Shura (film)

Demons, aka Pandemonium (修羅, Shura) is a 1971 Japanese samurai jidaigeki / horror film directed by Toshio Matsumoto. Referring to asuras, the movie is based on Tsuruya Nanboku and Shuji Ishizawa's play Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu, and reflects the director's experimental filming background and theatrical influence. It was released on 13 February 1971 in Japan by the Art Theatre Guild and Matsumoto Productions Company, almost two years after the director's first feature-length attempt, Funeral Parade of Roses.

Shura
Directed byToshio Matsumoto
Written byToshio Matsumoto
StarringKatsuo Nakamura
Yasuko Sanjo
Juro Kara
Masao Imafuku
CinematographyTatsuo Suzuki
Edited byToshie Iwasa
Production
company
Matsumoto Productions
Nippon ATG
Distributed byArt Theatre Guild
Release date
  • 13 February 1971 (1971-02-13)
Running time
135 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

The film is a portrait of feudal Japan's society and culture. Related to older samurai genre films and the classic tale of the forty-seven ronin, it begins with a colorful setting sun, but the rest of the film is shot in black and white.

Plot

The main character Gengobe (Katsuo Nakamura), an exiled masterless samurai (ronin), is facing a moral dilemma: use the money raised by his friends to either help a geisha he loves repay her supposed debts or, as intended, to fund his joining with his clan colleagues in a campaign of honor. When the geisha and her hidden husband trick him out of his reinstatement money, Gengobe's guilt and sense of betrayal drive him to extremes with wide consequences.

Cast
  • Katsuo Nakamura as Gengobe/Soemon
  • Yasuko Sanjo as Komon
  • Juro Kara as Sangoro
  • Masao Imafuku as Hachiemon
  • Tamotsu Tamura
  • Hideo Kanze
  • Kappei Matsumoto
  • Shinshi Amano
  • Hatsuo Yamatani
  • Yusuke Minami

References

    Sources


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