Samurai Assassin

"Here, at the Gates of Sakurada, the Shogunate will fall."

1965 2h 2m JA

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 63

DramaActionHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Japan, 1860. The men of the Mito clan, victims of the Ansei purge, anxiously prowl around the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle with the intention of assassinating Naosuke Ii of Hikone, tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate and responsible for their misfortune.

“Here, at the Gates of Sakurada, the Shogunate will fall.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Cast

Toshirō Mifune
Tsuruchiyo Niiro
Keiju Kobayashi
Einosuke Kurihara
Yūnosuke Itō
Kenmotsu Hoshino
Michiyo Aratama
Okiku / Princess Kiku
Eijirō Tōno
Masagorō Kisoya
Tatsuyoshi Ehara
Ichigorō Hayama
Tadao Nakamaru
Shigezo Inada
Kaoru Yachigusa
Mitsu

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kihachi Okamoto
Writers: Shinobu Hashimoto
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

ERA

Did you know

61 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kihachi Okamoto, shot by Hiroshi Murai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Toshirō Mifune and Keiju Kobayashi and Yūnosuke Itō carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Here, at the Gates of Sakurada, the Shogunate will fall.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0059673 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 63 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kihachi Okamoto directs. Hiroshi Murai behind the camera. Masaru Satō scores. Yoshitami Kuroiwa cuts. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

161 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Kihachi Okamoto, shot by Hiroshi Murai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Masaru Satō. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Yoshitami Kuroiwa shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Toshirō Mifune and Keiju Kobayashi and Yūnosuke Itō carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Here, at the Gates of Sakurada, the Shogunate will fall.".
7IMDB entry: tt0059673 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 63 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 11 themes, including "japan", "samurai", "based on novel or book", "based on true story".