The Acrobats of Death

1959 1h 28m JA

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 5

HistoryAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Saotome, a sword master and guard of the Shogunate, pursues the mystery of a deadly aerial weapon that is responsible for the multiple deaths in town.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Utaemon Ichikawa
Saotome Mondonosuke
Kinya Kitaoji
Hiroko Sakuramachi
Akiko Santo
Yoshiko Sakuma
Mitsuko Miura
Isao Yamagata
Eijirō Yanagi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Yasushi Sasaki
Writers: Mitsuzō Sasaki, Kaneo Ikegami
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

67 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Bored Hatamoto Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Yasushi Sasaki, shot by Takeo Itō. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Eiichi Yamada. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Shintarō Miyamoto shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Utaemon Ichikawa and Kinya Kitaoji and Hiroko Sakuramachi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt5898424 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Yasushi Sasaki directs. Takeo Itō behind the camera. Eiichi Yamada scores. Shintarō Miyamoto cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
267 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Bored Hatamoto Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Yasushi Sasaki, shot by Takeo Itō. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Eiichi Yamada. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Shintarō Miyamoto shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Utaemon Ichikawa and Kinya Kitaoji and Hiroko Sakuramachi carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt5898424 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 5 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.