A Samurai Chronicle
A Samurai Chronicle (蜩ノ記, Higurashi no Ki) is a 2014 Japanese film directed by Takashi Koizumi.
| A Samurai Chronicle | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Takashi Koizumi |
| Written by | Takashi Koizumi Motomu Furuta |
| Based on | Higurashi no Ki by Rin Hamuro |
| Starring | Kōji Yakusho Junichi Okada Maki Horikita Mieko Harada |
| Music by | Takashi Kako |
Release date |
|
Running time | 129 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Cast
- Kōji Yakusho as Shūkoku Toda
- Junichi Okada as Shōzaburō Dan'no
- Maki Horikita as Kaoru Toda
- Mieko Harada as Orie Toda
- Shinobu Terajima
- Hisashi Igawa
- Kenichi Yajima
Plot
A retired samurai must redeem himself for a crime that he committed earlier in his life. A squire is sent by the prime minister of Japan to keep watch over him.[1]
Development
Teruyo Nogami, who was a longtime assistant of Akira Kurosawa, worked as a special adviser on the film, and jointed the director and star for a question and answer session about the film.[1]
The film was based on an award-winning novel by Rin Hamuro.[1]
Koizumi claimed that he did not want to send any political messages with the film and instead intended to portray the real life events as accurately as possible.[1]
Reception
The film debuted at number two in the Japanese box office[2] and grossed a total of $8,804,424 in Japan.[3]
The Japan Times awarded the film a score of five out of ten, saying that the film failed to invoke the film of Akira Kurosawa that it was influenced by. [Though Koizumi and his veteran staff try to channel that sensibility, they are not Kurosawa, and though “A Samurai Chronicle” echoes the master’s work, it lacks his vivifying presence.[4]
References
- Karen Severns. "FCCJ -".
- "Japan Box Office".
- "Higurashi no ki (A Samurai Chronicle)".
- "Death-row samurai spills ink, not blood". The Japan Times.