Devil’s Statue

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tatsuo Ōsone directs. Hideo Ishimoto behind the camera. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 174 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 3Directed by Tatsuo Ōsone, shot by Hideo Ishimoto. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Tsumasaburō Bandō and Isuzu Yamada and Masao Mishima carry the top of the cast.
• 5IMDB entry: tt0165386 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 6Only 1 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Hideo Ishimoto

Runtime

97 min · 1h 37m

Status

Released

Original language

JA

IMDB

Devil’s Statue (1952) ↗

Also by

Tatsuo Ōsone

• 
  Adventures of Princess Anmitsu

  1960 · ★ 10.0
• 
  A Matter of Valour

  1957 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Hidden Treasure

  1959 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Quick Change Tanuki Palace

  1954 · ★ 7.0
• 
  The Den of Beasts

  1951 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Taikoki - The Saga of Hideyoshi

  1958 · ★ 6.5

Community reviews

What people are saying

• DenPryan2019-05-04

  The second remake of a film first produced in 1930 with another actor and filmed again in 1936 with Tsumasaburo Bando, the star of this version, the film has the 'feel' and style of samurai films made in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the golden age of period films. The story line - that of a man at odds with society - was popular at the time. The film's premise is basically one of class conflict: of the four classes in a rigidly stratified society between 1600 and 1868, the merchant was traditionally placed below the samurai, farmer, and artisan; but when, from the eighteenth century onward, the money economy enabled this class to control the economy of Japan, the non-productive samurai class made every effort to put the merchant class in its place. "Kyonosuke Kamio, a samurai, incurs the wrath and contempt of his peers for having married the daughter of a wealthy merchant and for genuinely loving her. But Kamio is also estranged from his peers in the shogun's treasury for their crooked manipulation and speculations which fatten their purses but cause hardship among the common people. Lashed into action by the taunts of his cohorts, Kamio finally bolts the group, vows vengeance on them, and throws in his lot with Ibara, a sympathetic chivalrous commoner. "Kamio's manic, mocking laugh in the faces of his tormentors echoes the laughter of many similar characters in the films of that period, particularly as they were played by Bando, who made a career playing the type that Toshiro Mifune would later play in the Kurosawa films. "In his double roles, Bando skillfully plays the vengeful Kamio and the humorous, relaxed Ibara. Isuzu Yamada, the perfect period actress, plays Ibara's tough but playful wife. Frank T. Motofuji©

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Shochiku

  JP

Key crew

• ResearcherTadaoto Kainoshō
• Original StoryKaitaro Hasegawa
• Executive ProducerKōichirō Ogura

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1952-05-01

Also known as

International titles

• MazôJP