Movielogr

Rating: 7 stars

Tags

Japan

All movies seen on 04/08/2013

View on: IMDb | TMDb

Red Lion (1969)

Directed by Kihachi Okamoto

Action | Comedy | History

Overview

Japan, February 1868. As the Tokugawa shogunate declines and the power of Emperor Meiji grows, Gonzo, a soldier of the Restoration Army, returns to Sawando, his hometown, to announce the end of tyranny.

Length 117 minutes

Actors

Toshirō Mifune | Shima Iwashita | Etsushi Takahashi | Minori Terada | Nobuko Otowa | Yûko Mochizuki | Jitsuko Yoshimura | Kawai Okada | Shigeru Kôyama | Hideyo Amamoto | Tokue Hanazawa | Shin Kishida | Hideo Sunazuka | Bokuzen Hidari | Goro Mutsumi | Ippei Kawashima | Yūnosuke Itō | Daigo Kusano | Nakajirô Tomita | Fujio Tokita | Jun Hamamura | Sachio Sakai | Ren Yamamoto | Hiroshi Hasegawa | Mika Kitagawa | Takahiro Tamura | Yutaka Nakayama | Takeo Chii

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

The first half is when the comedy plays out as Mifune bumbles in way back into the lives of the villagers in his hometown under the guise of an Imperial Commander. Somewhat amusing it was a bit of a slog until the second half when the real drama and action take over.

It was during that second half when I was totally on board with the plight of these villagers and the reluctant hero of Mifune. Wish I knew more about this period during the Tokugawa Shogunate during the 19th century. Lots of interesting stories and history. Mifune is typically great and worth the watch.

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