• Rating:
• Genre: Historical Film
• Movie Type: Historical Epic, Samurai Film
• Themes: Political Unrest
• Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
• Main Cast: Raizo Ichikawa, Michiyo Kogure
• Release Year: 1955
• Country: JP
• Run Time: 106 minutes

Plot

Set at the end of the 12th century when several wars for control of Japan disrupted a long era of peace, this tale of "Heike" (another name for the Taira clan) focuses on Taira Kiyomori (Raizo Ichikawa) who fights alongside other members of his clan to at first successfully overcome the Minamoto clan and their bid for power. Battles and intrigue abound, as the puppet Emperor and Buddhist monks take sides in the power struggle. At issue is Kiyomori's parentage, not an unusual problem for the nobility in that era where clandestine liaisons among courtiers and the upper classes were common. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Raizo Ichikawa - Taira Kiyomori
• Michiyo Kogure - Mother

Tatsuya Ishiguro - Fujiwara no Tokinobu
Akitake Kono - Heiroku
Yoshiko Kuga - Tokiko
Tamao Nakamura - Shigeko
Ichijiro Oya - Taira no Tadamori
Mitsusaburo Ramon - Ryokan
Eitaro Shindo - Banboku
Ichiro Sugai - Carpenter
Eijiro Yanagi - Emperor Shirakawa

Credit

Kazuo Miyagawa - Cinematographer; Kenji Mizoguchi - Director; Masaichi Nagata - Producer; Fumio Hayasaka - Composer (Music Score); Masaru Sato - Composer (Music Score); Kohei Sugiyama - Cinematographer; Yoshikata Yoda - Screenwriter; Masashige Narusawa - Screenwriter

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Gate of Hell; Kagemusha; Ran; Throne of Blood; The Emperor and the Assassin