Samurai Banners
{{Infobox film
| name = Samurai Banners
| image = Samurai-banners-poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| director = Hiroshi Inagaki
| producer = {{plainlist|*Toshiro Mifune
- Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Yoshio Nishikawa
- Hiroshi Inagaki{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=255}}}}
| writer =
| screenplay = {{plainlist|*Shinobu Hashimoto
- Takeo Kunihiro{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=255}}}}
| story =
| based_on = {{Based on|Furin kazan|Yasushi Inoue}}
| starring = {{plainlist|*Toshiro Mifune
- Yoshiko Sakuma
- Nakamura Kinnosuke
- Yūjirō Ishihara}}
| narrator =
| music = Masaru Sato{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=255}}
| cinematography = Kazuo Yamada{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=255}}
| editing = Yoshihiro Araki{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=255}}
| studio = Mifune Productions{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=256}}
| distributor = Toho
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1969|2|1|Japan}}
| runtime = 165 minutes{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=256}}
| country = Japan
| language =
| budget =
| gross =
}}
{{nihongo|Samurai Banners|風林火山|Fūrin Kazan|lead=yes}} is a Japanese samurai drama film released in 1969. It was directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and is based on the novel Furin kazan by Yasushi Inoue.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=255}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=22570&key_search=%E9%A2%A8%E6%9E%97%E7%81%AB%E5%B1%B1 |title=風林火山 |publisher=Kinema Junpo|access-date=28 October 2020}}
Plot
Yamamoto Kansuke (Toshiro Mifune) is a general of warlord Takeda Shingen (Nakamura Kinnosuke), whose titular red banners are his trademark.{{cite book | last = Galloway | first = Patrick | title = Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves: The Samurai Film Handbook | publisher = Stone Bridge Press | date = 2005 | location = Berkeley, California | pages = 134–137 | isbn = 1-880656-93-0 }} Yamamoto has a ruthless but effective approach to battle and politics, and advises Takeda Shingen on almost everything he does, including the assassination of Suwa Yorishige (Akihiko Hirata). Of Lord Suwa's household, Princess Yu (Yoshiko Sakuma) refuses to commit suicide, and the film comes to center on a love triangle between the lord, his general, and the princess.
The film ends with the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima, in which Yamamoto erroneously believes his battle tactics have failed and commits a pincer attack, but is killed in action before the battle is won.
Cast
- Toshiro Mifune – Kansuke Yamamoto
- Yoshiko Sakuma – Princess Yuu
- Nakamura Kinnosuke – Shingen Takeda
- Yujiro Ishihara – Kenshin Uesugi
- Katsuo Nakamura – Nobusato Itagaki
- Nakamura Kankurō V – Katsuyori Takeda
- Kan'emon Nakamura – Nobukata Itagaki
- Masakazu Tamura – Nobushige Takeda
- Mayumi Ozora – Princess Okoto
- Masao Shimizu : Yokota Takamatsu
- Ryūnosuke Tsukigata: Kasahara Kiyoshige
- Akihiko Hirata : Yorishige Suwa
- Ryosuke Kagawa : Nagasaka Yorihiro
- Yoshiko Kuga : Dame Sanjō
- Sachio Sakai : Yamagata Masakage
- Akira Kubo : Baba Nobuharu
- Yoshio Tsuchiya : Tsuchiya Masatsugu
- Takashi Shimura – Toramasa Obu
- Ken Ogata : Hatanaka
Release
Samurai Banners received a roadshow release in Japan by Toho on 1 February 1969.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=256}} It received a wide release in Japan on 1 March 1969.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=256}} The film was Toho's top-grossing film of the year and the top-grossing film among domestic releases in Japan in 1969.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=256}}
The film was released in the United States by Toho International under the title Under the Banner of the Samurai on June 24, 1969.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=256}} It was later released to home video as Samurai Banners.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|2008|p=256}}
Reception
"Mosk." of Variety found that "even Mifune's unique presence fails to give this many new twists and provide dynamic stature or the poetic insights that marked some earlier Japanese films of this genre."{{cite book|title=Variety's Film Reviews 1968-1970|volume=12|publisher=R. R. Bowker|isbn=0-8352-2792-8|year=1983|at=There are no page numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "July 30, 1969"}} The review concluded that "Mifune is spectacular as usual if the film's surface prettiness and melodramatic flourishes, without the deeper classic flair and rightness to make this more than a florid actioner, limit its art potential."
References
=Footnotes=
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book |last=Galbraith IV |first=Stuart |title=The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f7o8pq6G_dYC |access-date=October 29, 2013 |year=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-1461673743}}
{{Refend}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|64353}}
{{Hiroshi Inagaki}}
Category:Films directed by Hiroshi Inagaki
Category:Films with screenplays by Shinobu Hashimoto
Category:Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Category:Films scored by Masaru Sato
Category:Films produced by Toshiro Mifune
Category:Films set in the 16th century
Category:Cultural depictions of Takeda Shingen
Category:Cultural depictions of Uesugi Kenshin
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