Sword of the Beast (1965)
Kedamono no ken
85 min
Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Gosha's Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of the low-level swordsman Gennosuke, who kills one of his ministers as part of a reform plot. His former comrades then turn on him, and this betrayal so shakes his sense of honor that he decides to live in the wild, like an animal. There he joins up with a motley group who are illegally mining the shogun’s gold, and, with the aid of another swordsman, gets a chance not just at survival but to recover his name and honor.
- Release date
- September 18, 1965
- Country of origin
- Japan
- Music
- Toshiaki Tsushima
Where to watch
Subscription
Criterion Channel
Cast
- Mikijirô Hira as Yuuki Gennosuke
- Gô Katô as Jurata Yamane
- Shima Iwashita as Taka
- Kunie Tanaka as Tanji
- Eijirō Tōno as Minister
- Toshie Kimura as Misa
- Kantarō Suga as Daizaburo
- Yôko Mihara as Osen
- Shigeru Amachi as Vice-Counselor
- Torahiko Hamada
- Takeshi Katō as Katori
- Kappei Matsumoto
- Yasushi Nagata
- Kyōichi Satō
- Ginzô Sekiguchi
- Sen Yano
- Hisashi Yokomori
- Hajime Araki
Crew
- Hideo Gosha · Director
- Hideo Gosha · Writer
- Eizaburō Shiba · Writer
- Gin'ichi Kishimoto · Producer
- Masayuki Satô · Producer
- Toshiaki Tsushima · Composer
- Toshitada Tsuchiya · Cinematographer