akune the award for Best Art Direction at the Mainichi Film Concours.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Galbraith IV 2008, p. 250.
^ "Kill!". Criterion.com.

Sources

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