Movielogr

Rating: 6 stars

Tags

Japan tku-tv samurai Ninja osaka castle sisters gold love triangle rescue

All movies seen on 12/04/2019

View on: IMDb | TMDb

Whirlwind (1964)

Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki

Drama | Action | War

Overview

Set at the end of the Siege of Osaka this film follows the exploits of several members of the defeated Toyotomi clan as they cope with the post battle chaos and the persecution of the Shogun’s army.  Five samurai decide on different fates when it becomes clear that their side is being destroyed.  One wants to attack the enemy head on in a final honorable death. Another decides to commit hari-kiri but wants to find a glorious view to do it. His close friend, the “coward”, just wants to run and give up the life of a samurai.  The final two set their own castle on fire to garner favors from the enemy and therefore avert their own death during the massacre of all defeated soldiers as

Length 108 minutes

Actors

Toshirō Mifune | Akihiko Hirata | Kumi Mizuno | Yuriko Hoshi | Yōsuke Natsuki | Makoto Satō | Mitsuko Kusabue | Yoshiko Kuga | Akira Kubo | Sachio Sakai | Yoshio Kosugi | Ren Yamamoto | Akira Tani | Someshô Matsumoto | Ryû Kuze | Kôshirô Matsumoto | Yoshio Inaba

Viewing History (seen 2 times)

Viewing Notes

Another Yuriko Hoshi film to celebrate her this week on DKUTV (would’ve been her 76th birthday). Hadn’t seen this one (not available domestically) so I was happy they programmed it. Not a great film (a loose sequel of Daredevil in the Castle) but at least she has a meaty role as one of the primary characters from beginning to end.

Toshiro Mifune has a small yet important part but this is mostly the story of two rogue samurai Kusanagi (Makoto Sato) and the legendary Jubei (Koshiro Matsumoto) who falls in love with Hoshi’s Kozato (sister of Kikusato, portrayed by Yoshiko Kuga, who was loved by Kusanagi). So the two samurai are connected and Sato is really great as the mourning lost soldier killing everyone he encounters. Kumi Mizuno also has a small role the kunoichi out for revenge yet falls for Jubei but her part is so slight and she’s given little to do besides creating a love triangle. Akihiko Hirata is also present but in a small part.

This is a very watchable film (mainly for Hoshi, Matsumoto and Sato) but there’s way too many going on that isn’t told in way to keep it cohesive. Mifune’s character is never really explained and altho I do like him it feels sorta wedged into the movie like an obligatory thing.

I’d definitely view this again and wouldn’t mind owning a good version of this. The DKU broadcast was a bit jittering so it wasn’t ideal on this occasion.

Comments