Red Lion (film)

Red Lion (赤毛, Akage) is a 1969 Japanese film directed by Kihachi Okamoto and starring Toshirō Mifune[1] and Shima Iwashita.

Red Lion
Original Japanese Poster.
Directed byKihachi Okamoto
Written bySakae Hirosawa
Kihachi Okamoto
Produced byToshiro Mifune
Yoshio Nishikawa
StarringToshiro Mifune
Shima Iwashita
CinematographyTakao Saito
Music byMasaru Sato
Distributed byToho Company Ltd.
Release dates
Japan:
October 10, 1969
United States:
December 17, 1969
Running time
115 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot summary

Gonzo (権三, Toshiro Mifune), a member of the Sekihōtai, is being asked by the emperor to deliver official news to his home village of a New World Order. Wanting to pose as a military officer, he dons a peculiar officer's wig. Upon his return, his attempt to tell the village about a brand-new tax cut is quashed when the townfolk mistakenly assumes that he is there to rescue them from corrupt government officials. He learns that an evil magistrate has been swindling them for years. Now, he has to help the village, ward off Shogunate supporters, along with the fact that he can't read his own proclamations.[2]

The director, Kihachi Okamoto, is well known for introducing plot twists and surprising endings in his films,[3] and Red Lion is no exception. What starts out as an almost comedic series of misunderstandings between almost comically drawn characters ends up turning far more serious as the film progresses. Tomi (Shima Iwashita), as Gonzo's old flame, is tragically torn between her hopes that Gonzo's new marriage proposal is genuine, and her fears that her life will never improve unless she "goes along" with the corrupt and powerful who rule over the peasant's lives. The film ends with the peasants dancing to the cry of "Ee ja nai ka" ("Why not!?", "Whatever!", or "Nevermind!"), which fatalistically refers to the tumultuous 1866-67 period of Japanese history immediately preceding the imperial restoration and the end of the Edo period.

Cast

See also

References
  1. ""世界の三船"の軌跡たどる 特集上映「生誕１００年 映画俳優三船敏郎」２日から". zakzaknews. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  2. "赤毛". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  3. Onchi, Hideo; Okamoto Kihachi (1998). "Waga eiga jinsei: Okamoto Kihachi kantoku" (in Japanese). Directors Guild of Japan. Archived from the original on 2013-10-23.


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